Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : On the prowl...again.

[DarkRogue]

Hello fellow WHTers!
It's been nearly 3 years now and once again I'm on the hunt for another web host.. lol

My present host (CredibleHost) is fine, however it has seen a lot of problems over the last two years and is still trying to recover, however it hasn't stopped them from providing some good hosting.
However, support is declining and as I am to begin a new web project that demands slightly more than what I currently have, I figured it would be time to look for a new host.

I have a couple questions though, as always..
Firstly, How does Multiple web sites work?
What I want to do is to have several sites up simultaneously, but I'm unsure as to how to go about it. Do I simply go for a web host that supports multiple domains? Or is there something else that needs to be met, because I have been browsing the offers forum and some hosts offer "Multiple domains" and others offer "Multiple site hosting" and that generally confuses me. Also how would the FTP structure of the site differ? Currently the root area is the 'public_html' folder, would there be multiple ones or would there be like a root folder inside that for each of my sites?

Secondly, are there any good/free external sites that have an uptime history? I know there are a lot of sites that will allow u to track the uptime of your own site, but I want to see if there is any way to track the uptime history of the web hosts themselves to see if they live up to their uptime guarantees and to just see generally how their downtime looks (how often, how quickly it's handled, when it usually occurs throughout the year, etc.)

Those are the two things that are really on my mind right now, but to the real questions of a good host..
I know this comes up a lot, but I would like some user feedback. Now I have been browsing the offers forum, as I said before, and some of the offers are simply stunning. It seems like this month, or season is the perfect time to get a new host with all the lifetime 50% off offers floating around, however I have not heard of nearly any of those companies. I would like to see what some fellow WHT users recommend as web hosts, with either a review, a link to good/bad reviews and pro/cons of any suggested (Yes, I like to be able to look at both sides of a company, rather than just the hype.)

<< edit >>

Off the top of my head, I'd like a reasonable package with some headroom, say, 3-5GB of space (really, 1GB is minimum), bandwidth I'd like to be at least 10-15GB a month (or at least a good ratio compared to the space, lower space lower bandwidth I can understand), but the most important thing is I'd like the host to NOT oversell. Yes this raises the price quite a bit, But I believe I can eat that for better reliability and performance. I'd also require multiple domains (or ability to host multiple sites, if that's what it is since I'm confused about this) and probably around 10 MySQL databases minimum. Oh and Linux if possible. I hope I'm making some reasonable requests.. Also I believe I'd usually pay annually so, should have that although I believe most web hosts already support annual payments.

<< edit >>

Thank you everyone in advance, I hope to switch to a nice host and join some of you soon.

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

I have a couple questions though, as always..
Firstly, How does Multiple web sites work?

Find a web host that will support multiple domain names. If the host doesn't offer multiple domain names, try contacting them. Usually hosts are flexible and you can work with them about it. Once you do, it should be as simple as adding the domain in their control panel.

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

Secondly, are there any good/free external sites that have an uptime history?

Sometimes hosts will have an uptime tracker available on your website. If you can't find one, maybe they can send you a link of one if you request it.

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

It seems like this month, or season is the perfect time to get a new host with all the lifetime 50% off offers floating around, however I have not heard of nearly any of those companies. I would like to see what some fellow WHT users recommend as web hosts, with either a review, a link to good/bad reviews and pro/cons of any suggested (Yes, I like to be able to look at both sides of a company, rather than just the hype.)

Check the offers section of the forums and search for a host that you find. Make sure you search for the host before you buy!

Remember, just because someone is on WHT and posts in the offers forum; doesn't necessarily make them a quality web host.

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

Off the top of my head, I'd like a reasonable package with some headroom, say, 3-5GB of space (really, 1GB is minimum), bandwidth I'd like to be at least 10-15GB a month (or at least a good ratio compared to the space, lower space lower bandwidth I can understand), but the most important thing is I'd like the host to NOT oversell. Yes this raises the price quite a bit, But I believe I can eat that for better reliability and performance. I'd also require multiple domains (or ability to host multiple sites, if that's what it is since I'm confused about this) and probably around 10 MySQL databases minimum. Oh and Linux if possible. I hope I'm making some reasonable requests.. Also I believe I'd usually pay annually so, should have that although I believe most web hosts already support annual payments.

1GB+ space shouldn't be hard to find, although hopefully you have the budget for it. Usually hosts offering 3-5GB of storage are the oversellers. If you contact them for this amount of space, I'm sure you could work something out. mySQL and Linux should not be a problem - almost all hosts can cover this. Most hosts support annual payments, too.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Steve

[Trip]

Hi Dark,

Be careful of using the offers section. From my experience, the majority of offers you get in return are just lowballed accounts from oversold, inexperienced hosts. I'm kind of turned off from the whole post your requirements and see what you get in return type of search. But I think I'm a lot more conservative that most kiddie users here, anyways. So to each their own.

You might want to take a look at whreviews.com as a place to start. Most of the hosts listed there are reliable, quality companies. You also mentioned that you really don't want a host who oversells. Well virtually all hosts do it, and it's not bad purely on its own, but many of the top hosts manage to reduce the amount that they oversell to a much smaller degree. I know that FutureQuest.net doesn't oversell practically at all. You will pay through the nose, though, to get the kind of resources you're talking about, not to mention more domains. But places like FQ are the industry's best. So it's a tradeoff, but there are other hosts, like my host FluidHosting.com, who aren't quite as steeply priced, but pretty much just as reliable.

It's a balance and a tradeoff between reliability and price. And no matter if some kid tells you different, you do get what you pay for. And it seems you realize that already.

Good luck,
Trip

[DarkRogue]

Thanks for the replies
PE-Steve, So the thing with some hosts saying "host multiple sites" and those saying "host x# domains" are exactly the same thing?
I don't wanna get confused if they're any different cuz two domains for one site isn't what I'm trying to go for.. I'm trying to get 2 sites each with their own domain.

About the uptime tracker thing, I will ask any potential hosts about it then, however I believe I remember seeing a link to one that did exactly that.. had a history of web hosts dating back to the previous year or so, but I can't find the link anymore :/ If anyone knows of one I'd be grateful, otherwise if I find it again I'll post it for you guys.

And to both Steve and Trip, I was just giving some rough estimates of what i'd need, I wanted to see if they were "excessive" requests, because I know some people can get a bit carried away with that (ie; 10GB space 200GB bandwidth for like $5/mo) and what is somewhat unnerving is some of the offers on the "offers" forum have exactly that. It's good to know what I need is acceptable, and I am not doing a passive search via the post-needs-wait-for-offers thing, I am doing some extensive research all over the forum and other sites as I did when looking for my first host 3 years ago (and settled on CredibleHost, excellent at the time but ultimately, remained too small).

Trip, thanks for the warning about the offers section, It was unsettling just seeing the sheer amount of space and bandwidth being sold even with the 50% off coupons. However I'm sure there will be a couple reputable ones within the mix. I understand virtually all hosts oversell in some way or another, but what I was trying to mean was to avoid the excessively oversold ones such as Dreamhost and etc. While this does mean I will have to pay extra, as long as it's reasonable I believe it will be worth it in the long run

In any case, the main point of my post was to ask WHT users for their recommendations on good web hosts, and being what this forum is used for, I trust user input here much more.

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

Thanks for the replies
PE-Steve, So the thing with some hosts saying "host multiple sites" and those saying "host x# domains" are exactly the same thing?
I don't wanna get confused if they're any different cuz two domains for one site isn't what I'm trying to go for.. I'm trying to get 2 sites each with their own domain.

Some hosts will let you host multiple web sites (multiple domains). Some may say they don't, but I'm sure you can contact them about it.

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

About the uptime tracker thing, I will ask any potential hosts about it then, however I believe I remember seeing a link to one that did exactly that.. had a history of web hosts dating back to the previous year or so, but I can't find the link anymore :/ If anyone knows of one I'd be grateful, otherwise if I find it again I'll post it for you guys.

For uptime? Maybe you mean their site (www.archive.org).

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

And to both Steve and Trip, I was just giving some rough estimates of what i'd need, I wanted to see if they were "excessive" requests, because I know some people can get a bit carried away with that (ie; 10GB space 200GB bandwidth for like $5/mo) and what is somewhat unnerving is some of the offers on the "offers" forum have exactly that. It's good to know what I need is acceptable, and I am not doing a passive search via the post-needs-wait-for-offers thing, I am doing some extensive research all over the forum and other sites as I did when looking for my first host 3 years ago (and settled on CredibleHost, excellent at the time but ultimately, remained too small).

What are you hosting, and what is your minimum budget?

Good luck!

Regards,
Steve

[DarkRogue]

Originally Posted by PE-Steve

Some hosts will let you host multiple web sites (multiple domains). Some may say they don't, but I'm sure you can contact them about it.

For uptime? Maybe you mean their site (www.archive.org).

What are you hosting, and what is your minimum budget?

Good luck!

Regards,
Steve

lol man steve, I refresh the page and you've already responded.

Anyway, yes uptime, It had some sort of history chart for web hosts with their uptime over the past day, week, month and year.. it's too bad I didn't save the link, it was very useful in determining if hosts met their uptime guarantees.

As for what I'm hosting, in the beginning I will be hosting two sites, importing my personal blog site from my current host over to the new host, and second is a new project I'm working on, a webcomic site.
I'm still working out the kinks of the actual webcomic site design, but I anticipate some moderate traffic. I also need some headroom because I know one of my friends wishes for me to create and possibly host a photoblog for him, that will need more space and bandwidth than normal because of the quality of the images.

Minimum budget ummm.. Well, as it stands I currently pay my host $85 a year for 150MB/5GB plus free domain, but since I will be needing more space/bandwidth and another domain, I believe low-end will probably be in the $100's a year probably $150.. $200+ will most likely be pushing it though, unless it's an amazing host lol.

Thanks again

edit:
PS.
My account with my host doesn't expire until mid-July, I am trying to get in contact with them about transferring my account and most importantly my domain, but I don't think I will be able to purchase a new account until mid-June, because I want to give myself a good amount of time to do some research.

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

lol man steve, I refresh the page and you've already responded.

Anyway, yes uptime, It had some sort of history chart for web hosts with their uptime over the past day, week, month and year.. it's too bad I didn't save the link, it was very useful in determining if hosts met their uptime guarantees.

As for what I'm hosting, in the beginning I will be hosting two sites, importing my personal blog site from my current host over to the new host, and second is a new project I'm working on, a webcomic site.
I'm still working out the kinks of the actual webcomic site design, but I anticipate some moderate traffic. I also need some headroom because I know one of my friends wishes for me to create and possibly host a photoblog for him, that will need more space and bandwidth than normal because of the quality of the images.

Minimum budget ummm.. Well, as it stands I currently pay my host $85 a year for 150MB/5GB plus free domain, but since I will be needing more space/bandwidth and another domain, I believe low-end will probably be in the $100's a year probably $150.. $200+ will most likely be pushing it though, unless it's an amazing host lol.

Thanks again

Hmm, I'm not too sure about that uptime website.

Your budget seems more than reasonable for the sites you are hosting. I'm sure you can easily find a web host either by searching or viewing the offers forum.

Originally Posted by DarkRogue

My account with my host doesn't expire until mid-July, I am trying to get in contact with them about transferring my account and most importantly my domain, but I don't think I will be able to purchase a new account until mid-June, because I want to give myself a good amount of time to do some research.

I'm sure your new host wouldn't mind helping you transfer your files. That's also another reason why you don't register your domain with your web host.

Good luck in your search!

Regards,
Steve

[illuminat1]

On the multiple domains thing, basically, there's two ways hosts do it. The normal way is just plugging the domain in cpanel, and then you would ftp content into a subdirectory of public_html. You would do all your email management etc. in the same cpanel as your main domain.
The slightly more unusual thing some hosts do is give you a kind of rebranded whm account with a set number of domains. What you can do in this scenario is keep entirely separate cpanel accounts for each domain; the domains are effectively as separated as they would be if they were on different hosts.

You might be better off with a reseller account than a normal shared hosting account- giving out space to friends can sometimes be against a shared hosts's TOS. With a reseller account you could host your friend's photoblog on a totally different cpanel. Also, reseller space is generally less oversold than shared space.

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by illuminat1

On the multiple domains thing, basically, there's two ways hosts do it. The normal way is just plugging the domain in cpanel, and then you would ftp content into a subdirectory of public_html. You would do all your email management etc. in the same cpanel as your main domain. The slightly more unusual thing some hosts do is give you a kind of rebranded whm account with a set number of domains. What you can do in this scenario is keep entirely separate cpanel accounts for each domain; the domains are effectively as separated as they would be if they were on different hosts.

That's assuming every host on the Internet is using cPanel.

Originally Posted by illuminat1

You might be better off with a reseller account than a normal shared hosting account- giving out space to friends can sometimes be against a shared hosts's TOS. With a reseller account you could host your friend's photoblog on a totally different cpanel. Also, reseller space is generally less oversold than shared space.

I doubt the host would mind since he doesn't have a large storage or bandwidth request.

-Steve

[jmweb]

When picking an uptime tracker make sure you pick one that tracks sites more then once every 30-60 minutes. The problem with these trackers are they are unreliable. For instance, siteuptime's free package is garbage. If your site is down for 2 minutes and siteuptime notices, they track it down for 30 minutes as their tracker checks sites every 30-60 minutes, yet the actual downtime is 2 minutes. Basically, I guess what im trying to say is if your uptime tracker only monitors your site once every 15+ minutes, that site is garbage.

John

[DarkRogue]

Thanks again for the replies, everyone

Lol I've been using cPanel myself for 3 years so I dunno how other control panels would operate, that and I believe 3 years ago my research concluded cPanel might've been the best for me at the time, I'll have to snoop around again and see if other control panels might work with me better now.

In any case, regarding the reseller thing, it's not like that, I'm not reselling anything for him, he simply would like a photoblog without the hassle of dealing with everything else, so I agreed to set everything up for him and all he needs to do is give me a design and then post away.

illuminat1, thank you for your description of how it would work.. while I still don't quite get it, I have an idea of what it means and I believe it would be doable as long as I contact the host and specifically ask if I can do what I wish to do.

jmweb, tracking my own site's uptime is not of any significant importance to me at the moment, but yes I'll keep it in mind for when I do.

In any case, I'm still requesting recommendations of quality hosts that might fit my needs from fellow WHTers, since you guys would know more about the hosts you've been with than me

Alongside that, I do have another question though..
What is the difference between "Fantastico" and "Fantastico Deluxe"? I see some web hosts specifically offer the latter and point it out in bold or something, as if there's something different about it.. Is it like an upgraded version, or is it just another name for the same thing?

[DarkRogue]

Okay nevermind that last thing, Finally found a couple sites listing them and compared.
De Luxe seems to be essentially a slightly updated Fantastico with like.. 3 or 4 new scripts.. doesn't seem particularly too useful, but might be interesting to know for those who were in my boat.

Anyway, found some promising hosts, but WHT reviews are kind of conflicting..
There seems to be some controversy over Xeserve.com though.. Anyone use them? I forgot how difficult it is just searching for a good host lol :/
I'm still taking WHT user recommendations for hosts to look at if anyone can