[web] Web hosts

I've been with DreamHost for nearly a year and found them to be pretty good, but I haven't really stressed their system; I'm only hosting a WordPress blog and miscellaneous files there. I mainly signed up with them because they're dirt cheap for the first year if you use a promotional code.

Whichever host you go with, I recommend getting your domain name registered from somewhere else. That way if you switch to a new host down the line they'll have less to hold over your head.

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Original post by Trapper Zoid I've been with DreamHost for nearly a year and found them to be pretty good, but I haven't really stressed their system; I'm only hosting a WordPress blog and miscellaneous files there. I mainly signed up with them because they're dirt cheap for the first year if you use a promotional code. Whichever host you go with, I recommend getting your domain name registered from somewhere else. That way if you switch to a new host down the line they'll have less to hold over your head.

I have several domain names (.com and .net, with two domains) and I agree. I can bail on my current host without any problems, because I have control over the name servers.

So where do you guys go to register your domains? What are some things to be careful of, with respect to that?

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So where do you guys go to register your domains? What are some things to be careful of, with respect to that?

Im currently using dream host, and can say that their service is very good. No real problems yet, and have been hosted for several months. They also register domain names for a small fee, which will answer the above question.

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Original post by discman1028 So where do you guys go to register your domains? What are some things to be careful of, with respect to that?

I'm probably not the most qualified to give advice, as I only registered my site last year and haven't need to do much with my registrar. But I got my site registered with GoDaddy, because many people said they were decent for web site registration (but not for hosting).

The main downside with GoDaddy is they tend to hard sell you to get more domains; they seem to have a sale every week, and when you sign up you have to go through a whole bunch of screens asking you if you want heaps of variants on your chosen web site name. I've also read that they can get difficult if you need to transfer registration to another registrar; however changing registrars isn't as likely as needed to change hosts. I haven't yet needed to renew my registration so I can't comment on what they're like for that.

The main pitfall I can think of when registering a domain name with a dodgy registrar is if they sign the name up to themselves rather than to you. I'm a bit concerned with that myself as I've opted for registrar by proxy (don't have much choice really; I don't have a fixed landline phone number at the moment, although I don't particularly want my contact details to be open to spam bots either).

You haven't really said what you need preinstalled and/or supported (scripting languages, etc ... ).

My current host isn't on the list you gave, but I'd like to recommend it nevertheless. It's fluidhosting.com, which I've found to be very good in terms of service - an email to technical support is usually answered within the hour, and they've been very accommodating in terms of installing new things on their servers.

I use 1&1

And have yet to have a single problem in 3months I've been with them. I went with the second option. 120gig storage and 1,200gig bandwith, and it's only $4.99 permonth. but I think you have to sign up for 3-6month chunks If I remember correctly.

I've been with dreamhost for a while now, and I like them enough that when their new pricing structure became available, I changed my plan to prepaid for 5 years.

The promotional codes can give you all kinds of features: extra storage space, extra monthly transfer, free unique IPs, free extra domain registrations, and up to $50 off. If you decide to dreamhost, let me know and I can make a code with whatever you want. Personally, I suggest going for free domain registrations and unique IPs, because the ones from the code will be free as long as you have an account and otherwise they'd have a monthly fee. Your space and bandwidth increases automatically, so you shouldn't have to worry about that. I host several of my own sites and a few for other people, and the transfer allownace increases weekly by more than I use in a month.

I've also been using Dream Host. I've been with them for about two years and so far their service has been great: low cost but more than I could ever use.

For domains, I register mine at iDotter. They're more expensive than a place like GoDaddy but I've been using them for about six or seven years without any problems so I'll pay the extra few bucks a year for knowing I'm with a good company.

I went with Media Temple, but others may get useful information from your excellent testimonials and recommendations. Thanks for the feedback.

(I was frustrated that my old, sucky host was down again... It seems like it was every weekend that I had problems, which is when I work on my game site. So I took out my credit card.)

I registered my domain name through iPowerWeb. They were abou $4/yr when I signed up (back in '04), and are $6.50 now. They allow you a lot of control over your domain, such as your nameservers (standard, hopefully, for all domain-only services), contact information, etc. Nice and simple.

I'm currently hosted on x10hosting for free, 'cause I'm cheap. I've got to say, they're pretty much the best free host I've had so far, probably better than two paid hosts that I had - both of which died a few months after I signed up for them...
They also offer some interesting paid packages too, including a development package for webmasters 'n such.

A follow-up on Media Temple:

I had trouble with my other domains, which was caused by my misunderstanding of how their system worked. Trouble tickets did not help, as the reply didn't make it clear what I needed to do. But unlike my previous host, there was a phone number to call. In ten minutes, everything was resolved.

The site has been up and very responsive every time I've checked, and nobody has reported problems. I'm really happy with MT today. I'll try to update this in a few months when I have more experience. Just in case someone searches this topic way down the road.

I've stuck with the Nearly Free Speech for a while now. Although I haven't got plenty of experience with different hosts, I haven't had much (anything) to complain about for nearly an year.

It works on the pay-as-you-go (ie. pay only for what you use, in terms of space, bandwidth and so on) basis. I use it as personal hosting and for some testing purpose, so I can't say I have an active website with lots of traffic, but I have found that it is 'nearly free' indeed. I think I only paid some $6-7 so far.

Hey, welcome to the (mt) club [grin]. What's your gridserver id? We're s34663.gridserver.com

I'm hosted with Canaca.

Also offering hosting for games projects. Free if they spark enough interest and have a small development team.

We're on http://s34326.gridserver.com

Do you suppose they have 34,000+ servers? ;)

I'm planning to go with 1&1, once I get my game's installer working and get around to selling it...