Drupal Hosting in UK/USA

Personally, I suggest setting up on your local machine and developing the site there and save the money until you have a produce you can deploy.

Else I suggest expanding your skillset into learning how the underlying software on the server works and and setting up on a service such as linode if you feel you how to develop the site online. 

Hi Claire,

> My funds are sadly limited
> I'm familiar with many aspects of basic website construction and requirements. I understand limited sections of code but I'm no programmer.

Then you shouldn't use D8. If you don't believe your 'hosting representative' then Google why this is true.

Based on those two statements, suggestions are:

D7
Backdrop https://backdropcms.org/
WordPress

> service was slow on Cloud vs in-house Servers

All cloud and VPS type services will be slower than dedicated (in-house) servers. This is due to the added layer of software the cloud servers have to use.

> Which hosting companies offer good but not expensive SSL services

Any firm that uses cPanel will give you SSL for free, as cPanel gives them SSL cert's from free.

> VM: Personally, I suggest setting up on your local machine and developing the site there and save the money until you have a produce you can deploy.
> I am nervous about how to transfer it all 'over' at a future date

It is extremely easy to move Drupal sites around. In general: tarball the existing site, move tarballs, unpack, done.

The entire process, including setting up the new domain and DB, takes ~10 minutes. (Excluding SFTP times)

# # #

If you want to focus on your business (and not just Drupal coding), then hire someone such as myself. I have servers in both the UK and US, but any of the small shops can help you for reasonable money.

If you just want to futz around and have no monetary goals for the site, then do as VM suggested and build it on your localhost.

Best,
Michael

It sounds like you're being given good advice to develop locally first. But when / if you want something public, and with limited funds, the only shared hosting I've found that will run Drupal well, at this time, are Veerotech and Big Scoots.

For Drupal 8, you'd need 2 GB of RAM as your memory limit, as 1 GB is not enough for the composer-based building you'd end up on. 1 GB of RAM is fine for Drupal 7.

For Veerotech, the "Micro" plan only gives you 1 GB, so you'd need the second one up, "Starter" for 2 GB of RAM and D8. For Big Scoots, I'm not sure what their limits are - I've only used their reseller plan and some providers offer higher limits for shared plans - you'd need to ask.

Whoever you use, only ever pay monthly until you've used them at least 3 months. The discounts for committing longer can seem appealing, but wait until you're sure. Even then, never over 12 months at a time is my advice.

The questions in your two most recent posts are related, so I'll tackle them here together.

First of all, let's be clear on the difference between Shared Hosting and VPS. In both, you share the use of a physical actual server with other users.

With Shared Hosting, the provider loads an operating system onto the server (probably a flavour of Linux), and then a control panel (probably cPanel), which brings with it a database server (MySQL), a web server (Apache or Litespeed), and other software you need to run a website. They then create you an account on that server, so you can create your own databases, you have a directory for your own website, and so on. You're using a share of the server, but other users are using the same MySQL, the same discs, and so on - but it's all isolated so you can't see their files and they can't see yours.

With a VPS, the provider divides the server up into a number of mini "virtual" servers. Each is allocated an amount of memory, disk space, and so on. You're then given your own virtual private server to use. You haven't got your own physical server - you're sharing - but it will appear to you as if you have. You have root access to the VPS, to install your own software, and so on. You'll need Linux of some sort, a control panel (unless you want to do everything on the command line), database software (like MySQL) and so on.

In all these systems, your host will not configure your website for you. You have to handle installing, configuring and updating Drupal. Some hosts may give you best-effort help if you get into difficulties, but it's best not to assume this. They'll help you with your hosting environment, but assume that, if you need help with your website itself, you'll have to get that help from someone other than your hosting provider.

So to your questions.

First you asked: What is the difference between a managed and an unmanaged VPS? Simply this: As I said, a VPS needs an OS and other software installing on it. If the VPS is managed, the hosting provider will install what you need, secure the server, and perform other upgrades as you request them to do so. They'll also help with any trouble you have getting the (virtual) server to work as you need it to (although, to repeat, they won't help you with your website). With an unmanaged VPS, they won't help you. They'll give you an uninstalled VPS, and a control panel that lets you install Centos, Debian, Ubuntu or whatever to wish. Then it's over to you: If you need a hosting control panel, you'll have to install that yourself. You're responsible for securing the (virtual) server, and making sure any crucial updates are applied in a timely manner.

That's why I asked how technical you were. To use an unmanaged VPS you need to be confident that you're able to do all those tasks, otherwise at best you get stuck and at worst your server is hacked and taken over by someone malicious.

I therefore suggested you go for shared hosting. A managed VPS is pricey (think: $40 per month upwards); an unmanaged one may cost no more than shared hosting, but requires technical expertise you may not have (and I think you've since confirmed that).

Next you asked what "your memory" means in shared hosting. Simply this: There are various processes running on a shared hosting server that you get to dip into and use as you need to: web server, database server, DNS server, firewall, etc. But as you run your website on there, you'll find you also launch processes of your own. The most obvious are PHP processes: Each time someone requests a page, a PHP process runs to form that page. There are other processes you'll start as well, most notably if you're using Composer to install or upgrade a Drupal 8 site. (That's slightly over-simplified, but it'll do).

Any good shared hosting providers will install software called "Cloud Linux" on their servers. This ensures each user is fully isolated from all others, but it also allows them to limit how much of the server resources (disk read/write, memory, processor power) each user is allowed to use. This stops one website from hogging all the CPU or memory on the server, so that everyone else's sites run at a crawl. The limit we're talking about here is memory: There's a limit on the amount of RAM that can be used by those processes that your account owns.

Most providers have 1 GB or less for this limit, which is absolutely fine for a moderately busy website running its PHP processes. But Drupal 8's Composer installation alone uses more than that, which is why you need to ask about the "Cloud Linux Physical Memory limit" before signing up with any provider.