Hi all,

Here's my situation: I have developed a website mainly aimed at students. It will hold the usual array of funny video clips, online games, pictures etc (nothing graphic). I have intentions (and hope!) for it to expand and here the problem lies.

I know that with large volume of traffic in the the forum and watching of video clips, I will eventually need a dedicated server. However, I don't want to spend that money straight away when it's not needed. But at the same time, I don't want to go with a shared hosting plan that firstly ties me to an annual contract, scares visitors away with slow downloads and allows me no upgrades. Any suggestions? I'm also in the UK, so any good UK hosts people know of or is location arbitrary? Will a VPS be more suitable? Many thanks for any advie in advance.

Jamie

If you're not ready for a dedicated server and don't want a shared hosting plan, you could go with a virtual private server. Check out http://www.hostway.co.uk .

Well most shared hosting providers will offer monthly plans and not just annual contracts! Many also allow free upgrades with their plans. If you outgrow you just move up to the next plan and usually just pay the difference in the plan pricing. Unless you know for sure how much disk space and bandwidth that you will require you might not need a VPS or dedicated!
You will find many of the UK hosts have their actual servers in the US so I would just inquire through them when you send some pre-sales emails to them! Another option is using www.hostquote.com and you can submit a request and then hosts will respond. I would mention though in your quote request that you are seeking UK location, IF this is truly what you want.
Hope this helps!