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Trygve · Feb 18, 2007, 07:46 PM

I am looking for a high volume web host to handle downloads of our software products. We need 1TB/mo minimum, 2TB would be better. For 1TB:

Yahoo 39.95 for 500GB + $500 for extra = $539.95/mo
FileBurst = $885/mo
iPower.com = $9.95/mo for 2TB (can this be any good?)

Any other suggestions for a very reliable host to handle this kind of volume at a reasonable cost ($500/mo is not reasonable... looking to be under $100.

MaxPower2k3 · Feb 18, 2007, 08:05 PM

Well, there's always Dreamhost.

reader50 · Feb 18, 2007, 08:06 PM

If the product is a large file, and the downloads are identical for each potential user, you could consider supplying a torrent. This works well for game demos. It wouldn't work if the downloads were personalized for each downloader, or for pay-to-download scenarios.

Trygve · Feb 18, 2007, 08:31 PM

Can anyone comment on the up time, speed and reliability of Dreamhost?

Mastrap · Feb 18, 2007, 08:43 PM

Different people will give you different feedback. I've been using dreamhost for years and could not be happier, most of the time. Others will disagree.

alligator · Feb 18, 2007, 10:24 PM

No problem with Dreamhost for the short 3-4 months that I've had it. Seems like they're always improving it.

besson3c · Feb 18, 2007, 11:42 PM

I've heard their security being questioned, but if all you are going for is bandwidth, have at it...

torsoboy · Feb 20, 2007, 01:49 AM

calpop.com gives you unmetered bandwidth, but since it is 10mbps it maxes out around 3 TB a month (which should easily cover your needs). They cost $99 a month when they provide the (dedicated) server for you. Great deal if you don't want to have to buy a server of our own. It's only $88 a month if you supply your own server.

HungrySeacow · Mar 14, 2007, 03:36 AM

If you need that kind of bandwidth, I would say go with Interplug. They have unlimited bandwidth, so all you have to worry about is how much hard drive space you need.

turtle777 · Oct 11, 2007, 10:46 PM

Dreamhost did it again. Crazy

New plan:

* 500GB disk space
* 5 TB bandwidth / month
* Still only $ 10 / month (1 year prepayment)

Web Hosting by DreamHost Web Hosting: Web Sites, Domain Registration, WordPress, Ruby on Rails, all on Debian Linux!

-t

Mithras · Oct 11, 2007, 10:51 PM

Yeah, but I find Dreamhost to be slow, if it matters. As in, the maximum rate I can download a file from my Dreamhost server is like 150Kb/s; from a kick-ass Akamized site like Apple.com, I can download at 20Mb/s. So if actual sustained speed matters to you, I'd look elsewhere.

torsoboy · Oct 11, 2007, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Dreamhost did it again. Crazy

New plan:

* 500GB disk space
* 5 TB bandwidth / month
* Still only $ 10 / month (1 year prepayment)

Web Hosting by DreamHost Web Hosting: Web Sites, Domain Registration, WordPress, Ruby on Rails, all on Debian Linux!

-t

They do that because they know very very few people will use that much and it will give them good advertising with very little cost to them. It's like google offering 2.x gigs of email space... I only use like .5% of my space and that is probably about the same for most normal users.

turtle777 · Oct 12, 2007, 12:23 AM

Originally Posted by torsoboy

They do that because they know very very few people will use that much and it will give them good advertising with very little cost to them. It's like google offering 2.x gigs of email space... I only use like .5% of my space and that is probably about the same for most normal users.

Well, I use it. I backup my complete harddrive to it. I actually hit the max at my old 250GB, not I'm good to go again

-t

turtle777 · Oct 12, 2007, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by Mithras

Yeah, but I find Dreamhost to be slow, if it matters. As in, the maximum rate I can download a file from my Dreamhost server is like 150Kb/s; from a kick-ass Akamized site like Apple.com, I can download at 20Mb/s. So if actual sustained speed matters to you, I'd look elsewhere.

That's great if you run a business.

But for personal stuff or hobby, Dreamhost is just great, even if you don't max out everything.

-t

goMac · Oct 12, 2007, 06:21 PM

I'm happy with Dreamhost. Used to use iPower, they are truly the suck. I don't know if Dreamhost will be able to reliably provide that sort of bandwidth though...

MacosNerd · Oct 12, 2007, 07:04 PM

I dropped dreamhost because of reliability and speed. I've somewhere that if they if you start using some serious bandwidth, they move you to a slower server, not sure if this is true. In my case it wasn't (I never got anywhere near the limits) but it was still slow. After a number of outages I decided to opt for a web host with a better rep.

mydog8mymac · Oct 12, 2007, 10:39 PM

So who's that — and how much do they charge?

greenG4 · Oct 12, 2007, 10:53 PM

TotalChoice Hosting - Dedicated Server Solutions

TCH has been very reliable for me. A dedicated server with 1.6 TB transfer/mo is only $149/mo.

MacosNerd · Oct 13, 2007, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by mydog8mymac

So who's that — and how much do they charge?

I use icdsoft, not the cheapest but I believe the best. Their customer service is top notch, fast servers and uptime is awesome.

I've read up on many hosts, including hostgator, lunarpages, hostmonster and site5. I didn't want to repeat my mistake that I made with dreamhhost, of all of those icdsoft came out on top. In addition to hosting my website, I rely heavily on web email and I hate squirrel mail and horde and most of those providers use them. I'm not sure if icdsoft uses a homegrown version, but its much better then those two.

I had to email support yesterday, and my question was answered in under 8 minutes. When I tried contacting dreamhost, it took days to get a response. Configuring a domain took days too. Where as I was up and running in minutes with icdsoft.

turtle777 · Oct 13, 2007, 02:34 PM

Yeah, no doubt, with Dreamhost you get what you pay for.

I wouldn't recommend it for mission critical and business websites, but for personal stuff, it's great.

-t

Railroader · Oct 13, 2007, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by MacosNerd

I use icdsoft, not the cheapest but I believe the best. Their customer service is top notch, fast servers and uptime is awesome.

I've read up on many hosts, including hostgator, lunarpages, hostmonster and site5. I didn't want to repeat my mistake that I made with dreamhhost, of all of those icdsoft came out on top. In addition to hosting my website, I rely heavily on web email and I hate squirrel mail and horde and most of those providers use them. I'm not sure if icdsoft uses a homegrown version, but its much better then those two.

I had to email support yesterday, and my question was answered in under 8 minutes. When I tried contacting dreamhost, it took days to get a response. Configuring a domain took days too. Where as I was up and running in minutes with icdsoft.

I 2nd icdsoft. (actually, I think I was the one who recommended them to you

)

I have not had a problem and when I did have a question it was answered in minutes in a language I could understand. Super-fast uploads and downloads. I have never had an outage. Email is amazing. I think I have over 50 email accounts with them and not a single complaint from a single user.

legacyb4 · Oct 14, 2007, 02:23 AM

I'd put in a vote for Media Temple; they've had their issues but overall, I like the service.

GSixZero · Oct 14, 2007, 08:22 PM

Haven't tried it yet, but have heard good things about amazon web services.

Amazon.com: Homepage: Amazon Web Services

Fusion · Oct 14, 2007, 08:45 PM

Yeah, this is the exact type of thing Amazon S3 is good for. You can read a great post from Panic about how they leveraged it for their software downloads here.

Railroader · Oct 14, 2007, 09:30 PM

Don MacAskill from smugmug.com likes Amazon S3 as well SmugBlog: Don MacAskill for the very reasons mentioned in the OP.