I've been hosted with FrontDrive.com for nearly two weeks now and they have without a doubt been the best host i've ever had. I'll admit... at first I thought they were going to be another quick fix host, because of their incredible deals they offered (650MB / 20GB for $10 a month) but how wrong I was. Not only are they able to backup their prices with an incredibily solid hosting experience, but their uptime and professional attitudes make it 10 times better. The downtime with them has been great also, I think my site was down for like, 20 minutes total in the entire time i've been with them. Far better than 99%!

The reason i'm posting this review, however, isn't because of their great prices... or their reliable servers... or even because of their features, but rather, it's because of their amazing effort to go that extra mile to help ensure customer satisfaction. Earlier I had what I thought was a very large problem with my site, which involved mass proxy attacks. Needless to say, I was very upset when I logged on and saw I had 19GB of BW accumulated and didn't really know what to do. Not only did Jay spend about 40 minutes on AIM helping me figure out how to combat them, but he also credited my account back the bandwidth and didn't even think twice about doing it! Now... I know there are probably alot of other hosts who would do this type of thing too, but i've never had a host do this for me.

Anyways, I am extremely happy with them and I even added a link to them on my site just cause they went that extra mile to provide me with a great hosting experience. Their entire tech support team knows what they are doing, especially Jay and they are definately the best host i've been with. I hope this review will help others who are trying to decide whether or not to go with them.

For those interested, my site is http://www.battleforums.com so you can check out the speed / reliability of the servers.

Thanks,
Adam

Two weeks? Shouldn't you give them a bit longer before you commit to any reviews you may make ;)

I guess he is just excited to have a decent host for once. I know the feeling. Some hosts start out good and get bad, but many hosts start out bad too, you know.
I recently got an account with them for my personal site. When I put in a help ticket to get an dedicated IP. I got my IP in a few hours.
So far, so good.

nice to hear people are happy with their host :D

Nice looking forum

Originally posted by acidHL
Two weeks? Shouldn't you give them a bit longer before you commit to any reviews you may make ;)

Honestly, I was kinda thinking the same thing as I read this, but hey, no complaints here ;)

Ok let me tell you a bit about myself

I've been with 4 different hosts in the past 6 months... none of them even compared to frontdrive. Do you know the feeling when your with a host and your talking to them on AIM and you ask them a question, then they go away and give you an answer to it 5 minutes later... and you can just tell that they copy and pasted the answer off of google or something, heh... I don't get that feeling w/ front drive. Also, the fact that they dont have downtime and they would do something like this and go the extra mile just shows that they care about customer satisfaction. I don't think two weeks is too soon at all. The thread is entiered "Best host ever" and to me, they are (keeping in mind, this is only my opinion and is based on the hosts i've used previously)... anyways, the main point of this review was to try and help people who were in the same position as me to find a good decent host.

Just my opinion... thanks for reading,
Adam

hmmm... sounds great, too bad i paid for a year already with my current host. i've been with them for 4 months, they were good in the beginning but now :rolleyes:

and you can just tell that they copy and pasted the answer off of google or something, heh


I dont see nothing wrong with a host "coping and pasting" a answer,im sure most questions are asked numerous times so why not save some of them and when you need them just paste them to save time.

Hello,

Nice to see people are happy with their host. Congratulates to FrontDrive on having satisfied clients.

At least they have satisfied customers, and good uptime as I read in different threads.

But what about famous hosts with too many complaints ?? Why iPowerWeb, HostRocket, ReadyHosting and etc. ?

Hopefully you have found a reliable host that will continue well into the future to deliver the promise of these early experiences you enjoy with their services.

For those with less experience, take some advice from those who have been around, or who just seem to have common sense. From acidHL: Two weeks? Shouldn't you give them a bit longer before you commit to any reviews you may make[/i]

If you are relatively new to finding a host, you should do independent research regardless of the reviews you find here. This research may not always prevent mistakes, but certain red flags should alert you to possible signs of future trouble.

Using frontdrive.com as an example, I start with the basic whois lookup to find this:

Registrant: <<< information available in whois db >>>
======================================
1) Could not find company "frontdrive.com", "Front Drive, Inc.", "FrontDrive", "Front Drive, LLC" in the California Secretary of State records.

2) It's very difficult to serve someone (legally) at a P.O. Box address, unless you want to wait there until they check the mail. And when "info_AT_frontdrive.com" is listed as the Administrative Contact, I question the reasoning behind that "business decision".

3) Calling the phone number gets this response from a robot operator:
"The mobile number you called in no longer in service."

4) Domain frontdrive.com was created about six months ago. Not that this "company" couldn't have been doing business before that under another name, or that its newness necessarily means a problem, but the fact that this hosting domain is so new, and has #1 and #2 and #3 above already going against it (just my opinion - based on the fact that if I'm giving my credit card number to someone, I'd better have the same reciprocal "trust" from them - in the form of a valid, verifiable business license and a verifiable address and a phone number - that they expect from me when I give them information about myself that could, in the wrong hands, potentially ruin my life).

5) A traceroute ends at Net Access Corporation, which tells me they probably lease a server there, or are reselling for someone else who does. Not that that's necessarily a problem. I am a reseller myself, and have for a year and a half given my 40 clients consistently superior service. They can reach me by phone 24/7/365. They know my business name and address, can look me up in the corporate records, and they know I'm a reseller.

So. I hope your story has a happy ending. Frontdrive.com might be great. But for those who visit this forum for information and guidance, "Buyer Beware". :dunce:


<<< addressspamedited >>>

JEEZ man Your pretty Hard core!!!!

:stickout

Originally posted by the-muse

So. I hope your story has a happy ending. Frontdrive.com might be great. But for those who visit this forum for information and guidance, "Buyer Beware". :dunce:

1) Sent in the paperwork earlier this month, it is still being processed.

2) The PO Box is checked every day. What does the email address listed have to do with anything?

3) Like many other hosts you will encounter, we do not offer phone support.

4) Yes, Front Drive has been in business for only 5 months.

5) One of our servers was with them, though we are making a move to FastServers this week. No clients are on servers at NAC, and no we are not resellers like you.



The smart consumer bases his decisions not on arbitrary facts (not all facts, either -- plenty of things you're completely wrong about) but on the quality of services rendered. Have you seen a single complaint about our hosting services on this board? :rolleyes:

Originally posted by FDrive
(5) One of our servers was with them, though we are making a move to FastServers this week. No clients are on servers at NAC, and no we are not resellers like you.
Let us know how this all goes. Fastservers.net seem to be right on the money. I still love my NAC servers though. Not sure if I trust the he.net network as I do trust NAC.
The smart consumer bases his decisions not on arbitrary facts (not all facts, either -- plenty of things you're completely wrong about) but on the quality of services rendered. Have you seen a single complaint about our hosting services on this board? :rolleyes:
Don't worry Jay. Keep your head down working hard to serve your clients and let the chips fall where they may. :)

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Let us know how this all goes. Fastservers.net seem to be right on the money. I still love my NAC servers though. Not sure if I trust the he.net network as I do trust NAC.

Don't worry Jay. Keep your head down working hard to serve your clients and let the chips fall where they may. :)

I recently posted in the Dedicated Hosting Froum about my experiences with FastServers... so far so good. The real test will be having a server with clients on it, though. I'll definately let you know how it goes. NAC definately is an amazing network, I will wait to see how he.net compares.

Thanks for the kind words :)

20 minutes downtime in two weeks..? ouch!

Originally posted by FDrive


1) Sent in the paperwork earlier this month, it is still being processed.

2) The PO Box is checked every day. What does the email address listed have to do with anything?

3) Like many other hosts you will encounter, we do not offer phone support.

4) Yes, Front Drive has been hosting for only 5 months.

5) One of our servers was with them, though we are making a move to FastServers this week. No clients are on servers at NAC, and no we are not resellers like you.



The smart consumer bases his decisions not on arbitrary facts (not all facts, either -- plenty of things you're completely wrong about) but on the quality of services rendered. Have you seen a single complaint about our hosting services on this board? :rolleyes:

I strongly disagree. The smart consumer bases his decision on facts AND reputation, just as the-muse stated. I'm not saying you're not a good host either.

I commend the-muse. If people were half that thorough in checking out a host, we'd see far fewer complaints here.

Also, I think it's way premature for your customer to post a raving review after 2 weeks even with his explanation; but I'm glad you have a happy client. :)

How Wude!, not you chris, old transaxle host.

Originally posted by chrisb


I strongly disagree. The smart consumer bases his decision on facts AND reputation, just as the-muse stated. I'm not saying you're not a good host either.

I commend the-muse. If people were half that thorough in checking out a host, we'd see far fewer complaints here.

Also, I think it's way premature for your customer to post a raving review after 2 weeks even with his explanation; but I'm glad you have a happy client. :)

The smart consumer investigates. The smart consumer asks the host in question before attacking in a public forum. Some aoler with a chip on her shoulder and a hot copy of visualroute offering up Whois records as a public attack hardly can be considered an investigation.

the-muse never asked anyone from Front Drive about their info in their whois record. Did she ever try asking them for an address? Or a phone number? It's not like Jay's not available. It isn't exactly a chore to contact him and say 'hey, your domain record looks a little funny'. But no. Instead the decision was made, by the-muse to go on the offensive and 'attack'.

Of course, her response to this, as it's been in the past, will be 'well I was merely stating that I wouldn't do business with them. It's only my opinion.' To that, I say, HOGWASH. Your accusations and argumentative attitude towards hosts you've never dealt with speaks volumes.

Attacking like this based on a whois record is irresponsible and stupid. The public at large has absolutely no need to know an address from a whois record. Many hosts work from a home office and therefore would be forced to place their home address on the internet for all to see. That may be all well and good in AOL-land, but where I'm from that's not exactly the best idea.

Potential customers, however, are quite another story. They are not the general public. They are people who are getting ready to both sign a contract and give a credit card number to a host. I will wholeheartedly agree that any host who will not furnish a potential customer with a valid name, address, and phone number SHOULD be reported here. At that point, I'd jump on the-muse's bandwagon and bash away myself.

As far as the business license goes, laws differ from state to state as to what can and cannot be done without a valid business 'license'. Some states don't even require such a thing. Again, this is an issue which should be addressed with the host in question rather than going on the offensive in a forum.

I personally don't give a rat's anteater about Front Drive and who likes/dislikes them. But the fact that you can condone this kind of irresponsible and mindless attack, let alone commend it, is abominable.

There once was a host called Avail Hosting (availhosting.com) ran by <<< the same person >>>. He started Avail in April ( http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=312202#post312202) and went out of business due to a server failure ( http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51914 ). 4 days later, Jeremy offered the domain and site design ( http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52936 ). No big deal...

...until WHT user 'timechange' noticed that Front Drive had the same design as the old Avail and that availhosting.com and frontdrive.com had the same information in their WHOIS. Read this thread for the reply and some other interesting info -> ( http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58809 ).

At the time of the thread, I did a google search on 'availhosting' and it returned a newsgroup message from haze_AT_sketches.org plugging his hosting company, availhosting.com [Note: google doesn't return the result anymore, but it was more than there 3 weeks ago.]

So I access sketches.org and it redirects you to tribby.com. WHOIS on sketches.org and tribby.com match (not to mention Frontdrive.com). FYI, <<< the same person >>> is a moderator over at Aletia Forums.

Again, searching via google for "haze_AT_sketches.org" returns a site clmacros.com - same WHOIS at the other 3 in this story. Here's a quote from the site:


news:
Woohoo! Summer! As soon as I finish working on Front Drive, I'm going to re-do clmacros.com. I mean, it's not like I'll have anything better to do during classes this summer. So, thank you to all of you patient Clan Lordians, the new clmacros.com is on its way. :: Haze :: 6/22/2002


Now, 3 weeks ago when I was doing all of this - Google's cache had cached the site sometime in April or May. The news had that they were working on availhosting.com. Unfortunetly, Google has cached the current front page since then.

FDrive states that they've been in business for 5 months in this thread and there are other threads from FDrive that go along with that as well (example: http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=408851#post408851). How so? If frontdrive.com started after Avail went down - that would be 2 months ago... but it would be 5 if you included since Avail began.

Add it up... :cool:

<<< addressspamedited >>>

Yes, Jeremy, the guy from Avail, is running Front Drive with me. He's my roommate and I helped him out with Avail, now he's helping me out with Front Drive. He's a server whizz so he's been instrumental in Front Drive's success. We had wanted to keep that kind of low key since he was still pretty upset about the whole Avail thing when Front Drive started and didnt want to bring me down with Front Drive.

Honestly, I don't see why it's even worth mentioning. What's your point, vipe?

The point is that Front Drive has not been in business for 5 months like you claim among other things.

And what's going to happen if Front Drive has a server failure ala Avail?

Originally posted by vipe
The point is that Front Drive has not been in business for 5 months like you claim.

And what's going to happen if Front Drive has a server failure ala Avail?

Front Drive has not been hosting for 5 months, but has very much been in business for 5 months doing design and mostly programming.


Front Drive will not have a server failure ala Avail because:

a) I am not using a Rackshack server or whatever crappy $99 company it was that Jeremy used

b) backups are perfomed on a second hard drive, a second machine, and a third machine (our home server). Our server provider offers 24/7 parts replacement and if a hard drive were to fail, it would be swapped out and the backup restored. Just like any other hosting company.



I don't know why you're even linking Front Drive with Avail. Front Drive is not Avail. Front Drive has a worker who used to work for Avail.

-J

Originally posted by Drewcifer
I will wholeheartedly agree that any host who will not furnish a potential customer with a valid name, address, and phone number SHOULD be reported here....
Hmmmmmm, I've never had anyone ask for my home address. It's noone else's business. My home phone is also private. We don't offer telephone support, so I don't see where a phone number is relevant. But go ahead - report me. :cartman: :rolleyes:

I was with Avail, and had no problems at all. It was most likely the fastest host I have ever been with. Hmm rethinking about it, read below....at any rate, when it went out of business I got a full refund for the entire year immediately, including the full month that I was a customer. The domain hosted was Fused.net

After that I went with Paradise Designs. Lightning fast server, as it was with Level 3 here in Orlando. I was more than pleased until the known non-payment of Tim's and the licence issues. I had a hard time getting my files, only after Vortech who runs the NOC that PD was colocating their server intervened I was able to grab my files and db. I had a hard time getting a refund as well, it took several emails, threats to sue and lots of hardship and calls (and finding in the meantime that the 33 year old Tim was in fact 15).

Personally I made an observation about Avail and FDrive and it might be the same company being run by the same person etc. As long as you are getting good service, that's what matters. If Avail morphed into FDrive and their owner is a split personality, I personally don't care - as long as my server is up and running.

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Hmmmmmm, I've never had anyone ask for my home address. It's noone else's business. My home phone is also private. We don't offer telephone support, so I don't see where a phone number is relevant. But go ahead - report me. :cartman: :rolleyes:

LOL...I didn't mean just give out your home address, but give some sort of valid address for a leery potential client. Being apprehensive about a host is perfectly understandable. As is the desire of a person who runs a respectable business from his/her home to be discreet about their personal information.

BattleForums,

I thought you were happy with Frontdrive, but looks like you are changing hosts after this review as per your request here:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66007

:confused:

For FDrive

Also Fdrive, per my understanding before avils failure you were helping Jeremy at availhosting.com , now after Avils failure Jeremy is helping you at Frontdrive, either way its the same team and what make this second round more succesful than first round ?

Also if one HDD failure can bring whole Avil business down then what assurrence you give your clients and customers besides stating that since this time you are not using RS servers, that this time will not bring Frontdrive down in case of HD failure or something else?

Just curious :rolleyes:

I was not very involved with Avail. All I did was the website and a little bit of tech support.

I, unlike Jeremy, know how to run a business. That is why he has remained in the background doing sysadmin things with Front Drive.

If you think what brought Avail down was a simple hard drive failure, then you are painfully wrong.

Do your homework before trying to bash a competitor next time, you're just making yourself look foolish.

There we go with the Bash a competitor comment, really you should take more time.

Not everything on this board equates to "Bashing", genuine questions are being raised, don't let it be reduced to "Bashing" comments, its making you look foolish.

Perhaps if he had left out the ":rolleyes:" I would have taken his post seriously.

Everyone else thus far has posted legitimate and geniune questions that I have responded to; he did not.


I just find it amusing that every time someone posts a positive review of Front Drive (havent had a single complaint on these boards), competitors come in here and talk about Jeremy :o

Jay,

I am sorry if my comments looks bashing to you. What I said that I was curious since both of you are still together at frontdrive. Before you helped him behid the scene, now he helps you behind ( or background :) ) but its still same people running the same business. I am not saying that you are no good, but was stating the facts.

And as per this thread here:
http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51914

It was server failure ( either HD or RAM ) that cause Avil to go down, I think thats what I stated before.

Also on another note maybe its me but both Avail's and you signature looks very similar :D
-----------
Avail:

Jeremy » jeremy_AT_availhosting.com
Avail Hosting » advanced multi-domain hosting solutions
http://www.availhosting.com/
------------
FDrive:

Jay » jay_AT_frontdrive.com • AIM » FDrive Support
Front Drive™ » Advanced multi-domain solutions
http://www.frontdrive.com/
---------------

Regards and good luck

<<< addressspamedited >>>

Is is not the same people running the same business. Jeremy has no say in "running" this business, he is simply one of the sysadmins. Every other worker of Front Drive has no relation to Avail whatsoever.


What happened with Avail was the server company overwriting Jeremy's backups. Again, I encourage you to do your homework before posting.


As for the sig, yes I borrwed his. Big deal.

One of our sysadmins ran an unsuccessful company called Avail. Please, competitors, flog the dead horse.

:rolleyes:

You know when I was checking up on FrontDrive before siging up with them, nobody said anything. Other people asked, and still nobody said anything.
Now that sombody has posted a positive comment, (oh no!) everybody is jumping in with info.
Yes, I did know about the relationship of Jeremy to avail, and I took a chance that Jay is being honest about it. I have done a search on the name and have not found him to be contradicting.
If they serve me well, I will give them their due.
I will say I have another site on another host/server, so all my eggs are not in one basket, as they say. Plus I pay by the month.

So thanks for the heads up folks, but I am a grown up, and will be ok.

It absolutely turns my stomach when a host tries to puff themselves up by bashing another host on these forums.
Not to mention how unethical it is.
I see it too much of it here.

:sickface: It's disgusting.

Hello,

Seems everyone should be unhappy with their host and no one is *allowed* to post a positive thread!

Well, its not nice at all to see hosts are doing this to each other C'mon be well mannered ! It's awful when you read this stuff.

I guess WHT is turning to DAL.net on IRC. Everyone is fighting for power or something. I left there and joined WHT to get experience and knowledge in hosting industry. Unfortunately seems you have to leave here as well.

Lucks...

eHostPros, shame on you.

I noticed though that FDrive.com went down for the same timespan that Aletia.com was down. What gives? :confused:

from shaghost... It absolutely turns my stomach when a host tries to puff themselves up by bashing a host who bashes another host on these forums. Not to mention how unethical it is, so I won't mention that.
I see it too much of it here, so I refuse to contribute to it!!

from Drewcifer... I personally don't give a rat's anteater about Front Drive and who likes/dislikes them. But the fact that you can condone this kind of irresponsible and mindless attack, let alone commend it, is abominable.For $15 I'll send you a genuine, gold-plated, diamond studded, platinum engraved apology written on an authentic blank page of Elvis Presley's Personal Diary. Please send your credit card number to me at: P.O. Box U.R.E.Z., Knome, Alaska. If you don't receive your apology after four months, send an email to: info_AT_whatsaol.com. If that doesn't work, sue me, if you can find me. Love, the-muse.

Originally posted by timechange
I noticed though that FDrive.com went down for the same timespan that Aletia.com was down. What gives? :confused:

Unfortunate timing -- we were messing with frontdrive.com's DNS today, and at the same time our nameserver went down, the backup server (just a cheap account with Aletia) went down. The move to our new server is finished now, no need for the backup account anymore. Ahh, bask in FastServers.net's speedy goodness.

Originally posted by the-muse

For $15 I'll send you a genuine, gold-plated, diamond studded, platinum engraved apology written on an authentic blank page of Elvis Presley's Personal Diary. Please send your credit card number to me at: P.O. Box U.R.E.Z., Knome, Alaska. If you don't receive your apology after four months, send an email to: info_AT_whatsaol.com. If that doesn't work, sue me, if you can find me. Love, the-muse.

:emlaugh:

<<< addressspamedited >>>

Originally posted by the-muse

Mothers of the world unite! And breast feed me......

Oh, Jeremy is just a sysadmin?

He says he co-runs Front Drive here: http://www.christiefrontdrive.com/board/index.php?action=view&id=711

:eek: :confused: :confused:

OOps lol

Originally posted by FDrive

a) I am not using a Rackshack server or whatever crappy $99 company it was that Jeremy used
-J

I don't believe Jeremey used a crappy company (looks like you would know that). Avail used eservers.biz which is considered to be a reputable company here. He said he made a mistake in administrating and crashed his server losing all his clients information so he decided to close down. So, I don't know if that's a valid point, unless you are using a better company than
eservers.biz.

:rolleyes:

I knew this kind of stuff will start popping up . Sorry to say , but the brief email contact I've had with Jay aka. Jeremy , leads me to beleive that they are one & the same ... Well I could be wrong .

It also doesn't excuse the poor uninterested replies I received from him - a whole day late - in regards to hosting .. Both replies had convenient excuses embeded . I hate that . Especialy when I'm politely trying to give someone a tip .

But who am I to judge , eh :)

Oh .. what's this ?? Jay/Jeremy - better go fix your online secure order form links . They're down .... again . :eek:

..and please don't shoot the messenger :)

Originally posted by Drewcifer

Attacking like this based on a whois record is irresponsible and stupid. The public at large has absolutely no need to know an address from a whois record.
<SNIP>
I personally don't give a rat's anteater about Front Drive and who likes/dislikes them. But the fact that you can condone this kind of irresponsible and mindless attack, let alone commend it, is abominable.


Ridiculous. Maybe some things need to be asked, but a WHOIS record pretty much speaks for itself.

Nothing against Front Drive, but what guarantees their sys-admin won't do the same mistake twice...

:D

Lesson No.1 : Learn from your mistakes - quickly .

Lesson No.2 : Don't try to pull the wool over peoples eyes - you can fool some of the people some of the time , but you can't fool all the people all of the time .

Lesson No.3 : When involved in a public business & and if constantly in the public eye - excercise INTEGRITY .

Originally posted by fantasmic0
:D

Lesson No.1 : Learn from your mistakes - quickly .

Lesson No.2 : Don't try to pull the wool over peoples eyes - you can fool some of the people some of the time , but you can't fool all the people all of the time .

Lesson No.3 : When involved in a public business & and if constantly in the public eye - excercise INTEGRITY .

well said...

Great example, Miss Muse. LOL

from chrisb... Great example, Miss Muse. LOL Thank you... My pleasure... for those who have eyes, let them see, and for those who have ears, let them hear...

for all the rest, send your credit card numbers to me... :dunce:

Originally posted by chrisb



Ridiculous. Maybe some things need to be asked, but a WHOIS record pretty much speaks for itself.

Bleh...I give up. You're not smart enough to bother arguing with.

Originally posted by Drewcifer


Bleh...I give up. You're not smart enough to bother arguing with.

LOL. At least I'm smart enough not to use a valuetech.com RAQ server to host important accounts on. :)

Originally posted by Atlonim
Nothing against Front Drive, but what guarantees their sys-admin won't do the same mistake twice...

Simple. We have different sysadmins than Avail had. The only thing in common between Avail and Front Drive is one person. Have you heard a single complaint about Front Drive? No, I didn't think so.

Originally posted by chrisb


I don't believe Jeremey used a crappy company (looks like you would know that). Avail used eservers.biz which is considered to be a reputable company here. He said he made a mistake in administrating and crashed his server losing all his clients information so he decided to close down. So, I don't know if that's a valid point, unless you are using a better company than
eservers.biz.

You know what? You would really be better off talking to Jeremy about that. I'm just telling you what he told me. Grab him at jeremy_AT_tribby.com

<<< addressspamedited >>>

I'm done responding to people in this thread -- if you want to talk about Avail, maybe you should start a separate thread about that.

As for me, I have customers to take care of. Goodnight.

Originally posted by vipe
Oh, Jeremy is just a sysadmin?

He says he co-runs Front Drive here: http://www.christiefrontdrive.com/board/index.php?action=view&id=711

:eek: :confused: :confused:

This thread just keeps getting better and better... :eek:

You cannot separate yourself from Avail as long as you still have Jeremy working for you. You're playing musical chairs here. I suggest you sit down before someone pulls another chair out from under you. :)

:stickout

You can't hide anything on the net these days .. can you :cool:

Google = POWAH !!

Almost a year ago a young TheMMiz ventured onto the WebHostingTalk.com forums. He posted his praise for a little web host that just started, after only being with them for a week or two. He got pounced on, thrashed, had to defend himself.

One year and many hosts later TheMMiz still visits the forums. These forums are like no other. No matter what subforum you post in, you are open to the entire Web Hosting community. The same openness that makes WHT what is is can also make it unbearable at times.

Some days are good, some days are bad, but in web hosting a reputation is everything. FDrive, I hope you stick with it and continue to provide a high level of services and support. Six months from now when ten more hosts go out of business, you can laugh at all of us.

Until then.... you gotta face the wrath of WebHostingTalk.com

Wisely spoken .. well done .

As always , the proof is in the pudding . ;)

from TheMMIz... Almost a year ago a young TheMMiz ventured onto the WebHostingTalk.com forums. He posted his praise for a little web host that just started, after only being with them for a week or two. He got pounced on, thrashed, had to defend himself.
One year and many hosts later TheMMiz still visits the forums. "Many hosts" is too many to go through in a year...

...one is best, two is acceptable under certain conditions...

...three makes you suspect...

... after that, it's obvious you're not paying much attention to the "pouncing" you get here, when people try to advise you...

...or maybe you're just a wanderer, who can't settle down...

I stand by my observations here... they are no more than a reflection of logical business practice. I've made other posts here with similar advice.

Identity theft is one of the fastest rising white collar crimes in the United States. Think it can't happen to you?

Anyone who reads the advice in this forum, and still feels comfortable submitting their credit card info to someone they've never met, who has no verifiable name, no business address, a phone number that is "no longer in service", seems to be a student on a lark who invents alter-egos to use for excuses for his own mistakes, admits to having a "former partner" who, if he really exists, is still a co-partner (who was only 17 - not legally able to enter into contractual relationships in most states, if not all states), is asking for trouble.

Read my first post. I didn't set out to "attack" FrontDrive.com. Since it was the subject of the thread, I made a decision to use it as an example before I even started my research. I would hope to find good things, not vague, deceptive information.

After the many defensive responses by FrontDrive.com, from my perspective, and in my opinion only, the owner of the site (since there is no real company), reflects the same lack of business acumen I found in his whois information.

I would have had complete respect for this person had he said, "You know, I'm just starting out in business. What you said makes sense. I want my customers to feel safe, and have the same trust in me that I demand from them when I take their credit card info. Thanks, the-muse. You've helped me become a more responsible business person."

Think my research was unfair? I wonder what the IRS would find if they researched that hosting "company"?

The research bears out for me that this "company" will not be around in six months, unless "they/he" matures and accepts the responsibility of hosting decent, trusting people who pay in good faith for services which, in the wrong hands, may affect their entire lives.

I don't want to see anyone fail in business. Nor do I want to see anyone move through several hosts in one year. There are things to be learned, fully understood, and implemented. If these things are ignored, failure is imminent on both sides of the business arrangement. :dunce:

That was some spanking allright :D

the-muse,

1. I side with you on this issue, the more information the better
2. << "Many hosts" is too many to go through in a year... >>

Would you get a dedicated server for a personal site that uses 15 MB of bandwidth a month? Nah. Neither would I. I use many different hosts for many different reasons. AffordableHost for affordability, VO for reliability, EARHost to park my many unused domains, and so on.

On another note before I get too off-topic, as this thread has turned into "FDrive - Behind the WebHost," settle down there sport, sometimes its not so much as "winning" as it is expressing your view effectively. You've shared with us the perils of using FDrive's services, we got it ;)

Originally posted by fantasmic0
:stickout

You can't hide anything on the net these days .. can you :cool:

Google = POWAH !!

Boy you got that right.

My wife was messing around a few weeks ago and found some stuff I had posted to a Visual Basic BBS back in 1994, your enitre history and any thing you have posted anywhere on the net is open if you dig deep enough.

hmmm... let me see what kind of muck I can dig up on myself :stickout

Originally posted by Monte


Boy you got that right.

My wife was messing around a few weeks ago and found some stuff I had posted to a Visual Basic BBS back in 1994, your enitre history and any thing you have posted anywhere on the net is open if you dig deep enough.
:eek: Yes. Google may be your friend, but it's also a pain in the neck. :rolleyes: :o

Originally posted by eHostPros
BattleForums,

I thought you were happy with Frontdrive, but looks like you are changing hosts after this review as per your request here:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66007

:confused:

Just curious :rolleyes:

The reason I was requesting another host was because I was using too much bandwidth at front drive past my alowed transfer. This was due to many proxy attacks on my site. Not knowing about the proxy attacks and thinking it was just my forums using alot of BW, I decided to prepare for a move to another host, since the highest plan frontdrive has is 20GB. But... front drive came through for me and helped me ban the users who were doing this and gave me some tips and stuff. Also, since my site was still being hit by proxies, he removed the transfer quota on my account for the entire month of August... since he has alot of extra bandwidth he isn't using. Is that customer service or what?

Hope that will calm your confusion,
Adam

this forum is GREAT! finally after wandering blindly in the wilderness, feeling alone and unloved, i find that there are indeed soldiers on my side, out there struggling in solidarity against suspicious and unreliable webhosts. i am not alone!! do you know how great it is to find yourself amongst others just like you! you probably do, since you've found yourselves here......

right, gushing over, now my comment: i had been considering frontdrive.com as a host; then when i looked at their website i was a little concerned at the how sparse it was, no company info anywhere on the site; then when i had a look at their whois info (thank you the-muse!), i was a little more concerned (because, you see, drewcifer, as you said "Many hosts work from a home office" and these are precisely the non-professionals we need to be wary of); after that, i became even more concerned at the slightly unprofessional tone (dare i say "young"?) in the frontdrive representative's responses; then i was actually alarmed by the connections exposed with doomed avail; what finally sealed the deal for me though was when someone pointed out the crucial similarity in sigs and names of the fd rep and the avail bloke...

so thank you guys and girls for helping avoid that sinking ship.........

the search goes on........

because, you see, drewcifer, as you said "Many hosts work from a home office" and these are precisely the non-professionals we need to be wary of

Well fair enough. You're perfectly entitled to your own opinion and method of choosing a host. Nobody argues that. However, you should probably be aware that a good 95% of hosts work out of their home. This has no bearing on whether or not they are professional or run an ethical business. (This does not, BTW, mean they have servers in their garage or in their basement either.)

It's exactly your kind of thinking that leads perfectly well-meaning hosts to attempt to appear 'bigger'. All this does is create an unnecessary web of lies and misleadings, which mind you might not affect the service that the company provides, but is nonetheless misleading and dishonest. This is not meant to blame consumer's misconceptions for the host being misleading, but it is a cause an effect.

It's important to note that I'm not for or against Front Drive in any way, shape, or form. What I am against and what I lashed out at was the way the-muse handled the situation, as well as the way she has handed similar situations in the past. Other things have been cited in this thread that are quite a bit more alarming for prospective customers of Front Drive than their Whois record. My point is simply this: A host, or any online business for that matter, does not have an obligation to the general public (which largely consists of spammers, cold callers and junk mailers) as far as providing addresses and phone numbers. The people they have an obligation to are current, past and prospective customers. If you wish to have such info from a host, ask! Don't crucify them for having a PO Box in their domain records!

Also, I feel it is important to note that in spite of all the inane ramblings about giving your credit card number to Front Drive, anyone who checks will notice that 2checkout handles their sales and nobody from Front Drive will have access to any such numbers, so that point is moot. If you want to investigate someone who will be getting your credit card number, investigate 2checkout, not Front Drive.

I think that this thread has turned pretty stupid. I was (and still am) happy with front drive's hosting, so I thought i'd post a nice thread on them and tell others about the good service i've recieved from them... well, so much for that. Most of you have helped turn what was once a nice little 2 paragraph review, into a 5 page, 70 reply, mud slinging contest with front drive stuck in the middle. I understand you guys have a right to post all your crap about front drive to try and make him look bad and I even respect it, but if you want to do that, then start up your own thread and post a bad review on them, but please don't clutter up my good review with all your negative stuff, that's not fair to front drive. Just think about how you would like it if someone posts a good review on your site, then other hosts come along and start posting crap in it? Once again... i'll state, I understand and respect that WHT is a free-speech enviroment, but just don't free-speech your stuff in here. I posted my opinion and I still stick to it. If you all disagree with it, then good for you, but keep it to yourselves or else start a new thread.

- Adam

And we've drifted off more and more from the point...