Recommendations For PHP 5.3 Shared Web Host Please?

[Ehtyar]

Hi all.

[Skip if you're not interested in backstory]So I've been a DreamHost customer for a while (I know, I know) and a new project of mine will be using Postgres, which DH doesn't support. I looked around for a while, and the next best thing seemed to be BlueHost (I know, I know, jeez). I signed up yesterday, uploaded my script and started playing around. Out of the blue I got a "function does not exist" error. Turns out that BlueHost hasn't deployed the two-year-old PHP 5.3 (which is kind of understandable), but worse, don't even have the option to use it. In my naivete I didn't check before signing up, and now I'm stuck with a web host that can't run my code (there are workarounds for the functionality I've used, but that just seems silly to me; I'd prefer to be paying a company that meets my needs rather than the other way around).

I'm now in search of recommendations for shared web hosts that aren't living two years in the past and have deployed PHP 5.3 at least as an option. I'll also need Postgres, but that's somewhat out of the scope of this topic so I'll pursue that avenue myself.

I'm aware that a quick solution to my problem would be to host the site on my Linode, but trying to manage the security, stability and up-to-dateness of Linux, Apache/Nginx, Postgres and PHP is an ordeal I could do without.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be most grateful.

Thanks all,

Ehtyar.

[40hz]

I have a client that selected GoDaddy (I know, I know!) primarily because they offered up to PHP 5.3.6 on their Linux hosting accounts.

Can't say too much about GD in general. My client really likes them. I'll probably give GD a try with a small project I'm working on since I've heard so much (mostly positive) about them. They're certainly affordable. And it looks like you can pay month to month so it shouldn't be a problem bailing if I decide they're not for me.

Luck!

[Ehtyar]

Hahaha, given my current track record I can hardly turn my nose up at any suggestion. I'll poke around, thanks Hertz Man!!

Ehtyar.

[40hz]

^Let me double-check but I think the discount code for a linux hosted plan with GD is linux20 which gets you 20% off.

[Ehtyar]

They don't support Postgres, so it's no good for me, but might be fine for others

Thanks Hertz Man

Ehtyar.

[JavaJones]

I've heard surprisingly good things about Host Monster in the past. Supports PostgreSQL, but not sure of PHP 5.x version. http://www.hostmonst...nfo/hosting_features

- Oshyan

[mahesh2k]

Hawkhost.com, Host1Plus.com and hostnine.com offers shared hosting with PHP 5.3 and PostgreSQL.

[db90h]

I've been through plenty of shared hosts..

Look, here is the trend: Some new shared host opens up. They offer great prices, unlimited everything. They over-commit and exceed their capacity. Services cut back, prices go up, support goes down.

Don't pick any price that sound too good to be true and perhaps you can avoid those that over-load their servers. Of course, even without over-loading, shared servers are subject to more DDoS attacks and such since multiple hosts are on one box.

[Ehtyar]

Thanks for your recommendation JavaJones, but they do not support PHP 5.3 at this time.

mahesh2k I was able to confirm that HawkHost and HostNine have PHP 5.3 availble, but I couldn't confirm either way for Host1Plus.

No providers that I've come across so far seem to offer anything particularly outstanding. I'm starting to wonder if another Linode would actually be less work.

Ehtyar.

[db90h]

Why do you care about PHP 5.3? It is an incremental update, at best. Nothing important. Any important security fixes have been backported... In fact, many admins don't like v5.3 because it is a bit more strict in some areas (mostly in the time zone no longer being inferred from the server's tz setting by default). Some scripts that haven't been updated will throw lots of warnings or malfunction, though that isn't the norm by any means.

Myself? I *do* use PHP v5.3, found out the hard way I had to specify the TZ setting in php.ini (or at runtime). Unless you have really unusual scripts that depends on some really new stuff in PHP v5.3, I'm sure v5.2 will be more than fine.

[Ehtyar]

The feature I'm after specifically is the openssl_random_pseudo_bytes() function. I'm aware that I could just as easily read from /dev/urandom, but I seem to take a significant performance penalty doing so over the openssl solution, not to mention /dev/urandom is not a platform agnostic as I'd like, and since I'm developing on a Windows box...

However, after the research I've done, this has become more a philosophical issue for me now. In the same way IPv6 is being overtly ignored, so too apparently is 5.3 (try searching for "bluehost php 5.3"). It's not the beefiest revision of PHP on the feature side granted, and the removal of most of the depricated functionality can cause issues, but it's been the current version for over two years! I'm hesitant to invest in a company so willing to kick the can down the road for as long as possible. While I understand the reasoning for not dumping 5.2 in favour of 5.3, there are a multitude of methods for running both versions side-by-side, and I fail to see why 5.3 is being completely ignored in light of this. I barely remember a time when setting up a new instance of PHP didn't mean setting the timezone in php.ini, and here I am finding it likely to be less trouble maintaining my own stack than find a provider that supports the latest version of it, even optionally.

Ehtyar.

[db90h]

Yes, the PHP TZ has always been recommended to declare (instead of imply via the server TZ), but unless I'm mistaken it was not until v5.3 that they started throwing warnings if it wasn't explicitly declared.

I *agree* with you, I'm all into v5.3. Since you do *need* v5.3, I have nothing else to say. It also nice to see places that make sure they stay up to date. Of course, some places may do so, but not update their web pages and marketing right away.

I also agree it is a shame server admins don't want to deal with 'upgrade issues', and the resultant effect is old software. I keep the latest stuff on my server, and upgrade whatever I need to, or deal with any issues that pop up. Of course, I care about my server - and am not just using it to host 100 companies I don't care about ... point being, it is easier to want to ignore any non-essential changes when the server isn't your own. And, yea, sure they could install them side by side, let user accounts pick which to use.. but

And IPv6.. I hear ya. I could go on, and on...

[mahesh2k]

Ehtyar, host1plus has VPS where you can get PHP 5.3. In fact any host offering VPS and Dedicated plans will allow you to use php 5.3 or any other script depending on your needs.

[rgdot]

I was about to post much earlier in this thread but thought it is only shared you are after. VPS offerings will all "allow" 5.3, if they are real (root access, etc.) VPS offerings. Places with good support (knownhost.com for example) will even help if anything is not available out of the box, most likely that include Postgres too

[db90h]

I was about to post much earlier in this thread but thought it is only shared you are after. VPS offerings will all "allow" 5.3, if they are real (root access, etc.) VPS offerings. Places with good support (knownhost.com for example) will even help if anything is not available out of the box, most likely that include Postgres too

-rgdot (October 09, 2011, 09:02 AM)

Just BE CAREFUL. Some VPS or even cloud systems that give you full control of your own rooted server are overloaded and/or constrictive restrictive of resource rules. I had a horrible experience on a VPS on time. The first big traffic spike brought it to its knees.

[db90h]

..delme..

[Ehtyar]

Thanks fellas. I'm aware that any (proper) VPS provider will permit to install the software of my choice, and I'm capable of doing so, I was simply hoping to avoid the extensive maintenance that running your own stack requires. KnowHost is a little on the pricey side considering I won't need any management on my box, and I'm not sure about Parallels as a platform. I can't find any mention of what platform Host1Plus is using on their website, and the "Cloud" meme is perpetuated a little much for my taste.

I've been very happy with my current 512 Linode, but never experienced any significant traffic to it (though I don't expect any significant traffic to this new site). db90h, may I ask what you had in your stack at the time? I'm thinking of trying Nginx as opposed to Apache if I go for a VPS, which should significantly reduce the resource consumption of the site itself.

Ehtyar.