Website Hosting

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Azure

I use 1and1 now, and they're pretty good.

Depending on what kind of plan you want, their prices are decent enough.

And they have decent support. Had to call them a couple times and they were quick to help out.

http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/Hos...inkOrigin=Home

I've tried 1and1 twice now - both times I've had to stop after a month and switch to a host who actually knows what they are doing. Both VPS plans were terribly configured and support was brutal. I was looking for LAMP hosting - I've heard they are decent at the Microsoft stack.

Same experience with Media Temple (shared host - their grid service is AWFUL). Their VPS service, on the other hand, is very nice.

For simple, cheap and reliable shared web hosting my first choice is Dreamhost. I've got a promo code that will apparently knock 50$ off the first year of hosting as well in case anyone needs it (code is "CHEESE").

For VPS, my main provider is Steadfast. Honestly, I think they respond to their email support faster then their phone support - never had an issue last longer then 5 hours. Highly recommend them.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

www.canadianwebhosting.com

Basic package starts at $3.95/mo.

Support FTP, WebDAV, HTTP File Uploads, PHP, MySQL, cPanel, mail, etc. etc.

I've used these guys a few times as well - if you need to keep it Canadian they are easily the best option in Canada.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by llama64

I've used these guys a few times as well - if you need to keep it Canadian they are easily the best option in Canada.

I use it for all my "small" website jobs - it's perfect for those.

[devel]

Originally Posted by psicodude

This is a really good review site: http://www.web-hosting-top.com/

This is how I found my web hosting site, along with recommendations from a developer site. This review site also has coupons/promo codes for many of the major web hosting companies, so make sure to look here for whatever company you choose...might save ya a little money. http://www.web-hosting-top.com/web-h...scount-coupons

I went with Arvixe.com myself, because I needed a site with the newest ASP 4.0 support and they are fairly cheap at $6/month with a 1 year plan, or $5/month for a 2 year plan. (even cheaper with promo code linked above!). They also have cheaper Linux based plans if that's what you need.

Included, you get one free domain name and they cover the cost as long as you host with them ($9.95/year if you change host).

I haven't been with them long, but as a developer what I really like about Arvixe is databases (mySQL and MS SQL Server Express), bandwidth, storage, mail accounts, sub domains and statistics are all unlimited and included in the price of your plan.

[zamler]

Just an FYI, those hosting top lists are completely bogus. Those types of lists appear on many different domain names, don't be fooled in believing they actually are an independent list. For example:

http://www.webhostingreport.com/
http://b2evolution.net/web-hosting/b...-cost-lamp.php
http://www.findbestwebhosting.com/
http://www.alreadyhosting.com/
http://webhostinggeeks.com/
http://www.webhostingmadness.com/
http://www.upperhost.com/
http://www.hostaz.com/

It's just recycled lists, most of the same hosting companies on them. Don't expect those ratings to actually mean anything. On top of that, many web hosts under different names are actually the same company, or they buy bandwidth from the same place, and even host their hardware in the same building(s). They also massively oversell their bandwidth and memory/disk space, knowing that 99% of their users will indeed use about 1% of what they are "allowed". If you actually plan on using close to the bandwidth the plan says you have, you're more than likely going to be throttled back, or run into limitations because the server you are on is going to choke.

I've used about 6-7 different hosts in the last 10 years, several that appear on those lists. None of them have been great, some have been atrocious. I had mediocre to terrible experiences with Bluehost, Host Gator, Ubiquity Hosting, GoDaddy, a few I don't remember. I have an account with Hostmonster right now, they so far have been okay, good enough where I can actually deal with them. I now run my own server for dev work and just use them to publish the sites. If you want quality hosting, you have to pay for it, and not get something for $6/month.

And keep in mind that experiences can vary greatly, it depends what physical machine you are being hosted on and how many others are hitting that machine at the same time etc.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by zamler

...


If you want quality hosting, you have to pay for it, and not get something for $6/month.

And keep in mind that experiences can vary greatly, it depends what physical machine you are being hosted on and how many others are hitting that machine at the same time etc.

This is so true. To give an example, I run a website for my own personal stuff on a old 1100Mhz, 512 MB RAM Frankenstein machine on Shaw regular speed internet and it is only a small bit slower (but of course a lot simpler) than our sites at work we have hosted on Hostmonster. I think we pay about 16 bucks a month for the hosting for 2 sites.

Doesn't mean much, because it isn't suitable for any sort of actual production work, but it lets me play with learning about HTML, CSS, PHP etc without coughing up anything more than the time it took to setup IIS and forward some ports.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Rathji

This is so true. To give an example, I run a website for my own personal stuff on a old 1100Mhz, 512 MB RAM Frankenstein machine on Shaw regular speed internet and it is only a small bit slower (but of course a lot simpler) than our sites at work we have hosted on Hostmonster.

Yep. I do the same thing, although I think it's technically not allowed by Shaw. But they don't care as long as you don't have 100's of people hitting your IP address. Works great for dev work, and like you said pretty much the same response time as an el cheapo host. I know these hosts routinely have their servers running@90% capacity or greater. You don't get much resources allocated to your domain. But you get what you pay for.

BTW, I have a client that is using http://monkeywrenchhosting.com/ as their host. I've been fairly impressed with them so far.

[photon]

www.webhostingtalk.com is the best place around to find info about different hosts.

[normtwofinger]

Bumping this old thread. I'm looking for a Canadian hosting company. Anyone have any other recommendations other than www.canadianwebhosting.com already mentioned in this thread. I probably need a middle level service package and it has to be Canadian. Thanks.

[photon]

What kind of hosting? Shared? Or VPS / Dedicated?

[normtwofinger]

Shared would be fine for now.

[photon]

This is a good place to do a search for Canadian to see what's available:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Then do a search of the companies on the forum to see if there's any feedback with respect to quality/reliability/etc.

CrocWeb is the only one I have heard of that's Canadian, but I don't have any experience with them.

[Azure]

To bump this thread again instead of starting a new one.

Looking to host our website somewhere else after our contract with 1and1 runs out. We've had nothing but trouble with them for the past month trying to change DNS nameservers, etc, etc. I don't really care about cost, as I have no problem paying more if we get good reliable hosting, good response time to the changes we make, and good support.

Dreamhost and Hostgator seem to be on top of the list right now.

Being against the SOPA bill is also a plus. I assume Dreamhost and Hostgator are. Haven't really looked though.

[Rathji]

My personal stuff I run off Serversea, and it is good enough for what I need from it, considering it was $4 a month.

Both our sites at work we use Hostmonster, and it is decent, although a little slow at times. We don't expect a lot of traffic, so it works for us. I don't remember what plan we got but it was only $8 a month, with no worries about storage or bandwidth limits.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Rathji

My personal stuff I run off Serversea, and it is good enough for what I need from it, considering it was $4 a month.

Both our sites at work we use Hostmonster, and it is decent, although a little slow at times. We don't expect a lot of traffic, so it works for us. I don't remember what plan we got but it was only $8 a month, with no worries about storage or bandwidth limits.

Well, we only get a few thousand hits a month, although I'm not 100% sure what the actual stats are. Its just an information page, with a few embedded Youtube videos and a couple photo galleries. We will probably add lots of photos in the future though, so the host has to be half decently reliable.

1and1 is fast and all, but they have HORRID support. I take everything back I said in support of them before in this thread or anywhere else. Worst host ever.

[Flames0910]

Woah, this is an old thread.

I'm on dreamhost right now. Can't say I have any complaints!