Who are the top three UK web hosts for Web 2.0 apps running Django/Phython or Ruby on Rails? And why?
This initial app is going to be small and simple, non-resource intensive in terms of anything (storage, CPU, bandwidth).
What matters most are: (1) speed, (2) reliability, (3) price and fee structure, and (4) scalability, starting at tiny and growing to small/mid-size.
IMPORTANT:
A) Don't put affiliate links in your answers!
B) When you answer the question, don't forget the "why"?
C) Don't forget to mention your authority, such as your domain expertise, if you used them (for what) or tested them (when), etc.
D) Disclose any affiliation or potential conflicts of interests, such as a relationship or interests you (or friends or family) have with any hosts you mention.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$3 Answers
http://www.bytemark.co.uk/
http://www.linode.com/
If you don't want to admin your own VPS, one option that is worth considering is WebFaction (who used to be called python-hosting.com but have since expanded to specialise in more than just Python). They're UK based and come with a superb reputation, though I haven't tried them myself. It's worth watching their Django demo to get an idea for how their service works: http://www.webfaction.com/demos/django
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Find a thread for "what's the best webhost for *blah blah*" where everyone tosses out their favorites. Pick the ones that seem to get mentioned a few times with accolades, then plug them back into the search. With an hour or so you can get a ton of background on any host. This process has always left me feeling very comfortable with my decisions.
Good luck!!
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$XMGFree, even though they are technicaly not in the UK they have excellent Ruby and Ajax support.
They are not accepting new applicants but I would gladly allow anyone use of my account providing they are descrete and tidy about it.
http://www.XMGFree.com
Brinkster is also another good free host but they over sell themeselves sometimes and their service suffers.
However their downtime is very very low.
(BrinkSter also has excellent E-Mail solutions)
Kind Regards
~X
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Thank you, although I am not looking for free ("You get what you pay for").
Please don't put words into my mouth. "You get what you pay for" is a quote (not mine, which is why I put it it in quotes). It means that often, but not always, price and quality are correlated. This is related to the project triangle theory: "Fast, good, cheap... pick two." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_triangle) To some extent, this is likely true with web hosting. Anyway, I'm not going to debate. Good luck.
Then I would checkout brinkster as they use zimbra in their e-mail portal.
Chrisco I am really upset that you would think because something is free it couldn't be the best dude.
Excellent, thanks :)