We’d like to take some time to give a shout-out to our web host, DreamHost. If you own or operate a web site, and it just needs to run fast, and be online – then you had better consider DreamHost.
The truth is, the Codango.com web site was hosted on a dedicated server solution that was a Windows 2003 web server. No lie. We had to move quickly – for the end of life date for Windows 2003 was upon us.
We had to make some massive changes in the manner in which the site operated, for it was a technological potluck. Some parts of the web site were running on Classic ASP, and some were running on ASP.Net. Some of the custom ActiveX objects that the site used, to help the Classic ASP sessions talk to .Net were no longer supported – and by that we mean – the vendor was out of business.
Our plan A AND B became WordPress. The rest was history.
We switched operating systems, web servers, database vendors, AND servicing language – the entire stack! Seemingly all over a period of just two weeks.
We did not realize how much data we had to port over to WordPress. We found that our fledgling GoDaddy shared Windows hosting account was quickly dying. Performance was terrible. Users were getting frustrated. Advertisers were screaming. Even my own MOTHER called to complain!
Why did we decide to go to DreamHost? The answer is simple. Their DreamPress solution rocks. You see, we quickly learned that with large-data web sites like Codango.com, that WordPress – and particularly, it’s database, mySQL – can be a resource hog in a shared hosting environment. But the resource AMOUNTS are not as much the problem, as is the caching, and how it is dynamically planned out. This is what makes DreamHost the de facto choice for WordPress sites.
Their management interface rocks. Their support staff are there 24×7, and they are very friendly.
If you own or operate a WordPress web site, and you do not go with Dreamhost – you are quite possibly making a tragic mistake.