John Raul dot Com

Last March 11, I first tasted the Speedy hosting plan from Top Hosting Center. Now, after quite some time of thorough observation, I am ready to give you the verdict of their flagship hosting plan for this season. This post was made particularly for people who want to know the true value of Speedy. THC’s Speedy hosting plan replaced the infamous Rudolf in their web hosting spotlight. Does Speedy deserve the limelight? Let’s find out.

Speedy Versus Rudolf

The hosting features of Speedy plan can be emphasized by putting it side by side with the infamous Rudolf plan which I believed to be one of the greatest hosting plans the Web has ever seen during its time.

As you can see above, Speedy is distinguishable by its enormous disk space and monthly bandwidth. Plus it comes with free dedicated IP address and a domain name, along with other hosting features Rudolf has. Perhaps one of the things you would care is that Speedy is regular hosting plan priced at $6.75 per month for 24-month subscription, unlike Rudolf which was introduced as lifetime hosting plan for only $95.

Like what I expressed in the post when I first experienced Speedy, honestly I was very excited for its features. My previous Rudolf plan felt great as is, considering that I don’t have to pay for its monthly fees and enjoy hosting for life. However, I wanted to have the best for this blog. So, when THC unleashed its Speedy hosting plan, I was one of the early people who were able to taste its glory.

The Glory of Dedicated IP

Other than the great bump of its figures in terms of disk space and bandwidth, it is the dedicated IP address that makes Speedy hosting plan rather distinctive compared to its competitors. THC is proud that Speedy is the best hosting plan with its level as shown in their comparison page.

Once you buy a Speedy plan and you gain access to THC’s H-Sphere control panel, you will get one dedicated IP address that you can use to any of your domains. Unfortunately, a dedicated IP address can only be used by one domain, so if you need more, you have to pay add-on for $24 per static IP address per year. Once again, THC offers the cheapest rate with this optional upgrade for your domains. If you don’t have any idea about the importance of a dedicated IP address, this post is a good reference for you.

Now, knowing that this blog run with Speedy’s dedicated IP address for over a month now – was it able to make any difference at all? My answer is a resounding yes. Other than extended FTP functionality, one thing I noticed is that this blog got better traffic from search engines. It was scarce before when I was still under Rudolf’s shared IP. Another thing I noticed is that my domain’s emails received less spams. As you know, having a dedicated IP address protects you from being affected by other abusing users on a shared hosting environment. Chances of getting unsolicited emails and damaging your growing business reputation resulting from shared IP being blacklisted are greatly avoided.

The Speedy Hosting Experience

At first, I was greatly thrilled of the abundance brought about by Speedy. With four times disk space capacity (1,000 GB) and ten times monthly bandwidth (33,000 GB) allocation than that of Speedy hosting plan, dreams and daydreams of having dozens of sites having large contents are definitely possible. More sites, more money – that is what I thought.

Later on, I realized that it is quite hard to take advantage the enormous disk space and bandwidth (well, for my case). Adding quality contents to each of your sites and managing them are more challenging than merely getting large margins of hosting resources. However for web entrepreneurs and webmasters who have multiple existing domains and rapidly-growing websites, Speedy’s resources are sure-fire advantage.

Adding quality contents to each of your sites and managing them are more challenging than merely getting large margins of hosting resources

The hosting experience in general is rather identical to that of Rudolf hosting plan except worries of having deficient disk space and limited bandwidth are eliminated – which is good, less stress.

Speedy is only available on Linux platform. THC found out in their previous hosting plan experience that customers favor Linux platform than Windows. This is seconded by them because Linux is more stable, faster, and secure. If you need a Windows plan, however, ask THC’s live chat representatives for a Rudolf Windows plan (I heard Rudolf is still available on demand despite being out of the spotlight).

As usual, Top Hosting Center still excels in the area of customer support – which plays a vital role of having a pleasant hosting experience with them. Their chat support representatives are responsive and well-informed. They immediately act when they get aware that a problem has struck to any of their customer’s websites. Same goes with their trouble ticket system – responses and solutions arrive in timely fashion.

Little Shortcomings

Shortly after Speedy hosting plan was introduced, THC announced the change of H-Sphere’s EasyApp collection. EasyApp is a set of one-click-install PHP applications similar to CPanel’s Fantastico. EasyApp applications include CMS, blog platforms, e-mail and chat applications, among others.

THC is not anymore relying on default EasyApp package from PSoft, the provider of their H-Sphere control panel and EasyApp. According to THC, PSoft failed to deliver updates on time when customers need them. So, they outsourced custom EasyApp packages from HSpherePlugins.com, a third-party developer for H-Sphere. Now, despite applications being up-to-date, the number of EasyApp applications kind of reduced. You don’t have to worry though; WordPress and other important applications are still there and would possibly expand in the future.

Another thing worth mentioning during my observation is that Speedy is not slowdown-free. My blog experienced several slowdowns sporadically within the month. It is good to know, however, that despite Speedy being so generous, it is still running on a shared hosting environment – a kind of hosting that is not totally free from hosting problems such as slowdowns and downtimes which is normal.

Related Articles From THC Speedy Customers

If you have tried THC’s Speedy hosting plan and you write a review, please inform me and I will add your review hereunder. So far, these are the customers who expressed their opinions regarding THC’s Speedy hosting plan.

• New Hosting For GrandmasterB.com

Conclusion: Is Speedy The Next Big Thing?

I remember THC calling Speedy “the biggest standard hosting plan” they’ve done to date when they unleashed it. By reviewing the page they made comparing Speedy versus the hosting plans from other big hosting companies, I would say Speedy is superb. It deserves the throne of Rudolf hosting plan, which however is still very good for thrifty and frugal online entrepreneurs.

Then again, I would like to emphasize the nature of shared hosting. Despite Speedy being so big and great, figures will not guarantee a problem-free and dedicated-hosting-like web hosting. However, its free dedicated IP is a consolation, and with THC’s quick-responding support department, you will get a pleasant hosting experience for you and your business.

Despite Speedy being so big and great, figures will not guarantee a problem-free and dedicated-hosting-like web hosting.

Now if you don’t bother paying monthly fees for your web hosting, and for the sake of abundance, better SEO and quality of hosting, Top Hosting Center successfully wipes off their hosting contenders with the striking features of their Speedy hosting plan – and that is a big thing.

Good news to everyone!

Starting this month I will be accepting review requests from anyone who wants one for free. If you have a blog or any website, a product, or services that you want to get reviewed by me, I will accept it on case to case basis.

I tend to favor reviewing products, services, and websites related to this blog (since it brings mutual benefit the most). However, I also like to review other things that arouse my curiosity.

Here are the little requirements that I set for a review request to be accepted:

• Any site, products, services or anything related to this website. If you insist that you have something intriguing that you want to get reviewed and my readers deserve to know, then go – send your request.
• I review only legitimate sites, products and services that are intended to bring benefit to humanity. If you ask me to review something for an obscure motive, I may reject it.
• Send your request by directly contacting me through my Yahoo Messenger (YM), Windows Live Messenger (WLM) or Skype accounts. I prefer to chat with you about the thing you want to get reviewed. I don’t prefer emails, they are lousy (well, it’s meant for something else but not review requests).

Before I can write a review, I will need ample time to peruse your site, study your product or try your services (of course, you should let me access it for free). I am willing to establish a mutual and harmonious online business relationship to all the clients I get reviewed. However, it’s up to you.

Is it really free? Well, yeah. I encourage you though to donate as little as $5 to my PayPal account. The money will be used for the continued existence of this blog. You are allowed to donate higher amount though if you want and I will be grateful for it. However, rest assured that it will never influence the outcome of my review. Generous donors might be mentioned or listed somewhere on this website for being benevolent. If you want to give a reciprocal link instead, then go; it is okay.

It’s already been two months since John Raul dot Com (this blog) breathe to life. To celebrate the second month of existence, I decided to share with you a comprehensive review of the best hosting plan that I’ve ever seen on the Web specifically tailored for bloggers and webmasters – the “Rudolf” hosting plan from Top Hosting Center (THC). Please note that some links directing to the Rudolf plan may contain affiliate links. It does not, in any way, manipulate the truth, facts, and fair judgement presented on this article.

Rudolf Hosting Plan Overview

Rudolf hosting plan was released by THC originally as a Christmas promotional package for people who are eager to start running their own blogs or websites. There were 1000 plans available and the promo would end when all plans are sold out. Each plan, which sits over Windows or Linux, boasts lifetime ownership (yes, for life) of a hosting account with 250 GB disk space, 3000 GB unmetered monthly bandwidth, unlimited database, a free lifetime domain name, among other professional hosting features – all priced at $95 one-time payment. THC stressed through Rudolf that “customers will never have to pay for hosting again” – a statement that shocked many informed bloggers causing them to move from their old hosts to THC.

Below is a detailed comparison of THC’s standard hosting plan, the Top Hosting Special, priced at $4.95 per month and the special Rudolf plan priced at $95 one-time for lifetime ownership.

The recent Yuletide season saw a lagging sales of Rudolf though, there were still over 600 plans left during the end of December. However, during the first few weeks of 2008, there was a surge of customers who bought Rudolf plans and eventually the remaining plans plummeted below 500. According to THC’s sales representative, they predicted that the Rudolf plans will diminish this February but may still have the chance to extend more due to changing market conditions. It was renamed to “Rudolf Valentine” carrying a theme “We Love Bloggers” to match the season.

Rudolf Under Scrutiny

Signing up for Rudolf plan comes in two different tastes: Linux and Windows. It can be found on the on the product’s landing page with all the information you need. THC even provided a FAQ page in an effort to clear the doubts of skeptic customers about their current flagship product. I see this effort “good.” THC uses only two payment gateways for their signups: PayPal and 2CheckOut. The latter one is good for credit cards that are recognized internationally.

Instructions about domain name registrations and domain name transfers associated to the Rudolf plan are provided in one of the steps of the account signup wizard. It asks new customers to send their domain registration or domain transfer request to THC’s email support. It would have been more convenient if THC was able put domain registration forms as part of their signup the process. Nevertheless, domain name registrations are usually completed from two to six hours upon registration (it could vary though) while domain name transfers usually take five days to a week to complete (without downtime). Since each Rudolf plan promises a lifetime domain name, THC will be the one to pay for the renewal fees as long as the customer stays on THC.

The EasyApp, a collection of ready-to-use PHP applications tied with the H-Sphere control panel, similar to CPanel’s Fantastico, boasts a rich number of useful applications (CMS, blog platforms, e-commerce, support systems, etc). However, the current version used by THC, does not allow installation on root directory through the control panel. This is troublesome to customers, for instance, who wants to get their WordPress blog installed on the root for search engine-optimized (SEO) permalink structure. However, the workaround is to install the application manually to the root. Manual installation is tricky and could be difficult to people who are not very technologically-inclined.

Rudolf also offers unlimited database, domains and subdomains which perfectly match the 250 GB disk storage and 3000 GB monthly bandwidth. Other hosts usually impose a maximum number of databases, and varying domain/subdomain limitations for their hosting plans. THC broke them with its 1000 Rudolf plans; the generous resource lineups allow customers to put more information to their websites due to its increased database storage and bandwidth.

Finally, with all the benefits Rudolf bring, THC placed a price tag of $95 to each plan. Of course, it is cheap and very affordable – a 12-month regular hosting would cost around $60 (excluding the domain name registration and renewal). I personally remark that it was “aggressively priced” which could be a risk to THC if their goals are not met and efforts backfire. However, I believe that the company is well-funded and that they have pre-calculated well the Rudolf plan. Hopefully with the Rudolf’s release, it would bring good returns to their investments in parallel with their generosity.

Rudolf Over Linux

I read from many blog testimonials that customers who acquired Rudolf hosting plans over Linux platform are overjoyed with the performance of their websites. Honestly, this did not shock me as Linux has always been the king in terms of web hosting regardless of hosting company.

PHP and MySQL combination in Linux platform is superb. Similar performance is also achieved by PostGreSQL database engine.

So while the rest of Linux features are excellent, there is only one apparent shortcoming I have to mention – domains on Linux can only run PHP version 4. This means applications meant for PHP version 5 may have problems running on Linux platform for the meantime. THC cannot be blamed for this, however, as the limitation was brought about by the current H-Sphere version. Future H-Sphere control panel upgrades foreseeable this year, are expected to wipe this out.

Rudolf Over Windows

Though in many ways Linux outperform Windows in the web hosting department, Rudolf over Windows platform is powered by multiple core Intel processors (same as Linux) to ensure a fast, stable and responsive website environment.

The H-Sphere control panel over Windows works a bit different than that of Linux. It offers support for ASP and ASP.net languages backed by MySQL, PostGreSQL and optional MSSQL databases. Currently, PHP is implemented as CGI on Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 available in two different and switchable versions for domains that run on Windows platform: version 4.4.7 and version 5.2.3. In all other aspects, Windows offer similar features with Linux.

However, personally I prefer getting a Linux plan (unless I need Windows-specific features). But generally in terms of web hosting, I trust Linux more than Windows.

Top Hosting Center: A Good Hosting Company?

Let’s make the article I wrote previously, “What Good Companies Are Made Of,” as a basis of judging the reputation of the company that hosts Rudolf: Top Hosting Center, a Montreal-based hosting company.

• Products competency over pricing. The specifications of Rudolf hosting plan and Top Hosting Special, in particular, passes the 200 GB disk space and 2000 GB monthly bandwidth competency requirement which I deemed sufficient for most hosting needs nowadays (though bigger is always better). Both plans are fairly priced except some would interpret Rudolf hosting plan as a bit “overselling.” However, I don’t believe because it’s just a limited offer and it is good while supply lasts. THC uses H-Sphere for web management for their hosting customers. H-Sphere is a highly sophisticated control panel developed by Positive Software Corporation that works similar but not graphically alike with other control panels, CPanel and Plesk. H-Sphere features EasyApp, a collection of ready-to-use PHP scripts which include content management systems (CMS), forums, blogs (e.g. WordPress), image galleries, and a lot more.
• Server performance, reliability and security consistency. THC’s CEO, Eric Vanier asserted in his blog that the servers behind their hosting plans, never experienced downtime for almost two years. However, seemed like a devil’s luck, it was followed by another post stating that they experienced an unexpected database issue when they applied a security patch requiring server reboot in the evening of January 11th. It broke their consistent uptime record but rather reasonable since unexpected downtimes usually happen when a new software is introduced during upgrades or if there are changes in its configuration (like the application of security patches). It was however resolved in timely manner and oddly brought server improvements that are assumingly expected to bring improved server performance and assured stability to all platforms. Other than that, THC also does nightly backups and imposes strict security rules to assure a secure environment to all its users (no SSH access on shared servers, etc).
• Support and management reachability. THC currently offers only three different modes of support: live chat support (which can be initiated on THC’s official website), e-mail support and trouble ticket support (an in-built feature in the account’s control panel). These are available 24×7, which means help is ready anytime you need it. I particularly liked the chat support system. Their chat representatives are real people and very friendly and responsive – good for product inquiries, problem reports, and basic technical assistance. They should, however, think about offering phone support (as other hosts do) to be completely competent in this part. However, they said such service is still not a “need” as of the moment as their existing support methods still suffice.
• Employee satisfaction. Just like what I mentioned in my previous post, employee satisfaction is tantamount to service and product excellence. Upon chatting with one of THC’s representatives, I learned that they are indeed very eager to deliver quality services toward customer satisfaction. This underlines the statement found of its CEO’s blog post “I Love Competition, So Do You.” I’ve also discovered that THC has partnered with Pamil-Visions, a Germany-based online marketing company that only promotes products they feel confident for.

Rudolf Plus Value-Added Services

Rudolf customers can also enjoy other THC value-added services: the THC online community forum, the THC corporate web hosting blog, discounted SEO services for their websites, and exclusive free website directory.

What Others Have To Say About Rudolf

I’ve done a Google search to find some customer reviews or any article related to the Rudolf plan. Here is the list of what I found (and there’s more out there):

• Affordable Lifetime Web Hosting Service
• THC Webhosting: Why It Is An Easy Option For Me
• Kinks Working Out At Top Hosting Center
• Brand Your Blog And Catch Rudolph Before He Is Gone
• One Time Charge For Hosting???
• First Impressions of Top Hosting Center
• Rudolf Hosting Plan Less Than 500 Left, Countdown Begins
• THC Rudolf: Globally Competitive Hosting Plan
• THC Unveils Lifetime Webhosting Account For $95 One-time!
• Why Is Rudolf The Hosting Plan You Need

Grand Conclusion

Now that I have uncovered Rudolf in most dimensions, it is now clear why it is one of the most amazing hosting plans I’ve seen on the Web. Where can you ever find a reliable host that offer 250 GB disk space, 3000 GB monthly bandwidth, a lifetime domain name, along with other standard hosting features – all subject only for one-time payment of $95? THC only rolled 1000 Rudolf plans (of course, they will lose their business if they dare to offer more) and those are meant for lucky people who are seeking for the right host.

Perhaps I didn’t tell in the previous paragraphs, but Rudolf bears one catch that could derail you from your decision of getting one: if you are dreaming of setting up an adult site for Rudolf hosting plan, forget Rudolf. THC strongly follows code of ethics and does not allow any illegal files to reside on their wholesome servers.

So, if you want to run your own blog or move your existing site to a Rudolf plan, you should do it now. Though their sales representatives won’t disclose the exact figures of remaining plans, I was informed that the numbers of Rudolf plans are rapidly diminishing. This is a threat for you.

Whew! Go get your own Rudolf hosting plan now and if you want to thank me for the great information, you can express it by putting this site in your blogroll or by simply subscribing to this blog through email or RSS.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’ve heard from lots of people their disappointment and perused so many blogs expressing hatred on Windows Vista. It seems that this is a natural habit of many people towards any Microsoft products.

Well, to tell you, I’m a Vista user too. I have Home Premium version in my laptop and been running for almost six months. For sure, I found some annoying things on Vista that make the previous Windows versions (like Windows XP) a little worthwhile. But hey, I found some great things people missed or under-appreciated.

First, the good thing about Vista is that Microsoft took a major revamp on its Graphical User Interface (GUI) that modernizes its look. By revamp, I’m not only talking about the windows transparency feature of Aero, but I’m pertaining to the overall aesthetic efficiency or the improvement of accessibility and folder navigation.

The folder navigation in Windows Vista is exceptional. As you refer to the image below, folder to folder navigation in the system is faster and easier. You can virtually jump to any folder you want in just few clicks. On the left side of Windows Explorer, the traditional explorer view or pane is enabled by default. This speeds up the navigation as it automatically scrolls horizontally whenever it is needed. This is an intelligent Microsoft work in removing the daunting horizontal scroll bar of the previous Windows versions.

The sidebar on Windows Vista is very useful to me. You can add little gadgets (this is similar to widgets) to it and applets like calendars, photo slideshow, among others. Microsoft provided a gadget library at Windows Live Gallery where people can upload and download gadgets.

The other things that I liked in Vista are the system utilities which let you assess or do comprehensive reports for better performance and reliability analysis. Security is robust in Vista, although its persistent User Account Control feature can be annoying to some. This can be disabled, however.
Here is a screen capture of the Windows Experience Index, an inbuilt system-wide benchmarking tool included in Windows Vista’s Performance Information and Tools. Mainly it is used to determine what software (especially graphics, resource-intensive applications) can run in your system – the greater the number, the better. In my case, I scored 3.1 and it’s pathetic.

Despite Vista’s glory, it is still quite detrimental to know that this operating system’s elegance requires higher hardware specifications compared to its predecessors. In my personal standpoint, this is just a normal characteristic of software technology evolution as it tries to parallel the extended capabilities brought about by modern hardware. The Windows Vista I have runs over a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 256 MB video memory (in-built graphics chip). You can see the details below.

If these hardware specifications are used for a Windows XP system, it would surely bounce to the roof.

To let you know these are the few major things I wish Microsoft would resolve or improve in the forthcoming Service Pack 1 (SP1) release for Windows Vista in first quarter of 2008 (they say in February):

• Speed of copying and moving of files in the Windows Explorer
• Random freezes, lost of responsiveness in some programs
• Performance of ailing Internet Explorer 7
• Overall system performance, reliability and stability

It seems however, after reading Paul Thurrott’s article for Windows Vista SP1, most of the issues I stated above will be addressed on SP1’s release along with new features. This is good news to me and to other prayerful Vista users. We truly need it.

In light of the issues, I can still proudly say that I love Windows Vista. It still keeps my work done, and its new environment inspires me and removes boredom. However, if you’re not too patient before the release of any service packs, you might be inclined to go for XP instead of Vista, or wait until 2010 when Windows 7, the next version of Windows, will be released.

Read: This is not a paid article.

I used to be an avid Internet surfer – chatting, reading articles, participating forums and clicking links after links throughout the endless Web. I just love the Internet, I just love the Web, and I could not picture out myself without this technology. Well, truth is, I still am an Internet savvy but now I am more technically challenged!

I just love the Internet, I just love the Web, and I could not picture out myself without this technology.

Unlike before that I only hooked myself to the information superhighway for recreation, now I develop websites, deal with codes and scripts, write blogs, blurbs, optimize web pages for search engines, and a lot more. I do all of them to express my thoughts and creative works for the Web. I thought before that utterances are useless but I figured out that someone somewhere can benefit fit them in a way.

If you are like me and you want to know how to be more creative, or if you believe you already are and you don’t have idea to improve your productivity, you might be interested to know the software tools I am using. These are not secret tools, so I believe you already heard or used them.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3

I first got acquainted with Dreamweaver when it was still under Macromedia, in its fifth version. At first, it looked complicated to me especially because I was not fond of creating websites that time yet. However, sometime in my college, when we asked to create web pages I chose Dreamweaver (over FrontPage) because the GUI is easy to understand, easy to navigate, and has lots of features and documentation. Today, since I am a web developer, I use Dreamweaver to create and edit any web file. It lets your work done so fast. However, Dreamweaver’s in-built FTP functionality is rather slow for me, so I prefer and recommend using third-party FTP software like CuteFTP or CoreFTP. The latest version I have, the Dreamweaver CS3, is noticeably faster and easier to use than its predecessor. I don’t know what but it appears to me that Adobe did something Macromedia didn’t. Plus, it got tons of new features any web developer would enjoy to use.

Adobe Photoshop CS3

I have been using Photoshop since its ancient version six. Self-taught, and still not a Photoshop expert, I am happy that I am able to do some decent graphics for the Web using this software. See that header image above this web page? It’s done in Photoshop. I’ve seen guys who are adept of Photoshop and it was only that time I realized how powerful Photoshop can be. Latest Photoshop versions are now more sophisticated than ever, and it will require you to have decent amounts of memory and faster processor to be able play with it. Since professionals use it to create or edit commercial-grade images and design, why don’t you?

Adobe Flash CS3

No doubt, Flash is one of the most exciting things that Web world has. Its multimedia capabilities revolutionized the way web pages and graphics are presented on your browser. As you can see, flash animations, Flash websites, and Flash banners are highly common these days. And guess what – your favorite video websites like YouTube is powered by a Flash video player. You must have this software to be creative on the Web. It lets you express and boosts your graphics creativity and productivity to the fullest. With a powerful scripting engine Actionscript, it could create decent applications and games. If you want to be productivity, this is a must.

SWiSHmax

Swish is simpler and a perfect substitute to Flash. I use Swish to create Flash-based text effects (from its generous text effects gallery), quickly export them as SWF files and import them in Flash or video editing software like Sony Vegas for presentation advantage. I use Swish to improve the videos I make for YouTube and this website.

Sony Vegas 7

While most video professionals use Mac’s Final Cut Studio 2 or Adobe’s Premiere Pro to work on videos, personally I love using Sony Vegas. Its streamlined drag and drop interface makes non-linear video editing so fast. So, if you want to edit videos captured from your webcam, camcorders or mobile phones, you will definitely appreciate the strength and ease of Vegas. I just wish, however, that the future versions will have more sophisticated text effects so I would not need third-party solutions. Currently I am using Vegas 7 and it’s a shame for me because Vegas 8 is already released on the market (can’t wait to experience the new features). Once again, Sony successfully made a successful blow with Sony Vegas – at least to me. Truly, Sony is “like no other.”

Have you tried those programs I just mentioned above? Well, you should. Those tools will help you to become productive on the Web — you never know. The increased productivity I gained from using those software didn’t only satisfy my desire to express myself and contribute something to the expanding Web, but I also found a way to earn for a living as well.