I was looking around blogs today and there’s some discussion on web hosting in Singapore. I’ve been thinking about hosting some websites locally. But the prices don’t seem to be very right. Worse - it’s not reputable enough.
Searching for reliable webhosts is probably the most time consuming thing, it’s worse than doing sai-kang in army I tell you. I went through countless reviews and forums to finally decide what to get. I had a couple of bad experiences and it’s enough to make to say no to really cheap hosting.
My previous host just suspended me and say I use too much resources. I was like “What? What resources? But I didn’t exceed my bandwidth limit for the month!” Their reply to me is in a form of a kiddy email, “your website is affecting our other customers hosting in the same machine as you.” They recommended me a dedicated machine which I said no too. I think it’s US$48, ah crap.
So I left when I had a chance to ICD Soft. My experience with ICD Soft is pretty good. They seem to know what they are doing at least. I pay US$10 per month to get some crappy disk space and rather limiting transfer rates. But the service is good (very pleased with them actually), they never complained to me before. The best nights to sleep in are those you know your website will still function at 4 AM in the morning. Opps, that sounds awfully geeky. Sorry!
You see how complicated it is to find a webhost? They can list to you the disk space, the bandwidth, the technologies, the great crew they have (and claim a 24-hr live support) but they just simple cannot describe to you how well their machines can tolerate with you using CPU resources.
They only way to find this out is to read blogs, forums and review sites. Find one web host that has generally no compliants and a bunch of compliments and just sign with them. Some webhosts even write their own reviews applauding how great their services are by the way.
Which brings me to the point - Singapore web hosting companies are just not reputable enough. I haven’t read about them in review sites. Reading review is my way of choosing a webhost. These companies don’t publicize too!
I do not quite agree with that header but nothing personal… allow me to explain why.
For consumers ourselves, it’s the quality and competitiveness of the webhost. Frankly, we have enough webhosts/resellers in Singapore already. We don’t need more I feel, but rather what we need are webhosts that understand the needs of customers - us.
Take a walk in Sim Lim, you will see the awesome price of HDDs. To my knowledge, webhosts who buy these HDDs in bulk are charged a lower price than average users like us - who buys it for our own home computers. The funny thing is, if I have to pay that much for such a miserable webspace, am I not better off getting my own HDD? This is one aspect which I feel our local webhosts have left out terribly. True, they may be damn good with IT knowledge and the technical know-how unlike end users like me… but in business competitiveness, marketing and consumer interaction that is a totally different ballgame altogether.
Of course, webspace is not the only issue. Webhosting consist of other parts like [BW] bandwidth (which I can’t even name due to lack of IT knowledge - I don’t even know how the MySQL works until Sabrina explained to me), data transfer etc. These are more expensive than webspace itself so it is natural that their costs are higher. But how much higher should they charge? That’s the question. I am always amazed by the massive difference in bandwidth allocation. There bound to be differences… but the difference between 1GB BW and 1TB BW, it’s really a difference of sky and earth - which I find it hard to comprehend.
The impression I get these days is our local webhosts can’t wait to earn back the investment they put in within the shortest amount of time.
by ET (Jul 23, 2007 at 3 AM)I had been with them for almost 2 years now and it’s rather afforable
by iZar @ iZone (Jul 23, 2007 at 8 AM)Not much downtime and the customer support had been great!
They are purely into web hosting rather than some company that also offer other services like designing etc. So the dedication is there.
Check out http://pixeldot.com.sg (Pixeldot)
ET: I am not too concern about the webspace actually. Webspace is sort of a bonus. What’s more important is service, how many shared hosting customers per machine and how good their servers can tolerate spikes in CPU resources.
Bandwidth is important too but you can easily see how much bandwidth they provide, if the plan doesn’t suit you, you can get a more pricey plan. It’s those factors listed above that is not listed too directly. [Although if you mail those guys, they wouldn't mind revealing how many shared hosting customers per machine most of the time.]
You’re right about the return-of-investment part though. It takes very long and locals aren’t supportive enough in getting local hosting. It’s just a bloody cycle - they don’t have good plans and are not reputable enough; we don’t give them our money and they’re not earning enough.
iZar: Thanks for the recommendation but I can’t find a shared hosting plan that has enough webspace and web bandwidth to support this blog. Unless I go reseller account but it really’s too expensive for me at SG$45 per month.
by Mr. Dew (Jul 23, 2007 at 10 AM)I use ByetHost, a free webhost. It provides free accounts with 5 free websites, each with each own subdomain/domain that you already own. It also provides you 250MB and 6GB of bandwith, with unlimited POP email accounts. You can also create 5 MySQL databases. It runs on CPanelX and a Automatic Script Installer is provided - The best free WebHost ever! It can’t compare to Singaporean Webhosts. Besides, I don’t think there are any free Singaporean Webhosts out there.
by -=}{oT~dEv1L 666=- (Jul 23, 2007 at 7 PM)[...] BeConfused - More Web Hosting Companies in Singapore Needed [...]
by Local Hosting vs Overseas Hosting [I] (Sep 5, 2007 at 11 AM)[...] BeConfused - More Web Hosting Companies in Singapore Needed [...]
by Local Hosting vs Overseas Hosting [II] (Sep 6, 2007 at 11 PM)Actually I feel that Singapore hosting is just not competitive enough. I went to Pixeldot recommended above by Izar and was shocked to see that their highest plan at $35 sgd a month has only 75 Gig bandwidth. I’m currently with Cirtex Hosting paying $2.95 usd a month for 100 Gig bandwidth.
So far I’ve only used international or US based webhosts that give so much at very low prices. Of course at times u have to hop host to host when some disappoint you but that’s where the reviews are useful. I can’t find much reviews for Singapore web hosts and their plans for all I’ve seen are way too high and very little to offer. I’m not so sure if they are getting enough customers but there are so much more out there out of Singapore.
At times it might be harder just to shop coz there’s too much choices. Singapore web host providers will definitely need to rethink their price plans, what they offer and add their sites to international web host reviews. why just cater to singaporeans who are afraid to try international hosts? When there’s trillions of customers shopping around.
by Ida Gul (Oct 31, 2007 at 5 PM)Hi-
We are Jain Infotech,located in Visakhapatnam, India, deal with services like Web Services( Domain Registration, Web Designing, Web Hosting), Web Ranking Services (Search Engine Ranking Services),CMS Module development services, Software Development Services(JAVA,.NET Services), SMS Services, Outsourcing Services, Consulting Services, Portal Development Services, Server Management Services, Live Chat Services, Outsourcing Technical Support.
We have a well experienced team of programmers and Developers and Network Administrators, of 10 Members.
We have developed few thousands of websites related to major fields like Jewellery, Shopping Mall, Real Estates, Job Consulting, Matrimony Services, Restaurants, Software Development Companies, Travel Portal, and any you name we have them.
We also have developed Web Based Softwares for Job Consulting Companies, Web Designing/ Hosting Companies, Computer Hardware Service Companies.
We have a client list of near to 25,000 till this year from various parts of the country, we have started our company in year 2001
We are looking for an association with you in any manner which can be helpful to you, or we are also willing to promote your products/ Services with our strengths.
I have my plan of visit to Singapore from 18th July to 25th of July for business growth and business development. So i am looking for a meeting with you and we can discuss further on how can we grow our business strengths mutually to benefit either.
I ll be glad to meet you in person. Looking forward for reply.
Regards
Jaswanth Jain- B.A.H( Book and Host)
Always for Available for Your Support-Best Priced Product/Services – Making your Business e-Nabled
by Jasawanth jain (Jul 16, 2008 at 12 AM)—————————————————————————————————
Sree Jain Infotech ( Book and Host Online Services)
C5, 3rd Floor, Pavan Towers, Dwarkanagar 1st Lane,
Visakhpatnam - 530 016 [Andhra Pradesh] INDIA
Phone(s): 91 891 2755103, 6637033 , 3254244
Mail us at:info@bookandhost.com
And will you meet up with them Mr Dew?
by Nafcom (Jul 20, 2008 at 10 PM)