Best website hosting?

[jbutsz]

I'm looking for an excellent deal on good-priced personal site hosting capable of handling DU's forum (DCForum+) script. I don't need much right now (can't afford much), mostly personal use with about 1000 users, but want to be able to expand volume later with all hosting options available. In other words, I don't want to have to change hosts 50 times in the next 5 years as I expand.

What are some choices for established, proven-reliable, no-bs direct hosting friendly to both the little broke guy as well as sites like DU and such?

The "Gold" (promotional) hosting plan at http://www.ehostpros.com is about what I have in mind for the time being. Does anyone here have any experience with them?

(P.S. Could anyone guesstimate about how much MB space DCForum+ might use per 1000 users @ very-low-traffic <100-vists/day>?)

Any recommendations, tips, etc. very much appreciated.

[teach1st]

1. FutureQuest

FutureQuest (futurequest.net) is one of the best. I've hosted all of my sites with them since 1999 and wouldn't use anybody else.

Yes, they're more expensive. They're worth every penny. They're price reflects honest community server use, which means you won't be on an overcrowded server. Uptime is amazing. FutureQuest is real people who will treat you with the utmost respect. Problems are addressed in minutes not days. FutureQuest is without a doubt among the most honest companies I've every dealt with.

Don't take my word for it, though. Go to their forums and ask the FutureQuest clients about the service!

<edit> Go here to see some FutureQuest reviews:

http://www.aota.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=21

[jbutsz]

4. Definitely feature-wealthy

But the storage space looks terribly insufficient for what you're paying. Paying $25 per subdomain is also a big negative mark :-(

If they offered realistic storage plus included subdomains, it would be worth that extra money for all those features. Right now it isn't worth paying $100/yr for 50MB because I can't afford paying that much for more storage that would definitely be needed. Someday, maybe, if it ever becomes self-sufficient/user-supported.

I'll bookmark it though, may come back to it later on down the road. Thanks!

[Cush]

2. Total Choice Hosting

http://www.totalchoicehosting.com/

http://www.totalchoicehosting.com/web-hosting-plans.html

I have the Silver Package, suits my needs just fine.

[Deja Q]

6. HOLY RABBITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm paying $20/MONTH through Earthlink, I get 100MB less disk space, but otherwise everything else is the same. I'm SHOCKED.

Thanks for the link!

I've obviously signed up and can't wait to transfer my site over... The extra $190/yr wouldn't come amiss... It'll allow me to move up to the 1.5m DSL service too. :D

[Deja Q]

9. WARNING, TOTALCHOICE PUTS A TROJAN HORSE ON YOUR SYSTEM

RASmin Trojan Horse. Tried to wiggle itself in via port 20... Norton caught it. Tough noogies to them.

I'll let them know that, but now I'm not so sure I want to use them...

[Cush]

11. i've had no problems with them

[Deja Q]

12. Interesting...

Do you use a s/w or h/w firewall?

I'd otherwise think it's a hoax, but I've tested my new h/w firewall for the last 2 weeks and haven't had a single glitch of trouble. (my previous h/w firewall caused lots of false errors...)

I've asked them to look into it as it was an inbound intrusion, but I am not going to cancel the account just yet... the problem still could be on my side...

[Mr. McD]

3. I am using Ipower

http://www.ipowerweb.com/

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Try these guys:

http://www.dreamhost.com

Or, one owned by a DU'er

http://www.dvia.com

[jbutsz]

17. Level 1

On Dreamhost looks great for a start, they offer everything I'm looking for.

How long have they been up? How long have you used them? Any complaints or annoyances?

[Bat Boy]

7. I've had good luck with tigertech.

http://www.tigertech.net

[jbutsz]

16. Almost

The multiple subdomains and databases are big pluses, though I'm looking for a bit more storage-per-$-ratio.

[BlueJazz]

8. I use "ipower" and "readyhosting"

I pay about 100 bucks a year and have never had any hassles with either. If I had to choose just one, I'd go with "ipower" ...good folks.

[NewHampshireDem]

10. I use Globat.com

www.globat.com

I've never had any trouble with downtime and the price for the amount of storage and bandwidth is amazing. I use their Gigabyte package ... though don't be fooled by the "offer expires" date. They've been running that offer for a few months now.

In fact, when I signed up in August, 2003, the plan was 500 megs and 25 megs transfer for the same price with no setup fee on a yearly plan. Well, they changed their package to 1 full gig and 50 meg transfer, which I was able to upgrade to for just a one-time $40 setup fee. Then, when they went to the current 2 gig package they offer now, everyone one the 1 gig package was upgraded for free!

They have also recently upgraded their control panel, etc. to make it more user-friendly.

I've had to contact support on a couple of occassions about my PERL and CGI scripts ... in both cases the issues were related to my ignorance of PERL and CGI, but globat's techies helped me out anyway. One even debugged my script for me, gratis.

Though my experience with hosts is limited (I've only worked with 1 other and that was as a game server admin), I cannot recommend them highly enough. They have exceeded my expectations again and again.

Feel free to visit my globat.com hosted site: http://www.altbergs.net/

[jbutsz]

14. GB package

The GB package seems quite generous enough. Do you recall whether they offer multiple MySQL databases and subdomains? No much detail on the features.

[NewHampshireDem]

18. They have an a la carte menu

for extras you might need. You should be able to find most of the info in the FAQ's section. I've pointed to one in particular that might be helpful to you.

http://support.globat.com/faqs.php?action=sub1&c=16

It indicates that you can get unlimited subdomains for 19.99/year, but only with the Commerce Pro plan. I'm not sure how many--if any--subdomains you are allowed with the Gigabyte package.

[welshTerrier2]

13. crystalTech.com

I just signed up with these guys for some work that I do for a non-profit volunteer organization ...

Your decision should probably consider what kind of tools you'll require, not just price ...

CrystalTech seems to focus pretty heavily on ASP.Net, sqlServer and other Microsoft products ... they also support a Cold Fusion environment ...

they offer a 50% discount for non-profits ...

their website is: www.crystalTech.com

[jbutsz]

15. Basically

The tools I need wouldn't go much further than supporting PHP, MySQL, Perl - basically all that's required to run a dynamic site with DCForum+ (like DU here) on a subdomain (or two). I doubt I will get into flash or .NET or anything like that.

CT is a bit pricey for this support, though I will bookmark anyways because I may be working on a non-profit later on as well, and 50% off would help greatly.

Thanks!