I am developing a new site for a client, and set him the task of finding his own web hosting. I gave him a list of requirements which included perl / cgi access, and therefore a Unix / Linux server operating system. He shopped around and decided GoDaddy.com had a package that would suit his needs. I agreed with the specs and he went ahead.

Several weeks have passed and last night I logged in to the server via FTP to start uploading files, and was a little surprised to see no cgi-bin. A bit of hunting around revealed that I was in the unfamiliar environment of a Windows NT server, meaning that a cgi-bin would be redundant as would the use of perl / cgi scripts for forms and a shopping cart.

Oops! Someone made a mistake that I would have to live with.

I pondered that the real problem here was not whether a Linux or Windows server would be ‘better’, but that under a Windows server environment I would need a crash course in ASP. That would slow my progress on the site significantly.

As I pouted to myself I asked my client to approach GoDaddy and see if the hosting could be moved from a Windows server to a Linux server without incurring a financial penalty. I expected no joy and prepared to research ASP, however the following happened:

• GoDaddy Tech Support sent an automated acknowledgement to my client;
• Tech Support then responded in detail on the same day;
• The advice was to log-in at their site and make the necessary changes at a “My Account” screen;
• A simple radio button and submit button enables a change in server operating systems (“ASP to CGI Hosting”) that is free, and takes 24 hours to update / complete.

I am still amazed at how flexible this approach is! I thought for sure that a host would have a list of hurdles and hoops such as payment of a change fee, cancellation of account / establishment of a new account, or some other bureaucratic approach to penalising you for being a nuisance. But the GoDaddy service proposition is a stand-out, and I think sets the standard for other hosts (and ISPs, come to think of it) in terms of putting customers first.

I’m impressed!

This article was posted on Friday, August 12th, 2005 at 11:35 am