[thelist] Web hosting advice

[Burhan Khalid]

Sylvia Braunstein wrote:
> I am looking for a web host and domain name, starting from scratch.
> Can anyone give me advice as to the dos and don't or refer me to some
> interesting/relevant articles.
> 
> Who should I choose and why?

My general advice is that don't get hosting from a domain provider.  I 
have heard nothing but bad news from people that do so.  There are 
*alot* of hosting companies out there, so you should solidify your 
requirements before you go shopping.

As for domains, my only experience is with godaddy.com, and I have yet 
to find something bad about their setup -- quite simply, it works :) 
Prices are reasonable ($9/year for my .com), and their interface is well 
thought out. I never have to hunt for an option.

Narrow your choices down to the top 5 and then go search for them at 
places like www.webhostingtalk.com ( a good place to search for opinions 
on hosts ). You can try posting a request at their requests forum, but 
90% of the responses are usually from people just starting out and just 
need to pay their server bills.

Along the same lines, if an offer seems to good to be true, it usually 
is. You can find ultra-cheap hosting, but you'll pay in the end for lack 
of support, server downtime, less-than-stellar bandwidth.

Specific recommendations? I can't say anything bad about my current host 
(www.spenix.com) they have had next to no downtime ( a freak fire 
brought down their dc a while back, but they managed to restore 
everything before I noticed ).  Since I signed up with them, they have 
changed their plans a bit, but still have kept me at my original plan. 
They are constantly adding/updating their servers (recently I got Urchin 
stats for free), and the person that runs the business is quite 
knowledgable. I have honestly never needed their support service, but 
when I have had that odd email -- it was responded to very promptly.

Doing your homework and nailing down your requirements is the first step 
before you even start browsing, because you will get overwhelmed by the 
number of responses. I was fortunate enough to find a good host from the 
start, and have stuck with them.

Good luck :)

Btw, what font did you use to compose your message?
-- 
Burhan Khalid
thelist[at]meidomus[dot]com
http://www.meidomus.com