The best Web Host
- Thread starter moneymac
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I know some don't like them. But Dreamhost has been good to me.
It also doesn't crash from a hard fast traffic influx.
It also doesn't crash from a hard fast traffic influx.
lets see... dreamhost was mentioned above... I've been a happy dreamhost customer since 05. The thing about dreamhost is that its cheap hosting. I use it for a few blogs, some forums I made for friends, nothing essential, and nothing to do with my business. For a casual user dreamhost is good. I will agree with mreed about dreamhosts ability to deal with high volumes of traffic. Over the past three years I've had pages linked from fark twice and slashdot once. Not a hiccup, which is amazing for $8 hosting.
On the down side, dreamhost goes out from time to time, often for long periods of time. The worst outage I've had to deal with there is a three day outage about 18 months ago. No refunds for outages, and no tech support phone number. As long as you don't expect tech support, or uptime, its pretty good. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the lack of tech support, its $8 hosting and I will continue to host there as a backup storage place as long as I'm in this business (plus they allow adult sites!). If you do want to try dreamhost, use the coupon code MickeyClicks to get your setup fees waived.
Now on to business hosting...
The cream of the crop, the best host I have ever used, hands down bar none is Rackspace. Rackspace has the best sales, customer and tech support of any host I have ever used.
Last fall one of my clients had an emergency, one of his servers which held the traffic management script we used was in a datacenter in California, in the middle of a forest fire. I access to the server was intermittent and I was unable to stay logged in long enough to get anything off of it. I spoke with my client and explained the situation and he decided we needed to get another host. He asked me to find the best host available. I called Rackspace, gave them a link to a backup on a remote server and they took care of the rest. They configured our software, and then our support group went and learned all about the operation of our custom software so they could support it for us. Just top notch all they way, call at 3am and get a live person and get transferred to some one in your "support group" that is already familiar with all of your servers and systems. Just amazing. This is the hosting equivalent of buying a bentley. It carries a price though... When I switched this client over to Rackspace their basic plan started at $300/month.
Now for something in between... The company I host almost all of my non-adult sites at is Mediatemple these guys are great. 24 hours telephone tech support, root access, high bandwidth, high availability servers. I've used their grid hosting and their DV hosting services and have no complaints. The basic plans at MediaTemple start around $20/month and make for a great entry level host. Due to the way their grid system is setup, if you outgrow the $20 plan you can just add more processors and ram as needed.
So those are the hosts I have done business with and will continue to do business with.
If you deal with adult and need dedicated hosting, Webair isnt bad.
The ugly? Ipower. I cant find one nice thing to say about ipower. Don't ever host with these guys or buy domains from them it will haunt you for years. Even now I wake up with nightmare that my credit card has been charged for hundreds of domains I no longer own... and then I wake up and it isnt a dream and I have to spend a few hours on the phone getting it straightened out. I had to report my CC as stolen and get a new one with a new number just to get away from these assholes.
On the down side, dreamhost goes out from time to time, often for long periods of time. The worst outage I've had to deal with there is a three day outage about 18 months ago. No refunds for outages, and no tech support phone number. As long as you don't expect tech support, or uptime, its pretty good. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the lack of tech support, its $8 hosting and I will continue to host there as a backup storage place as long as I'm in this business (plus they allow adult sites!). If you do want to try dreamhost, use the coupon code MickeyClicks to get your setup fees waived.
Now on to business hosting...
The cream of the crop, the best host I have ever used, hands down bar none is Rackspace. Rackspace has the best sales, customer and tech support of any host I have ever used.
Last fall one of my clients had an emergency, one of his servers which held the traffic management script we used was in a datacenter in California, in the middle of a forest fire. I access to the server was intermittent and I was unable to stay logged in long enough to get anything off of it. I spoke with my client and explained the situation and he decided we needed to get another host. He asked me to find the best host available. I called Rackspace, gave them a link to a backup on a remote server and they took care of the rest. They configured our software, and then our support group went and learned all about the operation of our custom software so they could support it for us. Just top notch all they way, call at 3am and get a live person and get transferred to some one in your "support group" that is already familiar with all of your servers and systems. Just amazing. This is the hosting equivalent of buying a bentley. It carries a price though... When I switched this client over to Rackspace their basic plan started at $300/month.
Now for something in between... The company I host almost all of my non-adult sites at is Mediatemple these guys are great. 24 hours telephone tech support, root access, high bandwidth, high availability servers. I've used their grid hosting and their DV hosting services and have no complaints. The basic plans at MediaTemple start around $20/month and make for a great entry level host. Due to the way their grid system is setup, if you outgrow the $20 plan you can just add more processors and ram as needed.
So those are the hosts I have done business with and will continue to do business with.
If you deal with adult and need dedicated hosting, Webair isnt bad.
The ugly? Ipower. I cant find one nice thing to say about ipower. Don't ever host with these guys or buy domains from them it will haunt you for years. Even now I wake up with nightmare that my credit card has been charged for hundreds of domains I no longer own... and then I wake up and it isnt a dream and I have to spend a few hours on the phone getting it straightened out. I had to report my CC as stolen and get a new one with a new number just to get away from these assholes.
DreamHost is a nightmare host. I had nothing but downtime during my second month with them (this was 3 or so months ago) and they took their sweet ass time moving me to another server (according to them, someone else on my server was being abusive - why not boot the fucker?). I cancelled and got a refund after that.
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Site5.com or HostGator for shared hosting.
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Site5.com or HostGator for shared hosting.
I'm not trying to tell you to go with $300 hosting, you asked who the best was and thats it. I'm also trying to tell you not to use dreamhost for your business hosting.
Go with Mediatemple. If you cant afford $20/month for hosting, quit smoking and wait until next month to launch. Don't skimp when it comes to your business, you'll regret it down the road.
I know there is some fairly negative stuff about Dreamhost but for cheap shared hosting I like them. For dedicated, Softlayer. Not alone is the hosting itself top notch but the customer service is the best I have seen for anything on the Net.
I have never used them but I have heard very good things about Rackspace as well.
I have never used them but I have heard very good things about Rackspace as well.
OMG Softlayer makes me horny. It's the best dedicated host I've ever been with. I have 5 servers with them now, in 2 geographic locations, all on a VLAN using their dedicated link between their DCs. The prices rock (especially unlimited bandwidth on the private network, which I use heavily since the web servers and database servers talk over that), the control panel they built is the most sophisticated s**t, and their support is rockin'. They have real trained techs there 24/7, not entry level interns at night like budget houses.
As for shared hosting, check my sig. The reviews are all real customer-submitted stuff. Dreamhost and Hostgator both have a few bad ones, but mostly positive reviews. Blue Host seems to be the top rated by customers so far.
As for shared hosting, check my sig. The reviews are all real customer-submitted stuff. Dreamhost and Hostgator both have a few bad ones, but mostly positive reviews. Blue Host seems to be the top rated by customers so far.
ThisWebHost - Quality Web Hosting for Everyone
Some people hate small-time hosting companies, but these guys are the fucking greatest. I prefer to go with a company that actually knows my name, rather than some huge corporate web host. It's true that these companies pop up over night and shut down just as quick, but not this*. Fantastic support, awesome servers, just the best host I've ever been with period.
Some people hate small-time hosting companies, but these guys are the fucking greatest. I prefer to go with a company that actually knows my name, rather than some huge corporate web host. It's true that these companies pop up over night and shut down just as quick, but not this*. Fantastic support, awesome servers, just the best host I've ever been with period.
HostGator a Dud
HostGator is actually a total nightmare. I have been with them for a month (I'm moving my websites as I type this) and I'm looking at 48 hrs of downtime and hostgator is trying to tell me this is not happening. Here's how it goes.
I send a ticket because my website times out. I get a message back saying that its not down. I then call customer no-service where the first 2 people I talk to are always idiots and rude. I'm usually able to connect with someone after the 3rd call that actually believes that nobody can't access my website. They type for about 10 minutes and then say they'll have to send another ticket. I'm then sent an email by someone who likes to show how much they know by using the most confusing terms possible. I then have to send 3 or 4 more emails getting them to explain what the 1st email said.
Usually after this happens my website will work fine for a day or two, and then it all starts over.
If you use HostGator and don't have any problems, you're likely not checking your websites very often
HostGator is actually a total nightmare. I have been with them for a month (I'm moving my websites as I type this) and I'm looking at 48 hrs of downtime and hostgator is trying to tell me this is not happening. Here's how it goes.
I send a ticket because my website times out. I get a message back saying that its not down. I then call customer no-service where the first 2 people I talk to are always idiots and rude. I'm usually able to connect with someone after the 3rd call that actually believes that nobody can't access my website. They type for about 10 minutes and then say they'll have to send another ticket. I'm then sent an email by someone who likes to show how much they know by using the most confusing terms possible. I then have to send 3 or 4 more emails getting them to explain what the 1st email said.
Usually after this happens my website will work fine for a day or two, and then it all starts over.
If you use HostGator and don't have any problems, you're likely not checking your websites very often
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