Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Question for the Web Hosts out there

[Annette]

I'm a little confised - you say that your files are gone, yet the page still loads? If I went to your site and the page loaded, the files are there somewhere, since I doubt I've ever been to your site (and since you don't give a URL, I'm going to assumet his to be the case).

As far as the access denied - has your host recently moved to another provider? Have you recently requested any changes to your setup? The first case might explain the denied (i.e., the username/password are no longer correct on that server, the address is no longer what you have listed in your FTP prog, etc.). The second case might explain it if your host has done something to hose your account/permission settings.

No response from your host after that many emails is a bigger problem. It would certainly make me start looking around for a new host.

My husband and I are using a hosting service that NEVER responds to emails for support. We're reasonably proficient, and don't ask for help unless there's something obviously wrong on the server end.

We own several domain names, each has its own FTP. Yesterday, I tried to upload a new page, but the only file that's showing under that domain name is "autoname.dat", and I'm getting a 550/access denied error message when I try to upload (using ws_FTP).

The rest of our files are gone! Meanwhile, the existing pages for that site are loading on the web just fine.

Something that may or may not be tied to this problem. Couple of weeks ago, one of our friends mentioned that he tried to go to this site, but kept getting a web hosting service instead! Neither of us have ever had this happen.

I've sent ten emails to support since yesterday, as usual, no response.

Do you guys have any ideas about what might be going on here? And, if there's anything I can do to fix it?

Thanks,
Ivo

Originally posted by Annette:
I'm a little confised - you say that your files are gone, yet the page still loads? If I went to your site and the page loaded, the files are there somewhere, since I doubt I've ever been to your site (and since you don't give a URL, I'm going to assumet his to be the case).

LOL, I'm pretty confused about all this, too -- that's why I'm here. :-) The only file that's showing up on the server for this particular domain name is "autoname.dat". Like you, I feel certain my files must be somewhere, if the pages are loading on the web. But, I have no idea where they could be, or where to start looking. And, no, you've probably never visited this site, it's still in development and hasn't been listed w/search engines yet.

As far as the access denied - has your host recently moved to another provider? Have you recently requested any changes to your setup? The first case might explain the denied (i.e., the username/password are no longer correct on that server, the address is no longer what you have listed in your FTP prog, etc.). The second case might explain it if your host has done something to hose your account/permission settings.

I did a trace route on my host yesterday, and everything is still the same. The FTP is letting me log on, so username and password are OK. We haven't changed anything in our set-up since the account was established (last summer). And our other four domain names are the same as ever.

No response from your host after that many emails is a bigger problem. It would certainly make me start looking around for a new host.

We paid a year in advance, which will be up next month, so we're looking for a new host (another reason why I'm here). Except for non-response to support requests, our current host hasn't been too bad -- their uptime record has been pretty good, and everything works correctly more often than not. We figured we'd never get a refund, so better the devil we knew, than the one we didn't etc.

Thanks,
Ivo

This should be a little more clear than my response above.

Originally posted by Annette:
I'm a little confised - you say that your files are gone, yet the page still loads? If I went to your site and the page loaded, the files are there somewhere, since I doubt I've ever been to your site (and since you don't give a URL, I'm going to assumet his to be the case).

As far as the access denied - has your host recently moved to another provider? Have you recently requested any changes to your setup? The first case might explain the denied (i.e., the username/password are no longer correct on that server, the address is no longer what you have listed in your FTP prog, etc.). The second case might explain it if your host has done something to hose your account/permission settings.

No response from your host after that many emails is a bigger problem. It would certainly make me start looking around for a new host.

LOL, I'm pretty confused about all this, too -- that's why I'm here. :-) The only file that's showing up on the server for this particular domain name is "autoname.dat". Like you, I feel certain my files must be somewhere, if the pages are loading on the web. But, I have no idea where they could be, or where to start looking. And, no, you've probably never visited this site, it's still in development and hasn't been listed w/search engines yet.

I did a trace route on my host yesterday, and everything is still the same. The FTP is letting me log on, so username and password are OK. We haven't changed anything in our set-up since the account was established (last summer). And our other four domain names are the same as ever.

We paid a year in advance, which will be up next month, so we're looking for a new host (another reason why I'm here). Except for non-response to support requests, our current host hasn't been too bad -- their uptime record has been pretty good, and everything works correctly more often than not. We figured we'd never get a refund, so better the devil we knew, than the one we didn't etc.

Thanks,
Ivo

[Annette]

That is pretty odd, then. Something does seem to have cocked up somewhere. Unfortunately, really only your host can get in there (unless you want to go the extra step and contact theupstream, if any) and poke around to see what the problem is. And of course, if they won't answer your email...well...

Sorry not to have any brighter news/suggestions. Have you tried a chmod to see if it will let you reset the perms yourself? Might not let you if your perms are totally offed, but it's the last of a list I have right now. I think some ice cream and caffeine are in order....

[fthosting]

Quick Question is is your host ? then maybe someone can help you they could of had the same problem on that host.

Originally posted by Annette:
That is pretty odd, then. Something does seem to have cocked up somewhere. Unfortunately, really only your host can get in there (unless you want to go the extra step and contact theupstream, if any) and poke around to see what the problem is. And of course, if they won't answer your email...well...

Sorry not to have any brighter news/suggestions. Have you tried a chmod to see if it will let you reset the perms yourself? Might not let you if your perms are totally offed, but it's the last of a list I have right now. I think some ice cream and caffeine are in order....

Originally posted by Annette:
That is pretty odd, then. Something does seem to have cocked up somewhere. Unfortunately, really only your host can get in there (unless you want to go the extra step and contact theupstream, if any) and poke around to see what the problem is. And of course, if they won't answer your email...well...

Sorry not to have any brighter news/suggestions. Have you tried a chmod to see if it will let you reset the perms yourself? Might not let you if your perms are totally offed, but it's the last of a list I have right now. I think some ice cream and caffeine are in order....

Hmmmm, we're not sure what a chmod is, so I guess we haven't checked it. The server did let me download the "autoname.dat" file that's showing (did it to a floppy and threw it out). So it's definitely letting me in, just not allowing me to upload files.

Thanks,
Ivo

Originally posted by fthosting:
Quick Question is is your host ? then maybe someone can help you they could of had the same problem on that host.

24hrHost

[Annette]

You use ws_FTP. Once you connect to your FTP space, right click on one of your directories there. In the pop up list, you'll see an option that says chmod (unix). If you choose that, you'll see the current permission settings for that directory: owner, group, and other. You'll see chmod referenced as "set so-and-so to 755". It works (binarily) like this:
4 Read
2 Write
1 Execute

So, if you set a directory to 755, it means that the owner has RWX (4+2+1), group has RX (4+1), and others has RX (4+1). If you, as owner, don't have Write permission, it'll give you the same sort of error(s) that you're receiving. Unfortunately, on some systems, if you, as owner, set the permissions so that you can't write to a directory, you're locked out until an admin resets it. It's something to check - and if it won't let you reset it (if you don't, in fact, have write permissions), you absolutely will need to get your support involved, if you can.

Originally posted by Annette:
You use ws_FTP. Once you connect to your FTP space, right click on one of your directories there. In the pop up list, you'll see an option that says chmod (unix). If you choose that, you'll see the current permission settings for that directory: owner, group, and other. You'll see chmod referenced as "set so-and-so to 755". It works (binarily) like this:
4 Read
2 Write
1 Execute

So, if you set a directory to 755, it means that the owner has RWX (4+2+1), group has RX (4+1), and others has RX (4+1). If you, as owner, don't have Write permission, it'll give you the same sort of error(s) that you're receiving. Unfortunately, on some systems, if you, as owner, set the permissions so that you can't write to a directory, you're locked out until an admin resets it. It's something to check - and if it won't let you reset it (if you don't, in fact, have write permissions), you absolutely will need to get your support involved, if you can.

Darn. It's an NT host.

This really stinks. Guess I'd better get busy looking for a new host. Who are you using?

Thanks,
Ivo

[Annette]

I'm currently using ValueWeb (www.valueweb.com), but will be switching to a dedicated server in the next week or so.

Thanks again, Annette :-) I really appreciate all the advice!

[Nightflames]

Ivo as you can see by reading several of the threads here, you have a choice of public information, which is then subject to scrutiny and correction, or to private information which is not. Perhaps list your particular future direction/requirements and see what the members suggest?

[Annette]

Originally posted by Ivo:
Thanks again, Annette :-) I really appreciate all the advice!

Hey, sure. When I'm not getting digs for blasting TH, I can usually be pretty helpful.

As far as other hosts go: the list of good hosts is definitely shorter than the list of bad ones, so I've started keeping track of them when I run across them. Here are a few that people have praised:
Superior Host (http://www.superior-host.com)
Your-Site (http://www.your-site.com)
Dream Host (http://www.dreamhost.com) (note that they offer adult hosting, too, so if you have some kind of moral objection, they're probably not for you.)


Here are a few to *definitely* avoid, based on reviews both here and in newsgroups:
True Hosting
linuxweb
*****

[CFoxHost]

I would add Interland.net to the list NOT to use. They had double billed me before when I used them and it took a complaint to the States Attorney office and a long time before I got that cash back. This was back around Oct. of 98, but there are more recent similar complaints at http://recellar.com

------------------
Chuck Fox
Owner
http://cfoxhost.com