bakunin has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Fellow monks,

I've been searching the internet for a webhost that offers excellent perl support with SHARED HOSTING. Some companies do not even bother specifying the perl version they have! And most do not give accurate andd enough information about the their Perl support.

I'd like to get your advice on this. Which webhosts do you know, work with...? Here are my requests from the webhost

1) I should be able to use my own CGI scripts, my own modules, and upload maybe dozens of other CPAN modules.

2) I even need a C library installed in the server! Namely, it's ming, the SWF output library. Some hosting companies have ming installed, but hey, what if some company has a much better deal, but no ming?

For the beginning, (1) is a MUST HAVE!!! I want shared hosting because it's cheap. If you know a cost effective dedicated server package, I could take it too!

I appreciate your help
Thanks,
asi

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: webhosting advice needed
by ajdelore (Pilgrim) on Sep 22, 2003 at 22:09 UTC

    I would suggest PAIR networks as they sponsor PerlMonks and also support perl. They should have what you are looking for.

    </ajdelore>

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Re: webhosting advice needed
by jdtoronto (Prior) on Sep 22, 2003 at 23:36 UTC
    Supporting pair.com is a good idea, I have had an account with them for years. However, they will not permit you to install your own modules unless you can do it in your own directory space. Likewise with CPAN modules - run them in your own directory space otherwise you wont be able to use them at all.

    You might have better luck finding what you want if you go to Web Hosting Talk and ask there. You will find plenty of small hosting operators htere who may be willing to help out with a non-standard configuration that the bigger services, like Pair, cannot offer. Who knows, you might even find one who will offer the 'C' library support you want.

    Be careful though, more and more small hosting services are being run on 're-sold' machines from operators such as Nocster and run by keen young business-folk, some as young as 14 who whilst being keen, often have only a passing knowledge of PHP and usually none or precious little of Perl.

    Good luck! jdtoronto Updated Corrected typo's - thanks BUU

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Re: webhosting advice needed
by Plankton (Vicar) on Sep 22, 2003 at 22:17 UTC
    Why not use pair.com That's what perlmonks runs on as far as I know and they support mod_perl.
    Plankton: 1% Evil, 99% Hot Gas.
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Re: webhosting advice needed
by cavalive (Novice) on Sep 23, 2003 at 00:36 UTC
    Pair is good, but check dreamhost.com also. I host there and they are great. Their web panel is very good.
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      cavalive, I checked the dreamhost... Oh my!! They have a 9.95/m strict business plan. Special discount for 3 days. I'm jumping on it, i think I got nothing to lose.

      I also looked at webhostingtalk.com as jdtoronto suggested. very good information site...

      Now, the problem arises. DREAMHOST's plan seems very, very good. Special promotion... $80/m high level plan becomes $10/m, for three days. It's the same price with the lowest level plan. What happens to the other customers paid yearly already??? No refunds are given if you want to switch, or cancel as far as I know! It's very annoying for them. Maybe even for you cavaline! It's just isn't fair.

      But, the deal is a deal... I'm taking it. cavaline, at least give me your web ID or domain name, so that I can write you into the referred box.

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      If you're thinking about going with Dreamhost, then you may also want to consider ehostpros. As far as I can tell, they offer everything that Dreamhost does, but for a lot less (starting plan is $2.99 a month and includes Perl support and MySQL).

      Note: I don't use ehostpros yet. I've been thinking about switching over and the reviews I've read sound pretty good.

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Re: webhosting advice needed
by huskey (Beadle) on Sep 23, 2003 at 00:46 UTC
    www.hostmatix.com is good. they support perl, php, mysql and much more. good prices & service. they've always been willing to upload CPAN modules at my request.
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Re: webhosting advice needed
by mojotoad (Monsignor) on Sep 24, 2003 at 20:16 UTC
    http://phpwebhosting.com has pretty good rates, $10/mo last I checked. Modules can be installed in your personal directory, but they take special requests also.

    Matt

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