Not signed in (Sign In)
A podcast and forum for those who design, develop and run websites.
Boagworld is not just a web design podcast, it is also a thriving online community. Whether you build, design or run websites there are always people here to help. Whatever your question there is sure to be somebody with the answer.
- subscribe via itunes
- subscribe via rss
- or get blog posts by email
Welcome, Guest
Want to take part in these discussions? Sign in if you have an account, or apply for one below
Vanilla 1.1.10 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
Running a website [Sticky] Web hosting suggestions & questions
Bottom of Page-
-
CommentAuthorSam England
- CommentTimeJul 22nd 2007
Hostgator Sucks
;) Richquicks blog
I'd reccomend Bluehost.com - their support (live support) is amazing, you'll be answered in seconds - and their spec is unbeatable - they are not just the oversold too-good-to-be-true company. You only have to look at the CEOs blog to see that www.mattheaton.com
I have been with them for 4 years, even though I have two dedicated servers now that we manage, I still keep that for testing puropuses, and because it's so cheap. Pay for 2 years in one go and you'll get it amazingly cheap, it's worth every penny. Do consider it :) -
-
Well, you know my thoughts on Hostgator.
I'd recommend Donhost's reseller package - it's not as feature-laden as some, but the reliability is superb and there's 24/7 telephone support from people who actually know about servers.
My only bug-bear is that you can't do mod_rewrite on their reseller package (you can if you upgrade to a managed server) -
- CommentAuthorryanbehrman
- CommentTimeJul 24th 2007
Thanks for the feedback Sam and richquick. Sorry for the late reply, I now realise I wasn't subscribed to this discussion (I thought I was). It's a shame as Hostgator's features fitted my requirements, whereas Donhost is too restrictive for my needs (no SSH for example). I'll add Bluehost to my list.
Cheers guys. -
- CommentAuthorryanbehrman
- CommentTimeJul 24th 2007 edited
@Sam,
Ok I've just done a livechat with bluehost and it looks promising. Pity they only allow one cpanel account and no WHM and they won't provide uptime records, but the rest seems to suit my requirements so they're a contender. Here's bits of the livechat (I had to edit it as it's longer than the forum limit for a post):
Ryan Behrman [15:05]: Hi, do you have cpanel or plesk?
jlarsen [15:05]: we have cpanel
Ryan Behrman [15:07]: do you have whm with cpanel so that it can be used as a reseller account?
jlarsen [15:08]: We only give one cpanel login per hosting account and all domains are controlled through that contol panel.
Ryan Behrman [15:10]: Do you allow editing of PHP.ini?
jlarsen [15:10]: Yes you have full access to the phpini file
Ryan Behrman [15:11]: Am I allowed to switch between PHP4 and PHP5 or do I have to request this on signup?
jlarsen [15:11]: You can switch one the account is created if you need ot.
Ryan Behrman [15:16]: What are the payment terms (monthly/yearly)?
jlarsen [15:18]: Bluehos.com Pricing Structure.
================================
3 Month account is $59.85 - $9.95 a Month x 3 + $30.00 setup fee (+$10.00 for domain name if needed)
6 Month account is $83.70 - $8.95 a Month x 6 + $30.00 setup fee (+$10.00 for domain name if needed)
12 Month account is $95.40 - $7.95 a Month x 12, Domain included (no setup fee)
24 Month account is $166.80 - $6.95 a Month x 24, Domain included (no setup fee)
Hosting accounts are paid for up front. You can cancel your account within the first 30 days and get a full refund. After the first 30 days you can still cancel your account any time and recieve a pro-rated refund. Setup fees are non-refundable.
Ryan Behrman [15:19]: Do you send a warning when the bandwidth limit is approached, so the customer isn't hit with a huge bill at the end of the month? Is there a way to monitor bandwidth through the cpanel?
[15:20]: ... and will you pull the site down if it goes over the limit?
jlarsen [15:21]: You can monitor you bandwidth and we do send warnings when you are getting close. We do shut the site down if it goes over the limit
Ryan Behrman [15:21]: 24/7/365 support? Do you have stats on your response times? Do you have a guaranteed response time?
jlarsen [15:24]: We do not have a quaranteed response time we try and answer all tickets in 24 hours and calls we try and have as low a wait time as possilbe.
[15:24]: We do have 24 hour technical support
Ryan Behrman [15:26]: Do you use a premium rate number for technical queries? Is there a way to phone from the UK without huge call charges?
jlarsen [15:27]: We only have an 888 number that is free in the US.
Ryan Behrman [15:27]: Can you provide recent uptime records?
jlarsen [15:30]: We do not have a record that I could send
Ryan Behrman [15:31]: Do you have an uptime guarantee in your SLA?
jlarsen [15:31]: We do it is a 99.9% uptime
[15:32]: http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/kb/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=458
Ryan Behrman [15:35]: I must say your knowledgebase (and its search) look good. Who wrote the articles (staff or customers?)
Ryan Behrman [15:39]: Great. Do you have examples of sites hosted with bluehost?
jlarsen [15:39]: You can view a demo of our cpanel under our Features page there is a demo login.
jlarsen [15:39]: There are some listed http://www.bluehost.com/comments.html
Ryan Behrman [15:40]: how many staff do you have? and how many customers?
jlarsen [15:41]: We have around 200 agents and we have 329436 domains hosted with us right now.
Ryan Behrman [15:42]: Do you have physical access to the server rack?
jlarsen [15:42]: We have access to all the servers. They are owned by us.
Ryan Behrman [15:43]: What linux distros do you use?
jlarsen [15:44]: We use CentOS 4.4
Ryan Behrman [15:44]: Do you allow editing of hosts file and httpd.conf file?
jlarsen [15:45]: You can edit the .htaccess to make changes that you would to the httpd.conffile and you can edit the php,ini file. Since it is shared hosting we can't edit the httpd.conf
Ryan Behrman [15:46]: Do all of the support staff have great knowledge like you do? Or are you a unique case?
jlarsen [15:46]: Actually most probably know more then I do.
[15:46]: I mainly work sales
Ryan Behrman [15:46]: Thanks for your help. I will strongly consider bluehost. Do you have any promo code that I could use?
jlarsen [15:47]: We don't have any promo codes....sorry.
[15:47]: You are very welcome
Ryan Behrman [15:47]: That's no problem. Thanks again. Have a good day.
jlarsen [15:48]: You have a great day as well. -
-
CommentAuthorSam England
- CommentTimeJul 27th 2007
Ryan Behrman [15:26]: Do you use a premium rate number for technical queries? Is there a way to phone from the UK without huge call charges?
jlarsen [15:27]: We only have an 888 number that is free in the US.
I use skype, free to call 888 numbers, and never any problems :)
So you asked me to post down sides? Well, they seemed to have the odd "router" issues and downtime here and there in the earlier times when I was with them., the last year though has been faultless, Matt Heaton is the guy to talk too, and read his blog to see the imporovements speeding up and oimporving his servers. They also run from a dedicated datacentre fixing problems with hardware very fast.
Upsides, well they have an amazing plan, ruby support etc, very responsive support, reliable service uptime 99%+ (I use free imdependent monitoring, there's a years free trial of one at pingdom) :)
I dont think you'll find a reseller for that cheap that is not oversold and as good as what bluehost offer in terms of stability (long standing company with a reputable, open and friendly CEO who has good values (see his blog and chat to him on AIM), and also 24/7 very responsive support. -
-
- CommentAuthorryanbehrman
- CommentTimeJul 27th 2007
Thanks for the reply, Sam. I tested their support via skype call today and they responded fairly quickly.
I do think there is a bit of overselling though, because they claim to guarantee 99.9% uptime but they can't provide uptime records and if they don't achieve 99.9% then there is no compensation (so in effect the guarantee is just a word of mouth guarantee and there are no implications).
Another minor downside is they don't support hosted subversion.
They're still high on my list though, and they may well prevail! -
I am with www.indyahozting.com.I feel it's best I have ever found.The hosting rates are much lower priced when compare to many other hosts like $15 per year for 500 MB space etc.,The main feature I like with them is their dynamic support.
-
- CommentAuthorbrokenartist
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2007
I have been a customer of Dreamhost for over 3 years now. I love their hosting. I have never been down once. always on all the time is a huge plus. The interface is a little tricky at first but you get used to it if you just take the time and go through it. For the space and bandwidth size i get for the price i am so not complaining. -
- CommentAuthorryanbehrman
- CommentTimeSep 1st 2007
Hi brokenartistI have never been down once.
I have, quite a few times over the past year. I'm subscribed to pingdom so I get alerted when it's down. If you say you haven't been down in 3 years, how do you know that? Thanks.
By the way, I still find dreamhost acceptable for my shared host, so I'm staying with them even with the occasional downtime. If I change it'll probably be to bluehost. -
-
CommentAuthorolivertreend
- CommentTimeOct 27th 2007
Definitely check out Daily.
They offer 3 different reseller accounts:
- Standard - £9.99 per month, £99.90 per year, or £179.76 for 2 years
- Business - £12.99 per month, £129.90 per year, or £233.76 for 2 years
- Professional - £17.99 per month, £179.90 per year, or £323.76 for 2 years
So if you want to start hosting people's websites, you can start on the cheaper plan and work your way up as your income increases.
They also have very cheap web hosting if you want to host a single site, and not resell.
-
-
-
CommentAuthorSam England
- CommentTimeOct 27th 2007
Thanks for the reply, Sam. I tested their support via skype call today and they responded fairly quickly.
I do think there is a bit of overselling though, because they claim to guarantee 99.9% uptime but they can't provide uptime records and if they don't achieve 99.9% then there is no compensation (so in effect the guarantee is just a word of mouth guarantee and there are no implications).
Another minor downside is they don't support hosted subversion.
They're still high on my list though, and they may well prevail!
I was with them for 2 years, they are always improving and I had 99.8%. Thats pretty good for any hosting company, and the only outage was due too a single major power outage. -
-
Hi everyone,
I'm currently working on a project where I'll need to find a new host for a website that has very high levels of traffic, average 150,000 visits a month, with a few occasions each through the year where there is a sudden spike of even higher traffic.
Any recommendations as to what I will need in terms of hosting? Preferably a UK based company. -
-
CommentAuthorJamieKnight
- CommentTimeDec 15th 2007
@mickyBoy
For that sort of site i would look at S3 and elastic hosting. Far more flexible and cheaper than a dedicated server etc.
I want to put in a good word for www.ukwsd.com, they are UK based and offer a decent service.
^licks^
Jamie & Lion -
-
-
CommentAuthorSam England
- CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
Depending on the content of your site, I might be able to provide you with a very competitive deal on one of our dedicated racks :)
Otherwise, I can say from experience first hand and via clients that you shouldn't go near the likes of webfusion, fasthosts, or 1&1 who will rip you off give you buggy and insecure systems (which you won't realize are substandard until you use a superior host) and will treat you like shit.
I'd strongly reccomend a VPS which is the cheaperst around and running debian etch which to some extent they will set up for you, from Memset (www.memset.com). -
-
I use Bargain Host services to host my blogs, they have a 1 click install system
so I can add multiple blogs on the same account each with a different domain.
I mainly use them for blogs but they have a good website builder as well and
I built my main site with it. Their website is http://bargainhost.co.uk and do
cheap deals for 2 year plans and are very helpful. -
Im using http://www.ixwebhosting.com as they have a coldfusion option and as the pound is so strong its pretty cheap too ! :D
Simon. -
I second Bluehost.com. I've done two sites with them so far and haven't had any issues yet, in fact when I get my portfolio site done I'm definitely hosting through them. They're really good about keeping you in the loop through emails, prices are good. It's pretty easy to get ahold of a human when you need to.
-
-
CommentAuthorSteve Williams
- CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
Out of all the hosting companies I have used Liquidweb have came out the best, really good features, cpanel etc. www.liquidweb.com. They are US based and I am UK based but had no problems, use them for Linux PHP hosting. On a UK note if it is a small site I would use UK Servers www.virtualnames.co.uk again PHP very economical and great 1 to 1 support.
Steve -
-
I found this free webhosting is great!
no ads, no banners, with email pop3, webmail, cpanel, etc...
http://www.000webhost.com/37562.html
simply free ans fast!
if any of you have any information about a good free webhosting, please share it here....
Thanks,
-afpaj- -
Hostabix.com
New hosting site just opened! Very experienced management team, 99.9% uptime guaranteed, 24 7 support, cheap prices and very user friendly. http://hostabix.com 10% off the already low first payment when you buy today. Use the promo code: GRANDOPENING when purchasing. -
I've used www.bluehost.com now for a while and their specs are pretty much unbeatable....tons of storage...tons of bandwidth...great cpanel and super support.
-
I have enough "little projects" to warrent my own reseller account with 100GB space 1000GB BW or something stupid.
If anyone needed anything I'm sure we could sort something out. It's all PHP/MySQL stuff and I know the owner of the company I'm with so I can normally sort other bits out. -
- CommentAuthorhekimboard
- CommentTimeJul 19th 2008
fibercement
I found this free webhosting is great! -
- CommentAuthorshem omana
- CommentTimeJul 20th 2008
If you plan to get your website, here is one good free web hosting provider to choose. Free Web Hosting 200 mb space and 100Gb Bandwidth.. Free Web Hosting -
-
CommentAuthorandykinsey
- CommentTimeJul 23rd 2008
my server is hosted with easyspace, im beginning to wish i hadnt, server down time last month was 5 days :@ i went a little mad at them as they tried to blame me for extra software i had installed which i hadnt and is clearly preinstalled! (i had taken off other apps too!)
anyway add to this they arent even now charging my correct account and you can see why im a little annoyed.
i like easyspaces individual hosting packages but im beginning to loathe thier server packs.
even their virtual servers are being silly for me right now. i just dont get it, for such a "professional" (which i say lightly) company who iv dealt with for over 5 years (yes i was a young novice running a footie website for my dads friends team, it did and does pay well) to suddenly become so....rubbish in my opinion is almost scary. -
-
Hi guys
i've found a host provider that support joomla , drupal and e107
and it acclaims that shares 20% of his commission with his purchasers.
http://aboutixwebhosting.com/besthost/index.php
could u guide me and get your points of view about it -
Anybody tried www.mediatemple.net
I always seem to find that most sites hosted with them have an 'in partnership with (mt)' on there site, and I've always been wandering wether they force you to have this, or people just like them so much!
I am currently with hostgator, after being with UK2.NET for 2 days, but hostgator's account often errors out 500 for me, which is not ideal, FTP is sluggish, and keeps timing out (they had to remove from the firewall once), and no subversion or SSH :-(
Can anyone recommend a decent host, for around the hostgator (shared) price range (must do .htaccess, a lot of MySQL databases, and unlmitedish domains.) -
-
CommentAuthorcharlesroper
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2008
I can't recommend Clook highly enough. If you want a rock-solid LAMP stack, then they are just perfect. The servers are extremely reliable and fast, they're easy-to-use (cpanel and WHM with Fantastico), the support is superb, they're very transparent and honest, they don't oversell servers, and they're just generally good guys running a slick, professional outfit. If you frequent their support forum, you tend to get to know them by first name, which is something I value (real people as opposed to anonymous support personnel).
Another benefit they offer is second-to-none email spam protection. I've yet to find any other host providing anything nearly as effective. Their email servers are running as a cluster with their own custom configuration of multiple spam-killers (like SpamAssassin). And believe me, it really works. I can't tell you just how much clients *LOVE* this particular aspect. It's a huge plus to the service.
My only criticism of Clook is that they don't offer SSH support. Their argument against allowing SSH is that it's reducing the vectors of attack and helps maintain server stability. It seems to be a reasonable tactic, but if you require SSH, look elsewhere. Plus having to rely on FTP (they do offer secure FTP, which is good) in this day and age is not ideal, but it's definitely not a huge disadvantage.
I have had a reseller account with them for many years (having previously been with Fasthosts) and I happily host many client sites with them. I trust them totally with my clients' businesses. 'Nuff said.
Oh, and they're UK based with cracking pings (their servers are placed in a datacenter in London docklands).
http://www.clook.net
They have open forums, so you can ask questions, see their uptime record, see what network problems they've had and, crucially, see their approach to handling them:
https://www.clook.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=129
Here's an example of a CMS (Textpattern) driven site hosted with them so you can get a feel for the speed:
http://www.wildrye.info/
Charles -
-
- CommentAuthorkirstyburgoine
- CommentTimeAug 29th 2008
Hi, I have a question about hosting. Recently I did a site for Just Oil which is hosted using our reseller account with Heart Internet.
I am perfectly happy with Heart and have experienced no down time yet on any of the sites hosted. However, the company that did the original Just Oil site have contacted the company I work for claiming our hosting is awful and the server the site is on could be hosting 1000's of sites and their dedicated server would be much better. I realize that some of what they were saying is sour grapes because they didn't get the contract but I wondered how much of it was.
If Heart boast 99.9% uptime how much better is a dedicated server and how could they tell find out about our hosting when they didn't know the company name or anything?
Thanks
Kirsty -
Contact your lawyer, have them send a threatening letter saying that you don't take kindly to corporate sabotage and slander.
-
- CommentAuthorMan of Honor
- CommentTimeSep 8th 2008
I tried lots of hosting provider, but when my site started getting good traffic I always found they create some problem. Now I found best host, with 24/7 prompt customer service, they also support ffmpeg and rates are also cheaper..
You can visit and see yourself
I bet this guys are best. -
How do we report spambots?
-
Clook looks really good - Cheers Charles!
Im looking to switch to them when my current contract runs out.... -
We've worked with http://www.eleven2.com/ - they have an unending "Opening party" hosting plan. While not exactly superb (I couldn't resolve some rather specific technical issues with them), they, so far, provide good service for the money they take.
I'd recommend them for fairly basic sites which do not need to be super-stable and are not beyond average in technical requirements. -
We offer completely ad-free cPanel web hosting. No ads will ever be forced onto our users webpages. There are no catches, no setup fees, no forced advertising, no banners, no popups and no hidden charges. Only totally free hosting service.
Register now, here is what waiting for you:
* 350 MB Disk Space
* 100 GB Data Transfer
* cPanel Control Panel
* Website Builder
* 5 MySQL Databases
* Unrestricted PHP5 support
* Instant Setup!
This service is perfect for starting a new online community, blog or personal website! More info at http://www.000webhost.com/73018.html -
They are working to restore it.
-
No host is going to be perfect but BlueHost and Hostmonster are two of the best when considering price, features, service and reliability. There are some other good web hosting options in this Top 10 Web Hosting list. ICDSoft is another lesser known host that is not on the list but has served us well over the years. With ICDSoft, it's easy to set-up a reseller account and host multiple websites -- the more sites you add, the lower the price gets.
-
domaingurus at domaingurus.com theyreally sucks
they are a fraud:
http://domaingurus-sucks.blogspot.com/ -
Here is a list of "green" web hosts if anyone is interested. There are tons of hosting companies that are carbon neutral. They simply buy credits to offset their pollution. Only a few hosts generate their own power. Here are A few:
AISO.net
SolarHost.co.uk
SolarEnergyHost.com
- Paris Vega -
they have great control panel http://javaprovider.net great supprot form them
-
- CommentAuthorsalvador9475
- CommentTimeApr 3rd 2009 edited
As an experienced webmaster I recommend BlueHost service which I’m sure it would work for you and fulfill all your requirements. They have a really great offer for hosting & I have used them for over 3 yrs now, and have never had a single problem with them.
-------------------------------------
[url=http://www.buellparts.net/content-categories/cat-380/buell_blast.html] buell blast parts[/url] -
You could try http://www.ineedwebhosting.co.uk
Aimed at fellow designers, Good value accounts and UK based. -
- CommentAuthorkanthcoolguy
- CommentTimeJul 9th 2009
-
I need recommendations for a UK host, what's everyone's favorite?
-
spam
-
A friend of mine wants me to make a website for his work, it'll be his first. This means the creating of his first website.
The problem is, I haven't worked with any UK hosting companies yet so I don't know which one to set him up with. The host I would normally use is here in the US and I'm not sure if that's the right choice for him. Also, I don't think he'd want to pay for Media Temple.
Some requirements I know we'll need are:
- PHP 5.2 or above
- PHP's LibXML module, with the XSLT extension enabled (--with-xsl)
- MySQL 4.1 or above
- An Apache webserver
- Apache's mod_rewrite module
- Either e-mail accounts or the ability to use Google Apps. -
I'm using www.wesh.co.uk at the moment and haven't had any problems at all. Customer service is very swift and helpful and the hosting is not oversold - which means more quality bandwidth.
For £4 a month I'm hosting 5 sites already (which can go upto 11) with 100mb space and 2gb bandwidth...more than enough for my needs and hosting small business sites and a personal site too.
It's ideal for starting out on and has served me well for that purpose.
There is no WDM and a root account is defined with added domains running under the subdomain of the root - which doesn't effect how you see the url at all. -
Does anyone have any experience with HostClear? They offer some pretty good packages and I'm still hunting around for a UK-based host for my friend. Their site looks pretty good and so does their offer for shared hosting. I'm just waiting to hear that their customer support is crap or something like that.
-
Clook are my UK host, very reliable, fast and pretty much instant customer support.
-
Clook looks great. How do you find their transfer limits? They say 10/20/40GB for their shared packages. I guess I'm rather spoiled as my host says unlimited. Though, that being said, I bet if I put it to the test they' get upset.
The part that makes me double-think is that he's an artist so there's going to be a lot of images. Food for thought, I guess.