Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Yep, another beginner looking for advice

[texasnightowl]

And yes, I have done some reading here and at hostsearchreview.com and at webhostmagazine.com.

I already have my own domain and have been running it off a machine at my home via my cable modem (via a dynamic IP addressing service). I am interested in having it hosted somewhere so as to free up my machine and to give my dad a little bit more access and control.

The primary focus so far has been email...accounts for my immediate family. However, my father has been doing a good bit of genealogy work and will be putting out files and pictures.

So, what is important to me is stable, reliable email service. This domain is used as the primary email address/account for both my father and myself. It seems that most hosts do have webmail service and most seem to utilize spam assasin.

Secondly, I want at least a few subdomains. For example, family.mydomain.net for the genealogy stuff.

Third, space. At the moment less than 1gb would be plenty. But as my dad uploads more pictures, that could grow. I would like to go ahead and get 3-5gb.

Bandwidth. I don't think we'll need a huge amount. Emails coming through average maybe 20/day total for all users. Genealogy files transfer would be somewhat limited to those with common ancestors. I have a couple of things I would like to put up but don't anticipate heavy usage. But I also don't want to end up at day 20 of the month out of bandwidth. Anyone have an idea of what bandwidth to plan for? Estimates?

Platform: As far as I know, linux/unix would be fine. My dad uses Dreamweaver, not FrontPage so don't need FrontPage extensions. Also don't plan to use Access databases.

Price: Def. want to stay under $10/month.

As I said, I have done some reading and currently have 7 hosts on my list. They seem to have mostly high ratings/reviews. They are:

site5
506host
integrahost
hostgator
mxhub
westhost
lunarpages

Considering my needs as written above, which of these hosts would you recommend?

[LP-Jay]

I've tried WestHost although it was a VPS, good support and i like the cpanel for the vps. Good luck on your search, those companies are pretty good.

[IntegraHost]

Hi,

Were glad to be on your final list, if there are any questions you have about our service, I would be glad to help you out. We offer true 24/7 Support and there is always someone on live chat ready to help you.

Thanks,

<Signature removed. The signature must be setup in your profile.>

[texasnightowl]

sfx-host: thanks for chiming in about westhost and integrahost: it's always good to see the presence of a company on board...at least IMO.

Anyone have any additional input...specifically about the email reliability of the companies above?

[flux-nfsn]

I'd like to toss another one on your list that I used for a few years: Total Choice Hosting is pretty good and pretty affordable; definitely within the range you're looking for. Take a look at their user forums for more info -- they're public.

Also, for stand-alone email service, should you find you need it, I quite like Fastmail -- found them through word-of-mouth and they've been quite reliable and flexible.

Kirsten

[texasnightowl]

I've narrowed my list of hosts to 3 and wanted to see if anyone had any feedback. My list is now:

site5
integra
hostgator

I elimited mxhub and westhost because I really do want to stay under $100/yr. I eliminated lunarpages because of fine print that the available storage actually starts at 1gb and you have to email and ask for the additional space and you have to be at 90% of the 1gb before you do so...I don't think I would really have a problem with that, but if you're selling the plan as 5gb storage, then give me the 5gb without having to ask for it.

Anyway, the feedback for the remaining 3 seems to be generally positive. Hostgator does limit email accounts and subdomains to 20 while the other two hosts are unlimited on those items. Hostgator would be the hatchling plan at $6.95/mo: 3.5gb storage/50gb bandwidth. Integrahost is $7.95/mo for 20gb storage and at least 100gb bandwidth (though I should be eligible for their unmetered plan). And site5 would be $7.77/mo (if I go for 2 yrs) for 11gb storage and 400gb bandwidth.

Any comments on these final 3?

[pulszar]

I'm very happy with Site5 and their 11/400 plan. As stated in my other post, I'm looking for someone else because they don't allow the operation of Adult sites and their e-commerce carts aren't functional (I tried installing oSCommerce but it failed because Site5 has a field disabled in their php.ini file that the cart needs to have enabled). I probably could have called and asked and they would have been helpful but I'm going to have to go elsewhere anyway so it doesn't matter.

Otherwise, I would say Site5.

[WHU-Mike]

I have been with site5 for about 6 months back in 2005. During that time they were pretty good to me. No problems with account or server.

[WireNine]

Originally Posted by pulszar

I'm very happy with Site5 and their 11/400 plan. As stated in my other post, I'm looking for someone else because they don't allow the operation of Adult sites and their e-commerce carts aren't functional (I tried installing oSCommerce but it failed because Site5 has a field disabled in their php.ini file that the cart needs to have enabled). I probably could have called and asked and they would have been helpful but I'm going to have to go elsewhere anyway so it doesn't matter.

Otherwise, I would say Site5.

What website do you have hosted with them?

[Quartz]

I would recommend Host Gator personally. I have a review I posted today in this forum. Highly Recommended!

[markjut]

I still have accounts with http://www.realwebhost.net and they offer a good range of inexpensive but quality packages

[Nadabrahma]

Originally Posted by texasnightowl

I've narrowed my list of hosts to 3 and wanted to see if anyone had any feedback. My list is now:

site5
integra
hostgator

I elimited mxhub and westhost because I really do want to stay under $100/yr. I eliminated lunarpages because of fine print that the available storage actually starts at 1gb and you have to email and ask for the additional space and you have to be at 90% of the 1gb before you do so...I don't think I would really have a problem with that, but if you're selling the plan as 5gb storage, then give me the 5gb without having to ask for it.

Anyway, the feedback for the remaining 3 seems to be generally positive. Hostgator does limit email accounts and subdomains to 20 while the other two hosts are unlimited on those items. Hostgator would be the hatchling plan at $6.95/mo: 3.5gb storage/50gb bandwidth. Integrahost is $7.95/mo for 20gb storage and at least 100gb bandwidth (though I should be eligible for their unmetered plan). And site5 would be $7.77/mo (if I go for 2 yrs) for 11gb storage and 400gb bandwidth.

Any comments on these final 3?

Well, re. Lunarpages my hunch is that they have this clause to avoid overselling; ie. they want to see how many of their customers actually need the extra space so they can make more accurate provisions. That makes perfect sense to me.

And out of the ones remaining on your list, it seems that some are overselling more than others... Personally, I shy away from hosts offering something "unmetered". But that is just me....

[texasnightowl]

Originally Posted by Nadabrahma

Well, re. Lunarpages my hunch is that they have this clause to avoid overselling; ie. they want to see how many of their customers actually need the extra space so they can make more accurate provisions. That makes perfect sense to me.

And out of the ones remaining on your list, it seems that some are overselling more than others... Personally, I shy away from hosts offering something "unmetered". But that is just me....

I was concerned about "unmetered" too til I read the following on their site:

To be classified as "Eligible" (for Unmetered) your website must follow the following rules:

* 90% or more of your images, download files, etc. must be linked from an HTML or equivalent web page that is accessible to the public.
* Your website is comprised mostly of web pages, and images used on those pages.
* Your website is NOT primarily designed to provide files for download.
* Your website is NOT adult in nature.

If your website does not meet any of the above guidelines, it will be Ineligible for Unmetered Bandwidth and will be provide a bandwidth limit of 100 GB per month for Starter and 200 GB per month for Advanced.

* If your website is a download website (designed primarily to provide files for download by visitors,) or is an adult website, a website comprised of an image gallery only, any websites that contain shopping carts with over one hundred items are not eligible (ineligible) for Unmetered Bandwidth and will be assigned limits as stipulated above.

[Pantyholic]

I'm talking to someone now on the Invision site who is fed up with Integra, this is from their pm

Hi,

I don't know if you still remember me but I really need a good hosting recommendation. My site is on integrahost.com and it always gets down, sometimes it's offline for an hour.. Integra really sucks..

So there you go, but I guess most hosts go through bad spells, its how often that matters.

[FH-Donald]

out or your list, personally, i would use hostgator.
They have great customer support with quick respond times
i have used a lot of hosts in the past and hostgator has topped them all

one thing that i think is good about them, is that they dont over sell
there services. (just becasue a company have more storage on a server dont mean that the cpu is not being over loaded from having to many sites running on it)

Donald