Hosting Recommendations?

Greetings,
I really need a new host- I understand that it's a tricky subject on here, because there is one certified host, and I respect that there is a certification process and all...

But, when I contacted them, although the installation is free, as stipulated by Zen Cart, they want to charge me over $500 to migrate my inventory and database from my current host to theirs! This seems like a real gouge, given that the items have already been entered, set-up, and in a Zen Cart-functional database for some time now.

So, two questions:

Am I missing something here? It seems to me, to move to a new host, I should just be able to FTP the relevant files from the old host to my system, then upload them to the new host. I realize there might need to be some adjustments, but isn't it just a matter of moving the whole thing, or is it far more complex than I think?

Secondly, if anyone has a host they are happy with, in terms of really working great with all the wonderfullness of Zen Cart, please PM me.

Thanks!
alkemi

Take a look at
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=infopages&pages_id=10
HTH :wink2:

alkemi,

There is more than one certified host in our Certified Hosts page.

As for moving your data, some hosts do it for no charge. Others charge a nominal fee. You can also do it yourself. There are some FAQ's on the process.

** Please PM your recommendations **

Dr. Byte,
Thanks for your reply- but when I go to the Certified Hosting page, there is only one link- and it's to the company that wanted the huge sum to move my inventory.

I really do want to use a certified host, not just because of compatibility & support, but also because of the $ contribution certified hosts apparently make to the Zen project.

Am I going to the wrong page? I've been looking on the page linked to by the Zen Cart certified hosting tab, and I see only one link, plus a mention of a company called OSH, but no link to them.

Any help in getting me the full list would be appreciated.

Thanks!
alkemi

If you are only seeing one link- turn your ad blocker or pop-up blocker off.

Kim:

If you are only seeing one link- turn your ad blocker or pop-up blocker off.

Well, looky there! Suddenly I see all the hosts! Thanks, I guess that's why you get the big bucks ;)

This makes me happy- of course having a good host is a priority, but I also really wanted to find one that gives support back to the Z-C project. Thanks for helping me with that!

alkemi

theb you will be in lots of Luck,
Certified hosts are Excellent Hosts and also give back to Zen Cart

Greetings,
Thanks to everyone who wrote in- especially for the help in seeing the links for the hosts on the Zen Certified Hosts Page.

BUT- of those three listed there, one was the company wanting the exhorbitant fee to transfer me, and the other two have not replied to any of my 3 requests for price quotes & setup information. So, I am still searching, and I thought the "officail Zenners" should know about this, and maybe investigate certifying some better choices.

Thanks,
alkemi

Thanks again to everyone who wrote to me with hosting choices.

I was really impressed by Open Source Host / OSH when I looked at their site, they offer some great technical options and obviously really support open source software. But, as of now, I have sent them 5 e-mail requests for information and a quote, and I have not received a reply, so I guess I will host with someone else. If I'm having this much trouble trying to give them my business, I can't imagine their support will be any better once I am a customer.

I just thought folks should know, in the hopes that maybe some more responsive companies can become certified hosts, or that OSH will work on their customer service so people don't have to plead and pester them just to become customers. I tried really hard to support Zen Cart by supporting the sponsored hosts, but it seems to be impossible. Sorry!

leavesofjoy

Hello Alkemi,

I was wondering if you were able to finally see the camelot logo in the certified hosting,
I know we have talked I am just wondering if my logo is still invisible to you

Merlin,
Nope, I don't see your logo (I don't care, I'm signing on with you anyway, you come highly recommended). I don't know if it's my browser or what. After I turned off the popup blocking, I did see more banners- but it's still just 3- Sashbox, JSWeb and OSH show up.

The "Certified Hosts" situation is really confusing, if you do a Google search for "Zen Cart Certified Hosting" many, many names come up (yours is 3rd, right after the actual Zen cart site, good ranking!) but there are only 3 listed on the page in here. As I said, I have made my decision since I am happy with your responses and help so far, but for other folks searching like I was- some clarification from official Zenners might be helpful.

Thanks,
alkemi

I was never able to see camelot hosting on the certified page either, but that is who I use!

"Zen Cart Certified Hosting" many, many names come up

While many hosts may come up the only Certified Hosts have the official Zen Cart Certified Symbol on their sites.

I hope that this is not considered as an advertisement, but as it doesn't take too much to work out, I feel I need to speak in defence of the company that alkemi claims were wanting to charge so much, primarily because I work in partnership with them.

When alkemi made his first post, I pm'd him/her suggesting JSWeb. The response was that this was the company he was referring to. I then replied back saying that there must have been some misunderstanding of either his request by us or our response by him because that is NOT the case at all. I asked alkemi to supply me with details of whoever had sent the information to him, but received no response. Obviously, as we would not have been contacted by "alkemi" but by the "real" person, then we were unable to say which of us may have replied .

Of course we are going to charge to populate a new site, and of course, if we are expected to spend the time doing a transfer of thousands of products from an existing site, we would charge accordingly for time spent...but we would not charge someone to do the transfer themselves which is what alkemi states he wanted to do.

The sort of price alkemi quotes was the level we would have been talking about for the MANUAL entry of a large number of products. As I said, I am sure this is a simple misunderstanding which could probably have been quickly resolved had the information I requested been supplied to me over a month ago.

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Please make any recommendations via PM