I spent that past 4-5 days scouring the web in search of a decent web hosting provider for an ASP.NET site. I came up with about 15 options and then began to narrow down the list.  I had a few critical criteria.

1. Had to support multiple web sites under one account.  Ideally it would be an unlimited number of sites without having to pay extra for each site, but I did consider options with the finite number offered and even some that would charge extra for each site.
2. At least 2GB space and 20GB bandwidth.  While I don’t expect to need much space, I might want to do some things with videos and so need to make sure I have that ability.
3. ASP.NET 2.0 and PHP 5.  All of my sites will be either ASP.NET 2.0 or PHP 5.
4. SQL Server available.  While I could use MySql, I much prefer to use SQL Server.
5. Dedicated IP address(es) available.  I’ve done some research and it seems that domains that are hosted on dedicated IP addresses will rank better in Google search results.  Some hosting providers have packages that include 1 or more dedicated IPs and some offer them for extra $’s. 

So I looked at the details of the various hosting options.  I narrowed the list down to about 5 potential providers.  Then I did some searches to see what other people had to say about the provider.  That helped me eliminate more.

And the winner is…. ReliableSite.net.  It was a tough decision, but it was even tougher to actually discover ReliableSite.net exists! While I was searching through some webmaster forums to get feedback on other providers, one of the messages mentioned ReliableSite.net and said they were quite pleased with them.  So, I checked them out and decided to pull the trigger.  The price is good and they allow me to host an unlimited number of domains.  I can add a dedicated IP address for $2/month, which isn’t too bad when you consider the base monthly hosting cost is only $5/month.  So, for $7/month I get a dedicated IP address, can host an unlimited # of domains, get SQL Server 2005, ASP.NET 2.0, PHP, and more.

The one thing to be aware of with ReliableSite.net is that it will take about 24 hours to get your account approved and setup.  The reason it takes so long is because they do their due diligence to protect themselves from fraud and deadbeats.  While it is hard to wait for your account to be setup, I think their approach is one reason they are a good provider — they don’t have a bunch of losers to deal with.