Web Hosting Solutions for Flash Sites

Web Hosting Solutions for Flash Sites

Flash content is one of the fastest growing types of content online. The number of sites that contain flash content increases by a countless number each day and the competition between them is rough. However, to start a flash content site, the first thing you need to do is to find the correct hosting for such a site. Flash sites generally have three concerns when looking for a suitable host. These three things are CPU/RAM Usage, technical support, and bandwidth. All three of these things are critical to keep your site running and lacking any of these three things can leave you high and dry. In this article we will look at these three factors and the options you have for hosting a flash site.

The first thing you will want to look for when starting a flash site is the amount of CPU/RAM usage a host will allow you. Since almost all sites are run by some kind of PHP or ASP script these days, how much CPU/RAM usage you are allowed will directly determine how many visitors can be on your site at once. When you are on a shared hosting environment(where the majority of people start sites), you are sharing a server with hundreds of other users so the amount of CPU/RAM that each account can use is very small. If you go over the tolerable amount, a host will usually suspend your account until you can reduce the resource usage. They will sometimes do this without telling you and this could cause you many lost visitors and potential advertising revenue. Before you go with a host, you should read their terms of service agreements as most of the time the amount of CPU/RAM you are allowed to use is stated within this agreement. If the TOS agreement does not have specific number, ask the sales team or the technical support staff what usage rate is allowed. Ask until you get a solid number and do not be content with an answer like “whatever we feel is appropriate” as this pretty much means that the host can suspend you any time they feel like it. Tolerable CPU/RAM usage rates vary from host to host and can be as little as 1% all the way up to 10% depending on the average number of users a host puts on a server. Generally, the hosts that are a bit pricier tend to have more lenient restrictions. In addition to asking about the % of tolerable CPU/RAM usage, ask the host about their suspension policies and if they give a warning at all before suspending your account. You should choose a host that has a higher tolerance for CPU/RAM usage and will warn you well in advance of suspending your account. Choosing a host that is willing to work with you on usage policies will save your site much downtime and lost visitors. Another thing to ask and look for in regarding to technical specifications on a host is the number of MYSQL connections they allow a site to have open at once. This number can range from 5 to over 30 depending on the host. If you go over the limit, you site will most likely slow down for all users who are above this SQL connection limit and many users may not be able to access your site. Since SQL connections effect RAM usage, this may also have bearing on the total CPU/RAM usage you are using on the server.

The next thing you should look for when choosing a flash site host is the quality of technical support the host has. All sites have problems that make the site go down at some point along the line. In this type of situation, you will need fast and knowledgeable technical support staff to get your website up and running again. To get an idea of how good a host’s technical support staff is, you should go to large web hosting forums such as webhostingtalk.com or freewebspace.net and ask around. These forums have thousands of members and there is always someone who has used the host you have in mind in the past or is using that host right now. These people are the best sources of reliable information on the host you are interested in. A bad review from past or current users is a sure sign that the host you have in mind is one of avoid. These forums also have web hosting gurus that will give you good advice on the key aspects of web hosting and what kind of a plan you need. You might even get special discount offers from hosts that lurk around in these forums trying to grab customers. If you are already with a host, posting in webhostingtalk.com is also a good way to get a host’s attention as they don’t want to lose PR points for ignoring customers. You can also look to web hosting review sites for reviews on how good the technical support of a host is but beware that many of these sites are sponsored by the larger web hosts and will be biased or outright false in reviews in attempt to make more off of commissions they get for selling hosting packages(Powweb and Ipowerweb offer huge commissions for sales so I would look out for these two). In my opinion, it is far better to trust in forum members that web hosting review sites.

The last thing that is important for flash sites is the amount of bandwidth offered by a host. This is not a concern for regular sites with just text or image content but since flash files are usually over 10x the size of regular files, flash sites tend to eat up tens of thousands of times the bandwidth that regular sites do. A flash site with an average page size of 1mb and that gets around 25,000 page views per day will eat up around 400GB of bandwidth a month(I know this by experience) so bandwidth can get to be an issue for flash sites. For flash site hosting, I would choose a hosting plan that has at least 200GB of bandwidth to start with. This will provide you with enough bandwidth to get a good number of visitors a day that will generate enough revenue for you to easily upgrade into a higher plan when you reach that limit. Most hosting plans should give you at least 200GB of bandwidth nowdays.

Now that we have looked at the requirements for flash site hosting, lets look at some of the options you have for hosting a flash site.

1. Free hosting – Free hosting is not the type of hosting I would recommend for a flash site but you could start off on a free host. If you choose to do this, I suggest finding a free hosting service that is backed by a paid hosting counterpart. If your flash site gains traffic, you will need to upgrade and a free host that has a paid counterpart can easily transfer you over to a better paid plan. Two hosts I would recommend in the free hosting industry are stonerocket.net and zoomcities.com . I especially recommend zoomcities because of their reputation of being the best and most reputable free host around with technical support that can beat many paid hosting plans. They also have a firm financial foundation and is supported by a paid hosting counterpart. You cannot run a large flash site as bandwidth is limited on the free plan but it is a good place to get started. Do not get turned off by their post-to-host model as trying to get something for nothing usually ends up in disaster. Free hosts that require no banner ads and no posting usually are the ones who vanish overnight as they do not have the finances to fund their operations. For free hosting, head over to freewebspace.net and find a host that meets your needs. Do not expect excellent support and service from most free hosts as they simply do not have the funds to keep a on-board technical staff. Solid free hosts are a good place to host flash sites that get less than 500 unique visitors a day. Anything above that, you may have to upgrade.
2. Shared Hosting – Shared hosting at a reputable host is a great start for any flash site. You should avoid large oversellers such as Powweb, Ipowerweb, Ixhosting, or bluehosting even though they offer the massive amounts of bandwidth that flash sites need. These sites are notorious for frequent downtimes and horrible support staff that are pretty much not willing to help you with issues. Some support staff managers have even been quoted as to say that “you need to learn to be a better customer”. On top of this these hosts have very severe CPU/RAM restrictions(something that most customers miss because they don’t read the fine print in the TOS agreement) and are known to be quick in the ways of account suspensions. A good host to look at is Hostgator. Even though they do massive overselling, their support staff has been known to be a step above most major oversellers and their servers are generally fairly stable for most people. For true quality in shared hosting, you’ll have to shell out a few more bucks and go to a place like mediatemple.com or downtownhost.com where you will get great technical support and service but at a price. These places also have great expansion options if you outgrow your current hosting plan.

3. VPS(Virtual Private Server) – If you have the money and do not want to worry about account suspensions due to over-usage of CPU and RAM, a VPS plan is where you’ll want to look. In this kind of environment, each user is sectioned off into his or her own section of the server and the actions of one user cannot effect the performance of other users. Because of this account suspensions due to excessive CPU/RAM usage will never happen. If you use more than your allotted RAM, you account will simply slow down because the guaranteed RAM you are given is simply not enough to power your site. When this happens, you know its time to upgrade to a higher VPS plan or to a fully dedicated server. For flash sites, bandwidth tends to be more of a problem on a VPS than CPU/RAM as VPS accounts do not come with any more bandwidth than a regular shared account. However, you can always negotiate and buy more bandwidth from your host for a pretty cheap price and bandwidth lines can always be expanded. You’ll want to keep an eye on this to not pay overage bandwidth charges but it should not be an area of high concern.
4. Dedicated Server – For truly popular flash sites, a dedicated server is the way to go. In this environment, you are the only one on the server and get to use all its resources without having to share with anyone else. You will get better constant performance than a VPS but will not have the “burst RAM” rate that a VPS has. For a good performance increase over a high-end VPS, you will need to get a server with at least a dual-core processor and 1GB of DDR RAM. Anything less will not be a significant increase over a top-level VPS plan. It is recommended that you get a managed server with a control panel such as cPanel unless you are an expert in server management. You will need the technical support and service of the hosting company to help you install software, reboot the server, and do routine monitoring and upkeep tasks. If you do get a dedicated server, some companies I recommend are liquidweb, gate2vn(I use these guys), wiredtree, and Rackspace(the best but most expensive). All of these companies have solid reputations in the web hosting industry.

These are the options you have for hosting a flash site. From the information above, you should have an idea of where to look and how to search for a host. Ask around forums for the best possible deals and speak with hosts before buying. Doing this will assure you of a successful client-host relationship which is important for website success.