Just as a note: the website needs a dedicated server. Cheap shared hosting plans aren't good enough for the amount of traffic that we get. The server needs to be a least 2Ghz uni-processor or 1Ghz dual processor with 1Gig of RAM and about 100GB of bandwidth per month.

I'm mainly interested in getting together a list of possible hosts so that I can write them a nice letter. We don't need 100's of caedes.net members contacting companies individually right now. ;-)

that comp that you described is the same as my comp the only thing is that i dont have that much bandwidth

readyhosting.com
1and1.com

I haven't looked at their plans in a while, and I'm zonked (tired) and going to bed as it's currently midnight. But thought I'd throw those hosts out in case someone wanted to do a little homework. :-) Otherwise I'll try to look into the pkgs later this weekend.
Cheers,
Gabe

http://www.webhosting.net/

Might be worth a try. I don't know anything about the technical side, so I'm not sure how appropriate they are. They do offer an affiliate program, but whether they'd be willing to dscount, I don't know.

what kinda specs are you looking for in a host? How much drivespace, traffic etc?

the traffic was in the first post, 100Gb (i assume he meant Giga Bits, not Giga Bytes) a month. All of the other specs were also there, except for the drive space, which i assume would be a large number of GBs.

Sorry about the ambiguity with the bandwidth spec. I meant Bytes. Diskspace isn't a problem since we only use about 6 GB and most dedicated servers have at least a 30GB disk.

Looking real quick i found this
Intel Pentium IV 2.4Ghz 533Mhz Bus
Memory: 512MB DDR System Memory
Storage: DUAL 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Disk
Transfer: 1000GB per month
IP Addresses: 5 :: Fantastico V2
$99.00 Setup Fee $150.00 Monthly
[ Order this package now! ]
at http://www.hostdime.com/dedicated-servers.shtml

heres another
http://www.easyspace.com/services/easyvservers.html
there seems to be alot of sites out there that fit ur needs if u just do a search on google, but what would probably be more useful is if somone could find a forum or a site with similar needs to make a recomendation

That server is not even CLOSE to the specs that caedes gave! If he used that server we'd get even more slowdowns on the site!

I mean, a current desktop would flog that system!

try http://www.phenominet.com, I used to work there and I know they have done affiliate things in the past.

I run a site with a few other people, and our host is ServerMatrix (http://www.servermatrix.com/) They have fully customizable, dedicated servers for probably some of the cheapest prices I've seen. :)

Hi,

You might check into Velcom.com. They offer something like 1 gig of storage, 90 gigs of transfer, and many bells and whistles for $25 per month. I have been with them about a year. Honestly, they have had some bumps. But you can't beat the price. And they do their best to improve.

If you need more info, feel free to contact me.

Brad

Maybe try NoMonthlyFees.com. They have 25GB/month for around $100 a year (I think). Might be able to up the bandwidth for reasonable price. Good luck!

I HOPE THAT YOU FIND A GOOD SERVER CAEDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could find a large pool of (knowledgable) users who are willing to offer up some resources, and use a load balancer to direct a small percentage of users to them; maybe something like 1 out of every 5 users is redirected to a seperate server. The only major problem would be trying to get all of the servers to sync in a way that is transparent to the user (rsync, perhaps, and keeping the database in a central location)..
Although this seems pretty farfetched, a similar solution would be to find another webhost that you can balance the traffic with, that won't cost you too much.

http://communitycolo.net/
http://www.cihost.com/?zone=products/family_colocation
http://www.hostingandcolo.com/shop/colocation.php

I have no help to offer, but good luck, this site is excellent!

hi....i'm not sure of the technicalities of my suggestion, but could u have a webhost outside of US? if that is at all possible, heres one that i asked my friend about & he recommended this : www.oneandone.co.uk
i hope this will be useful, good luck : )

Paid Yearly
US$99.00 per Month
Paid Monthly
US$114.00 per Month
Setup
US$149.00
Hardware
CPU
AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 384K Cache
RAM
1024MB DDR-RAM
Hard Drive
120GB / 7200 RPM




Network

Bandwidth Included
700GB per Month
Switch Port
100Mbps, burstable
Network Uptime Guarantee
99.999%
at http://www.server4you.com/us/dedicated/showplan.php?products=2


For the most part though it seems that the majority of companies provide the servers you're looking for far less than 150 a month except that they almost all have 512 ram. My guess would be that if you contatct the company some will charge you more but allow you to add another 512mb of ram.

hey my host could be of some help to you he said he would be able to something in the "ballpark" of what you want..... what he said seemed good to me let me know if you want he contact info,,,,, later

Yes certainly. Contact info good. =)

what he say ?

I'm still on vacation, but I'll try to contact him sometime next week.

If you can find a suitable 1u or 2u machine, I know someone who can host it. Bandwidth won't be an issue and, assuming you can advertise them on the site, they'll do it for free.

For details, if you can find a machine, email me.

I was thinking that such a co-location would be the best choice for all parties. I'll keep you posted if I decide to go that route.

Caedes:
I'm not sure if you remember me or not but I was one of the first WHA members (in a non-arrogant way). I suggest that you stay away from colocation for two reasons:
The first being the fact that in *smaller amounts* (less than 5 servers for example and less than 1-2mbs of BW) colocation is expensive. The second being hardware. Most dedicated server companies, if not all, provide some sort of hardware replacement guarantee. For example a hardrive dies, they install a new one within hours verses you having to goto a datacenter and doing it all at your expense. However if you still want to colocate I highly recommend http://www.ThePlanet.com/

Now I know you're a rackshack customer so why not stick with them? Or even http://www.ServerMatrix.com/ (who is a subsidary of ThePlanet)? I'm currently a customer of ServerMatrix and highly recommend them. For each server that I have I'm paying $76 (first month was free) a month with 1000 gbs of bandwidth (No cogent crap) a 80gb hardrive CPanel, 512mb of DDR, and a 2.4ghz cpu (actually ordered the 1.7 celeron but I got the 2.4 instead, they've done this quiet a few times).

Anyways sorry for the long post.

Hey thanks for dropping by. I certainly do remember you from WHA. Everything that you've mentioned about colocation is certainly true and I've debated the pros and cons back and forth a bit. I would only consider colocation if it was for free. I've already received one offer for free colocation, so this isn't just a theoretical discussion ;-).

www.ev1servers.net has some good servers for $110-$150 a month. Check them out.

Readyhosting.com $99 dollars a year for 500mb unlimited traffic. $50 dollars each aditional 500mb per year. I have been hosting with them for 3 years now and I have had zero down time. Is there a way to have everyone put the programs used in creating the art.

www.rpg-works.net
Cheap and very reliable.

To Caedes, I have a friend that is a masters in computer science's and industrial engineering. He host. He is looking to net work with other sevices in the industry. He is in the salutions and programing along with data base disign fields, and highly motivated. He may be able to help you for some lower cost or exchange of sevices. What is the amount of mega bit transfer needed for the sight. He may also be able to help you with some of the programing issues you may come across also.

www.servermatrix.com

www.nextmill.net offers free hosting services for web development consultants provided they place a small button on the home page, so they may go so far as to donate or discount a server for greater consideration.

www.gisol.com
I've hosted a website through Global Internet Solutions for a long time, and they have extremely fast hosting services and a 99.999% uptime guarantee (maximum of 5.256 minutes/year!!!). In my book, it's definitely 5 stars. It's not a dedicated server, but keep in mind that there are a lot of people that host small $8.00/month sites with low processing and bandwidth requirements, such as myself. You might be able to work some sort of deal with them, I don't know. Or if you wanted you could even pay for three accounts as long as they're on the same server. I don't know if this will fit your needs or not, hopefully they can work with you on this. Here are the server specs:

Processor---------Dual AMD 2.13 GHz
Memory/RAM----3GB DDR
Storage-------------SCSI RAID Controller
Backups-----------Daily Data Backup (All files & DB's)

$20/Month
90 Days Free
Free Setup
200GB Bandwidth/Month
2500MB Storage


Hope this wasn't a waste of your time.
-Jason

To Caedes.......

First I must say that I truly enjoy your site, and I would like to make a deal with you on your web hosting needs. I can almost positively accompany all of your requirements if not more. I would preferably like to uphold this conversation through email rather than posts because I do not check this site for updates all too often. Thanks for your time, and I hope you find a quality host.

Gary Cooper
gary@mavin-tech.com

have you considered HostRocket.com? They have dedicated servers that meet the requirements for about $150/month. U get the memory u need, the proc speed u need, and 700GB transfer.

I use them and they are awesome.

Well to tell you the truth I'm not really interested in BUYING a server. I'm only fielding offeres to host the website for free or nearly so (in exchange for endorsment).

the only problem is - ur website doesn't target the audience a webhost is looking for.