To VPS or not to VPS, that's the question

[Poirot]

Hi folks
We are currently on SDX and loving it, we're happy with everything except with one little thing: although we have our own IP for our websites, we are sharing another IP for all our mail.
The problem with that is that if anybody's mail account gets compromised, the IP used for the mail might get blacklisted and some of our mail to our customers does not get through.

JPC suggested we go VPS, which should get us our own IP for the mail. I've been checking things out a bit, and it seems a good idea. We are thinking of going Freedom plan with cPanel.
However, there are a number of not so happy VPS customers judging by the forum, and we are just wondering about other people's experience who have moved from SDX to VPS.

- Worth the move?
- Are a lot of complaints about VPS based on the fact that some people try to do extra-ordinary things on their machines?
- Is a VPS lots more work, or is it like DSX once you set things up properly?
- Do you get the same service?

We are so happy we found JPC after heaps of crappy experiences with some of the biggest names out there, and don't really need all the hassle that comes with moving accounts, although it will be simple from JPC-DSX to JPC-VPS as compared to between companies, but we still do not see it as fun

Thanks!

[the_ancient]

Personally I would not move, I would be less concerned with IP blacklisting, and more concerned about elminating the need for multiple IP address's

This makes no sense? I have never heard of anyone wanting to move to a VPS to get more IP;s for Mail accounts?

[Poirot]

I have never heard of anyone wanting to move to a VPS to get more IP;s for Mail accounts?

For the moment we do not have an IP for the mail ourselves, that's not possible on SDX.
It is not to have more IPs, but to have our own IP for mail so we are not affected by what happens to or by other people on the same mail server.

[the_ancient]

Well There are a few things Jag Activly Monitors and has been very good about black lists, This is not a new thing, jag has 1,000's and 1,000's of accounts, your not alone in this, I have been here for years and only a handful of times has there been a issue, and it has been resolved...

Moving to a VPS you will lose horsepower, no VPS will be as powerful as the SDX, So your moving to a less powerful account to solve a problem that will probally never be a problem,

If your really that worried about it, have looked in to out sourcing your mail.

[Poirot]

Thanks for your comments, ancient.
Our shared mail server has been compromised once, and one of the users has been reported as a spammer 3 times in the last year.
I totally agree that JPC at any time has been straight on top of the problem, and even has denied the affected accounts until fixed.
Your comments seem to confirm most posts, and it seems better and easier to put up with the occasional blacklisting, than move to a VPS.

[EuroNut]

Plan B: (Just something to think about) How about getting a small VPS just for your mail. A Discovery plan will take DirectAdmin nicely, and your SDX account continues to perform as your web server. DirectAdmin is less complicated than cPanel/WHM, and needs less memory etc. That way you get your own mail-server (with its own IP address) and a very easy control panel to create email accounts, manage SpamAssassin, create custom mail-deny rules, etc. You can get everything set up on it ready first, and then just ask Jag to change the MX entry in their DNS for you to point your mail to the VPS. There's some other benefits, like being able to have a fail-over splash page hosted on the VPS should your main web site go down, but that's something you could maybe think about further down the line once you've isolated your email.

[Poirot]

Spoken like a true salesperson, Euronut

But I guess you're right, it might kill two birds with one stone (sorry for the bird lovers), but then again: who needs an extra page when your site goes down, if you're hosted by JPC

Seems a better idea than outsourcing our mail, although I must admit I have not done to much homework on that yet.

Thanks

[thecoalman]

I'm happy with VPS but then again the only site hosted on my VPS that needs any amount resources is my own and even that isn't much in the grand scheme of things. A typical $5 to $10 shared hosting account could probably meet my needs from the right host. The only issue with the shared hosting on the cheaper plans I would have is if you get spikes in resources, most I researched may simply suspend your site on the spot and I can't have that happen simply because of a one time overusage.

What I do like is the flexibility and the experience it's giving me when it comes time to move to full dedicated.

[Frank Broughton]

What I do like is the flexibility and the experience it's giving me when it comes time to move to full dedicated.

Exactly! I have learned much the last two plus years of having a VPS here at JPC. I see great advantage for a VPS over a shared account. Sixty dollars a month is well worth it for a decent size and powered VPS. I share the cost with a few friends. They do not even use cPanel let alone modify root items on the server, so it works great for me.

[thecoalman]

If I was going to spend $60 a month I'd be looking at one of those cheap dedicated servers they were offering, not sure if they are still available.

Anyhow since the lowest VPS plan they offer is well within my bandwidth and storage needs that's what I'm using. I added 128MB of ram so its about $30 a month.

[Frank Broughton]

They do not come with a control panel - that is way extra on a dedicated no?

[thecoalman]

Didn't think about that, I don't know what they offer as far as a CP. just another reason to learn how to run it without a control panel.

I can see the advantage of a control panel if you're running multiple domains and reselling the space however if I go full dedicated I'll only be hosting my own 2 domains on it.

[Rob]

You could always put a free one on their like VHCS...

[Vin DSL]

Hi folks
We are currently on SDX and loving it, we're happy with everything except with one little thing...

LoL!

You and 'we' are obviously jackasses...

See ya!

Why torture the sheep on your way out?

[EuroNut]

Spoken like a true salesperson, Euronut

Huh?? I'm not selling anything. I don't work for Jag. I was simply suggesting a solution for your mail dilemma - I've done it this way myself, so I just thought I'd pass the idea along