web host recommendation

[hairymonkey]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a web host that will enable me to post videos that isn't via youtube or similar.

I'm setting up a business that provides distance learning courses and I want my customers to be able to view videod lectures. Since the customers are paying for the course I don't want the videos to be viewable by just anyone, and so don't want to use youtube or the likes.

Thanks

Leona

[inkuk]

check creativeon, also check UK based server.

[m8internet]

You can upload videos to youtube with private access
Your members / customers would then be issued with the access code and could then view the videos

The advantage of using a webhost will be the control of any adverts that appear
However, videos use bandwidth so will not be cheap
Therefore could you advise as to the size and format of a typical video, and the total you currently have
Nextly, the total consumption you expect each month

I currently have two clients with a similar requirement
They provide videos explaining how to repair laptops

[Combute]

Originally Posted by m8internet

You can upload videos to youtube with private access
Your members / customers would then be issued with the access code and could then view the videos

The advantage of using a webhost will be the control of any adverts that appear
However, videos use bandwidth so will not be cheap
Therefore could you advise as to the size and format of a typical video, and the total you currently have
Nextly, the total consumption you expect each month

I currently have two clients with a similar requirement
They provide videos explaining how to repair laptops

Playing devils advocate here - so please don't think I am slandering your advise.

Are you certain that your method would work? Is it a wise move to use YouTube with Private access? - The reason I ask is because what is stopping me paying for 1 course then giving out the YouTube access to numerous others?

My advise (depending on how secure you actually want to go) you can either limit the access by IP Address, or you can put the videos behind a session whereby allowing only 1 session per username and password to exist at one time - this meaning that if I login and watch a video, at the same time someone else cannot login using my account to watch videos - this eliminating the use of a single account by multiple users. You could also limit the number of times a video can be viewed - so 10 watches per user.

We can develop all this for you if required - we also invest heavily into our hosting services so if you want unlimited on pretty much everything (Yes I know there is no such thing as true unlimited) but we can provide amounts that you will never hit including unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, databases etc etc - the only limit will be web hosting but we will limit it to around 10gb - 15gb with the option for more if you need it - usually at no additional cost.

Contact us via info@combute.com

Cheers
Rob

[m8internet]

Originally Posted by Combute

Are you certain that your method would work? Is it a wise move to use YouTube with Private access? - The reason I ask is because what is stopping me paying for 1
course then giving out the YouTube access to numerous others?

This issue will exist no matter what media stream you use, the password could be passed on to anyone

We use this method and works perfectly well :

When there are no customers we use a limited password
As each customer registers they are issued with their own unique password
The Control Panel within YouTube allows you to view the IP addresses which have viewed the videos
For some customers they require this as they pass the video to other people to view, but once this exceeds three different IP addreses the video becomes disabled
We then remind the customer that each person requries their own unique password

The next issue is that most videos can be saved and reloaded
Therefore limiting them is pointless
I had this issue when I placed a video of some faulty electrical equipment
The customer confirmed that they had viewed it, so I removed it from You Tube
I found it a few days later on a different provider!

[Combute]

Originally Posted by m8internet

This issue will exist no matter what media stream you use, the password could be passed on to anyone

We use this method and works perfectly well :

When there are no customers we use a limited password
As each customer registers they are issued with their own unique password
The Control Panel within YouTube allows you to view the IP addresses which have viewed the videos
For some customers they require this as they pass the video to other people to view, but once this exceeds three different IP addreses the video becomes disabled
We then remind the customer that each person requries their own unique password

The next issue is that most videos can be saved and reloaded
Therefore limiting them is pointless
I had this issue when I placed a video of some faulty electrical equipment
The customer confirmed that they had viewed it, so I removed it from You Tube
I found it a few days later on a different provider!

Great response and good techniques expressed.

I wont go into too much detail because I will practically be giving away something we charge for but their are certainly routes you can take to limit specifically to a single IP address or user allowing only 1 user to watch the video at any given time using the same credentials. There are also methods of preventing the video from being saved and re-distributed. Although YouTube is by far the worlds leading video streaming sight for specialist, secure requirements such as that outlined above I would never advise using YouTube instead host the videos directly on your own server and implement secure methods of prevention for the things you don't want visitors to do.

Cheers
Rob

[meisage]

Originally Posted by m8internet

This issue will exist no matter what media stream you use, the password could be passed on to anyone

We use this method and works perfectly well :

When there are no customers we use a limited password
As each customer registers they are issued with their own unique password
The Control Panel within YouTube allows you to view the IP addresses which have viewed the videos
For some customers they require this as they pass the video to other people to view, but once this exceeds three different IP addreses the video becomes disabled
We then remind the customer that each person requries their own unique password

The next issue is that most videos can be saved and reloaded
Therefore limiting them is pointless
I had this issue when I placed a video of some faulty electrical equipment
The customer confirmed that they had viewed it, so I removed it from You Tube
I found it a few days later on a different provider!

Very well said! Of course there will be issues no matter what kind of media you are using, though there are alternatives,surely your advice should be taken as well!

[nickhumph]

I recommend Hostgator.com
They're cheap, reliable and probably the best in the world.

Use AKITSOWEBSITES as the coupon code in checkout to get 25% off.

[nickhumph]

I recommend Hostgator.com
They're cheap, reliable and probably the best in the world.

Use AKITSOWEBSITES as the coupon code in checkout to get 25% off.

[hairymonkey]

Thanks guys,
I'll look into all the options you've told me about.

I have three videos at the minute, each 20 mins long. I'm hoping for around 50 customers a month. The number of videos will grow though.

[Vanessa5435]

[Mary58712]

I recommend Hostgator.com
They're cheap, reliable and probably the best in the world.

Use AKITSOWEBSITES as the coupon code in checkout to get 25% off.
__________________

[csl2011]

Hi

I am Chris I run my own IT Company and we offer web hosting to new businesses like ourselfs for a cheap rate.

Please contact me and lets discuss.

Chris
http://www.csl-solutions.co.uk

Originally Posted by hairymonkey

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a web host that will enable me to post videos that isn't via youtube or similar.

I'm setting up a business that provides distance learning courses and I want my customers to be able to view videod lectures. Since the customers are paying for the course I don't want the videos to be viewable by just anyone, and so don't want to use youtube or the likes.

Thanks

Leona

[amac]

If you have knowledge of developing, AWS is by far the best option right now in my opinion in terms of the costs and utility in my opinion.

I would advise that with videos, you should probably use YouTube or Vimeo. Both will allow you to host private videos and embed them elsewhere.

Vimeo is particularly nice as it has paid plans and various other benefits to small businesses.

[jeddyford]

Doing a search for web hosting companies will bring up hundreds if not thousands of results – how on earth do you decide who is best?

If you are looking to get a reliable Web Hosting Package then I suggest you visit this site http://www.wpdesigner.com/ hope it will work for you because they categorized all top web hosting sites by Price, Server Up-Time, Reliability, Ease-of-Use, Control Panel and Customer Support.