I’ve just completed my web page (Built for my wifes Photography studio,portfolio is not dispalyed, just about us and what she offers and price list). I am new to this and am not sure what to look for when looking for a Web host. Are there any recommendations on who I should use…I’m not worried about the price, I just want reliability. If someone could walk me through how to start I would really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Kevin
I like godaddy.com but some have said they don’t like them. I have
never had any of the problem with godaddy that have been mentioned.
They are in Arizona USA so it could depend on if you are in a
different country. Their tech support is very good in my contacts.
Dave
On Mar 1, 2009, at 2:43 PM, ckdontes wrote:
I’ve just completed my web page (Built for my wifes Photography
studio,portfolio is not dispalyed, just about us and what she offers
and price list). I am new to this and am not sure what to look for
when looking for a Web host. Are there any recommendations on who I
should use…I’m not worried about the price, I just want
reliability. If someone could walk me through how to start I would
really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Kevin
I’ve just completed my web page (Built for my wifes Photography studio,portfolio is not dispalyed, just about us and what she offers and price list). I am new to this and am not sure what to look for when looking for a Web host. Are there any recommendations on who I should use…I’m not worried about the price, I just want reliability. If someone could walk me through how to start I would really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Kevin
If you’re in the UK you won’t find anyone more reliable than Clook:
There are two Freeway friendly web hosting providers on-list who both have
merit. http://www.have-host.com
I already have most of my set up with clook who also have merit. http://www.clook.info
You don’t have to get the domain from the host provider as you can just set
the nameservers to whatever host you decide.
I don’t like some of the pushy sites - but you can just look at how they set
their stall out and go with your gut feeling.
I wouldn’t choose anyone who looked like they were tying me into anything -
so I like to see sites who state that there’s no penalty to migrate away.
all the best
Brian
studiodave said recently:
I like godaddy.com but some have said they don’t like them. I have
never had any of the problem with godaddy that have been mentioned.
They are in Arizona USA so it could depend on if you are in a
different country. Their tech support is very good in my contacts.
Dave
On Mar 1, 2009, at 2:43 PM, ckdontes wrote:
I’ve just completed my web page (Built for my wifes Photography
studio,portfolio is not dispalyed, just about us and what she offers
and price list). I am new to this and am not sure what to look for
when looking for a Web host. Are there any recommendations on who I
should use…I’m not worried about the price, I just want
reliability. If someone could walk me through how to start I would
really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Kevin
He’s both a friend, a genius at open source software and one of the most open, friendly and dependable people you will ever meet. His prices are very reasonable. He’s always available for problem solving, etc etc.
It really doesn’t matter if you use Freeway or whatever. To Jim, it’s all just software in the end. He deals with the underlying code… which is how his mind works. At the same time, he knows how to speak in plain words so everyone understands him.
My only concern with the smaller one person host companies is what backup contingency do they have. What if they fall ill or have an accident. Generally this is not made clear.
If your just looking for a host for yourself then fine but otherwise spread sites around or go for a larger company.
This is why we chose our general shared hosting services to be fully supported by a large hosting business rather than go it 100% alone with a single server which many do. All sites are allocated a server, one of many servers in the data centre with full backup, plus we run with more than one person here in our Leeds offices, but I take on the days to day hosting activities. When dealing with clients data you do need to take it all very seriously.
It is also very important that designers buying hosting or running web sites for their clients, also consider similar contingencies in case they too fall ill or get run over by a bus, Lord forbid. You do need to consider this especially when dealing with larger clients which we do.
Don’t always think large companies are safe, I was reading in MacUser UK this weekend, about a disgruntled employee having deleted a database of a social networking blog site (I forget the name) it was not backed up taking all the clients blogs down. They did not have a back up.
David
On 2 Mar 2009, at 11:32, seoras wrote:
My only concern with the smaller one person host companies is what backup contingency do they have. What if they fall ill or have an accident. Generally this is not made clear.
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I believe I may go with the Canada based host (even though I am in Georgia, US). I really appreciate all the replies…if you can come up with more I’ll still be checking today. I won’t actually be posting my website until tomorrow.
Good to know your on the ball and backed up, especially as I’ve a couple of sites with you. I was specifically thinking of manpower and the contingencies in place if the unspeakable happens.
A good point about web designers also having a contingency plan and I must confess though I’ve thought about it its not something I’ve implemented. I’m managing more and more sites so definitely some insurance is needed.
Don’t always think large companies are safe, I was reading
A picture library I was with lost everything recently having non of the image files backed up. They worked via shelterbox who pulled the plug with minimal notice.
This is a really important subject and the points here are all right on.
I’d like to hear from the other web hosts who are frequently recommended on this forum for some assurance that they’re on top of their contingency plans and are concerned for their customers. Not too much to ask, I think.
If you really need to be “on the ball” make sure your “online” files are frequently fully backed up. I know many have Freeway sites are held locally, but there can be other files held online, if you’ve installed scripts, or creating dynamic sites, its easy to forget what is there till you loose it.
Use the ‘site backup/restore’ tool in your hosting control panel (PRO users) - And make sure you backup your SQL Databases also!
Some of our scripts use databases - if it is mission critical, make sure you download a copy - frequently!
David
On 2 Mar 2009, at 17:30, Bill McCarroll wrote:
This is a really important subject and the points here are all right on.
David Owen :: Freeway Friendly Web hosting and Domains ::
Webdynamic is a sub-host of a major hosting service. I used to use a one man shop, and never again. If Jim is not available, I can always go to the primary host. In three years, that has never happened.
To answer Bill’s query about what is done for the clients we host…
For my part, I too have my servers in an extremely secure data center
where I have access to super-responsive technicians if the problem is
something I personally cannot resolve via my root access to the
servers. The data center has several diesel generators for back-up in
case of any power outages and the servers are monitored for anything
out of the ordinary that requires attention: SPAM, resources,
inappropriate attempts at gaining entry, etc. The servers are backed-
up every evening at midnight, EST and are also configured with RAID 0
where everything is mirrored in case a drive goes bad - meaning that
if something goes wrong, we can easily switch to the other drive, swap
in a new drive with nearly zero downtime and continue merrily along.
If anyone has any questions, I can be reached via email: havehost [at]
gmail [dot] com
I have had 3 hosts and this was my experience with the 3.
1 and 1 - bordered on a scam. Tech support - if you reach them is foreign and there is nothing wrong with that but if they are just reading from a script and don’t have an intuitive understanding of hosting - it is a long, long day. Also they practically refused to cancel my acct.- passing me from person to person etc…, making me jump many, many hoops. If they were free I wouldn’t use them. Do you like getting e-mail from tech people that is undecipherable?
James - who was mentioned above is/was initially very helpful but his help/tech support is just for basics, cause after awhile he didn’t respond to my requests. Calling “tech support” once to cancel my acct. I landed in his roomate’s kitchen who answered “hello.” Need I say more? I would use his service if you really know what you are doing, that is my impression and if you won’t have many questions.
Go-Daddy -several friends recommended them and my thought of "could it be worse than 1 and 1 ? Their tech support is fabulous. I have called a number of times and a real person (IN ARIZONA) answers in about 2 minutes or less and are always friendly. In webhosting as far as I have experienced, that is UNBELIEVABLE. Their interface via browser isn’t great but they have REAL PEOPLE ANSWER THE PHONE WHO EXIST IN ARIZONA.
I have been using Have-Host (James Wilkinson) for both commercial
clients and a personal genealogy site. When ever I have had problems,
Have-Host has handled them with the speed that has kept my clients happy
as well as myself. I really don’t know what I am doing and can rely on
James to get me out of any problem I have had. He has always returned
calls if he wasn’t available at the moment I call. He responds to
service tickets in quick time. In fact today I had two minor problems,
left a service ticket, had a reply and answer with in 20 minutes. Second
problem took a bit longer - 45 minutes. Second was more complicated and
required a specific site to be looked at through the cpanel and then
advise me how to solve my problem. This has generally followed the the
history I have had with Have-Host
I would definitely recommend Have-Host - so far his pricing can’t be
beat - at least not that I can find.
Andy
Al wrote:
I have had 3 hosts and this was my experience with the 3.
1 and 1 - bordered on a scam. Tech support - if you reach them is foreign and there is nothing wrong with that but if they are just reading from a script and don’t have an intuitive understanding of hosting - it is a long, long day. Also they practically refused to cancel my acct.- passing me from person to person etc…, making me jump many, many hoops. If they were free I wouldn’t use them. Do you like getting e-mail from tech people that is undecipherable?
James - who was mentioned above is/was initially very helpful but his help/tech support is just for basics, cause after awhile he didn’t respond to my requests. Calling “tech support” once to cancel my acct. I landed in his roomate’s kitchen who answered “hello.” Need I say more? I would use his service if you really know what you are doing, that is my impression and if you won’t have many questions.
Go-Daddy -several friends recommended them and my thought of "could it be worse than 1 and 1 ? Their tech support is fabulous. I have called a number of times and a real person (IN ARIZONA) answers in about 2 minutes or less and are always friendly. In webhosting as far as I have experienced, that is UNBELIEVABLE. Their interface via browser isn’t great but they have REAL PEOPLE ANSWER THE PHONE WHO EXIST IN ARIZONA.
I have been using Have-Host (James Wilkinson) for both commercial
clients and a personal genealogy site. When ever I have had
problems, Have-Host has handled them with the speed that has kept my
clients happy as well as myself. I really don’t know what I am doing
and can rely on James to get me out of any problem I have had. He
has always returned calls if he wasn’t available at the moment I
call. He responds to service tickets in quick time. In fact today I
had two minor problems, left a service ticket, had a reply and
answer with in 20 minutes. Second problem took a bit longer - 45
minutes. Second was more complicated and required a specific site to
be looked at through the cpanel and then advise me how to solve my
problem. This has generally followed the the history I have had with
Have-Host
I would definitely recommend Have-Host - so far his pricing can’t be
beat - at least not that I can find.
I also run a genealogy site (PhpGedView) at Have-Host. No problems
with that, but I haven’t tried adding images yet. I’ve been trying to
get a Joomla site running there as well, but there’s a
permissions/ownership problem with images. I raised the issue with
James almost a year ago. I did drop off the case for a bit while I
did some higher priority stuff, but I haven’t heard back despite a
few prompts. Ended up putting the Joomla site elsewhere. I’m glad
he’s responded to this thread - I was begining to wonder if he’d died .
David
–
David Ledger - Freelance Unix Sysadmin in the UK.
HP-UX specialist of hpUG technical user group (www.hpug.org.uk)
email@hidden www.ivdcs.co.uk
For what its worth, I’ve been with Have-Host for nearly a year now,
and have never had any problems. Yesterday I raised an issue about
connection issues to my sites, and got a reply from James overnight
(I’m in the UK). He appears to have sorted the problem, and has also
been extremely helpful in the past. Not sure about his army of techies
though - I do think he exaggerates this a touch LOL!
all best wishes
Dick
On 3 Mar 2009, at 05:18, Andy McDonagh wrote:
Hi,
I have been using Have-Host (James Wilkinson) for both commercial
clients and a personal genealogy site. When ever I have had
problems, Have-Host has handled them with the speed that has kept my
clients happy as well as myself. I really don’t know what I am doing
and can rely on James to get me out of any problem I have had. He
has always returned calls if he wasn’t available at the moment I
call. He responds to service tickets in quick time. In fact today I
had two minor problems, left a service ticket, had a reply and
answer with in 20 minutes. Second problem took a bit longer - 45
minutes. Second was more complicated and required a specific site to
be looked at through the cpanel and then advise me how to solve my
problem. This has generally followed the the history I have had with
Have-Host
I would definitely recommend Have-Host - so far his pricing can’t be
beat - at least not that I can find.
Andy
Al wrote:
I have had 3 hosts and this was my experience with the 3.
1 and 1 - bordered on a scam. Tech support - if you reach them is
foreign and there is nothing wrong with that but if they are just
reading from a script and don’t have an intuitive understanding of
hosting - it is a long, long day. Also they practically refused to
cancel my acct.- passing me from person to person etc…, making me
jump many, many hoops. If they were free I wouldn’t use them. Do
you like getting e-mail from tech people that is undecipherable?
James - who was mentioned above is/was initially very helpful but
his help/tech support is just for basics, cause after awhile he
didn’t respond to my requests. Calling “tech support” once to
cancel my acct. I landed in his roomate’s kitchen who answered
“hello.” Need I say more? I would use his service if you really
know what you are doing, that is my impression and if you won’t
have many questions.
Go-Daddy -several friends recommended them and my thought of
"could it be worse than 1 and 1 ? Their tech support is fabulous.
I have called a number of times and a real person (IN ARIZONA)
answers in about 2 minutes or less and are always friendly. In
webhosting as far as I have experienced, that is UNBELIEVABLE.
Their interface via browser isn’t great but they have REAL PEOPLE
ANSWER THE PHONE WHO EXIST IN ARIZONA.
Here are a couple of resources for selecting webhosts:
This is a discussion forum for site builders and resellers. It
includes quite a lot of info about various hosts. From the
discussions, you get a good sense of what’s really important and the
experience of people who depend on hosts for their income. Rummage
around on the site for resources, and do a search of the forums for
any host you’re considering.
This is a site created by one of the participants in the above
forum. He has put together some in-depth reviews of some hosts. The
info is based on his own experience and experience of others in the
above forum.
Good luck. Choosing a host for one's special needs is difficult.
Peter
.