Help me decide which host I should get!

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Help me decide which host I should get!, DreamHost vs Host Gator vs Hawk Host + which Domain Name Registrar?

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temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 7 2008, 02:28 PM Post #1
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Hi! I spent nearly an hour reading reviews, forum posts (on WebHostingTalk.com & here) and looking at a wide array of plausible web hosting sites (reading the agreements & analyzing how they advertise themselves, seeing how much they value live tech support for example). In short: I have filtered out 3 web hosts that I am not sure which is the best and which suits me the best. DreamHost: http://www.dreamhost.com/ Host Gator: http://www.hostgator.com/ Hawk Host: http://www.hawkhost.com/ Personally, I would pick Hawk Host. Their site looks more appealing to me than the others' and their prices are low. Host Gator obviously offers a hundred times more space and bandwidth for pretty much the same deals, but it's highly unlikely that I would ever be in need of so much. DreamHost has a sparse website and I'm also not sure about that "UNLIMITED" offer (I have been advised not to fall for that kind of hosts for rather obvious reasons...), yet again I wouldn't cause them any problems with my demands. Still, Hawk Host seems like a more personal team to work with (in tech support), but if I remember correctly, WebRadiance is hosted at Host Gator which gives it a plus because I trust that you guys picked a reliable and trustworthy host for this forum! So... please help me decide! I plan on hosting only a few small and static websites (≈4) on multiple domain names and perhaps two phpBB forums and some other dynamic programs like a chatroom or something. What I value most important is speed, I think. And a reliable and knowledgeable tech support. Right after that comes uptime (so I don't want to have to worry about exceeding bandwidth either) and disk space, although I probably wouldn't require much of both. Either way, I want a legitimate host that treats its customers the right way (I don't like it when I see a section in a ToS agreement that says they (the webhost) can terminate my account whenever they want to for no reason with no refund, I should at least get a heads-up warning or something...). I think that's about all of my "requirements" ---------------------------------- By the way: I guess I will get my domains from GoDaddy.com from now on as I see a lot of you doing here. But what's the advantage opposed to a webhost integrated domain name management system? This post has been edited by temhawk: Sep 14 2008, 07:57 AM --------------------

haku View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 12:26 AM Post #2
日本語 Ninja Group: Staff Posts: 646 Joined: 21-September 07 From: Yokohama, Japan Member No.: 616	I'm using bluehost. I like it. It's unlimited serverspace and bandwidth. I actually contacted them to find out if there was a 'fair usage' clause, but they assured me they don't have one. Is it true? I don't know, but it seemed to be that way. Not that I would know - the bandwidth I use is pretty minimal. As for support, they have 24 hours chat on their front page, and I use it all the time. Very handy. Though, it's not the best support at all times - I was talking to a guy a couple weeks ago who didn't know what a url that was relative to the root of the domain was, and was trying to tell me that I didn't know HTML very well. He only knew of urls relative to the document itself. It was a pain in the ass, and in the end I ended up figuring out a solution to my problem on my own. As for speeds - well my sites always seem to be as fast as any other site out there, though I am not running anything that uses any crazy amount of bandwidth. The heaviest thing I am running is a forum with about 150 users. But it always loads at a decent rate. -------------------- Jaypan Dudes Japan

Sirkent View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 02:59 AM Post #3
Loose bits sink chips Group: Administrators Posts: 2,068 Joined: 4-April 06 From: Kent, UK Member No.: 2	WebRadiance used to be hosted by Hostgator. We are now hosted by Media Temple. We moved only because we're now on a dedicated server and before we were using shared hosting. I still use Hostgator for my own hosting and have recommended them to a lot of people because of their excellent service, good uptime and low cost. -------------------- QUOTE(benbramz @ Aug 17 2007, 07:44 AM) Ive noticed that quite a few people are now adding quotes from the board into their signature. I think its started an new web-radiance craze.. :P

peterso View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 11:46 AM Post #4
W.R. Private Group: Members Posts: 13 Joined: 8-July 08 Member No.: 1,044	I also use Hostgator and have been very satisfied with their customer support and speed of delivery. The pricing on Hawk host does look intriguing though... -------------------- wired gym

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 12:29 PM Post #5
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Hm, okay, so I guess my final decision will be between Host Gator and Hawk Host. By the way, the only reason I want to get away from Bluehost is because of pages like these: http://inetintegrity.com/weblog/?p=1 (although this one seems to be completely dedicated to dissing Bluehost) & http://www.findmyhosting.com/truthunlimited.htm I didn't see any references to Bluehost on WebHostingTalk.com either, as I have with Hawk Host, Host Gator, etc. ... Waiting another day just in case someone else here wants to give their opinion as well. --------------------

benbacardi View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 12:35 PM Post #6
The Graphix Dude Group: Administrators Posts: 1,112 Joined: 6-April 06 From: United Kingdom Member No.: 6	I use Host Gator - not had any issues yet! touch wood -------------------- Ben Cardy Web Design & Development

sypher View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 09:41 PM Post #7
the owner3r Group: Administrators Posts: 1,531 Joined: 4-April 06 From: North Wales, UK Member No.: 4	I use Clook not had one single problem yet! -------------------- sypher design - North Wales Web Design \| Latest Work: - Celtic DEA CSS - Cant See Sh*t

haku View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 8 2008, 11:52 PM Post #8
日本語 Ninja Group: Staff Posts: 646 Joined: 21-September 07 From: Yokohama, Japan Member No.: 616	Interesting read on bluehost there. I gotta say though, I have never had any of the problems mentioned in that article, and I'm running a number of drupal sites off of one account right now. -------------------- Jaypan Dudes Japan

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 9 2008, 12:53 PM Post #9
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Yeah, personally I haven't had any problems with BH either. --------------------

jameson View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 9 2008, 02:17 PM Post #10
W.R. Corporal Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 8-July 08 From: Phoenix, AZ Member No.: 1,043	I've had a reseller account with Hostgator for a couple of years now and I've had nothing but good luck. It comes with cPanel and WHM, which makes it really easy to manage your hosting clients and cPanel gives you Fantastico (since you mentioned you want to do some forums, that would be a plus I think). I've only had to use their customer service a few times, but had good experiences. I think managing your domains through GoDaddy is a good idea.. that's how I do it, too. -------------------- phoenix web design

Marc Amos View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 10 2008, 07:38 AM Post #11
W.R. General Group: Administrators Posts: 2,799 Joined: 4-April 06 From: Massachusetts - USA Member No.: 5	I'm a fan of Media Temple. Not entirely cheap, but you get what you pay for. -------------------- Writing on markup, CSS, and other web geekery Professional, accessible, and search engine friendly web site development by Boston Web Studio

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 11 2008, 02:32 PM Post #12
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Alright. I have decided in favor of Hostgator. But what would be the advantage/difference of getting my domain names right at Hostgater instead of at GoDaddy.com? The thing I don't like about GoDaddy is that it only lets me have a password comprised only of numbers and letters, and not special characters... The website looks a bit repulsive too... (maybe all domain websites look like that? ) --------------------

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 13 2008, 01:28 PM Post #13
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	And what's up with that: http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9500/screeny1nt1.png ?? They're advertising with models, like what the fudge has that got to do with domain names?!?? Please tell me if there is a good domain registrar that looks a bit more serious... --------------------

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 08:01 AM Post #14
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Alright, what about http://www.enom.com/ ? A much better site, but I'm not sure if this is for me because I get the feeling it's for business who want to resell domains... or does it matter? Please say something if you can --------------------

sypher View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 10:45 AM Post #15
the owner3r Group: Administrators Posts: 1,531 Joined: 4-April 06 From: North Wales, UK Member No.: 4	Hmm i click on their reseller packages but i cant see what those packages entail? strange :S -------------------- sypher design - North Wales Web Design \| Latest Work: - Celtic DEA CSS - Cant See Sh*t

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 10:57 AM Post #16
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	I'm not sure what you mean, but I simply want a place to manage my domain names at the traditional 10-or-so dollar price a year per domain name. I don't want email and domain forwarding because I can do that at my host (by the way, I have decided to use Hawk Host in the end; their ToS/AUP looks better and the standard hosting account is cheaper) ...and I definitely don't want any tools for reselling domain names, that's not my area of business. What I need is the normal stuff, being able to set name servers, etc. --------------------

sypher View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 10:58 AM Post #17
the owner3r Group: Administrators Posts: 1,531 Joined: 4-April 06 From: North Wales, UK Member No.: 4	I use 123reg for that :/ -------------------- sypher design - North Wales Web Design \| Latest Work: - Celtic DEA CSS - Cant See Sh*t

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 11:02 AM Post #18
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	That site don't look any good --------------------

sypher View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 11:12 AM Post #19
the owner3r Group: Administrators Posts: 1,531 Joined: 4-April 06 From: North Wales, UK Member No.: 4	lol i believe its one of the most popular on the web http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ -------------------- sypher design - North Wales Web Design \| Latest Work: - Celtic DEA CSS - Cant See Sh*t

temhawk View Member Profile Find Member's Posts	Sep 14 2008, 11:20 AM Post #20
W.R. Private First-Class Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: 30-August 07 From: Vienna, Austria Member No.: 586	Aha, I must have looked at the wrong site. Anyway, those domain names at 123-reg.co.uk are hella expensive. ~15 dollars per year for a domain name???!?!? That's like double the price of other registrars.... the site looks good though! --------------------

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