Entries tagged with “Web Hosting”
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Thoughts on Affordable Web Hosting
I’ve created my share of websites, and in doing so, I’ve had experiences with a whole lot of web hosts, some of which I’ve loved, others I’ve really disliked. Below, I compiled a list of four of my favorite hosts, two that offer shared hosting and two VPS hosts. Being a college student, all four are affordable, and I’ve had a good experience with all of them.
Dreamhost
The Basics: Super-cheap, feature-rich shared hosting.
Pricing: $9.95/mo. for 1 domain registration, 500GB disk space, 5TB bandwidth, unlimited emails and databases. If you use the code KS50 when signing up, you’ll get $50 off your first year.
My Thoughts: I love Dreamhost. I hate Dreamhost. I’ve gone back and forth between these two emotions numerous times, but ultimately I’ve been really satisfied with my Dreamhost experience. It’s impossible not to like all the developer friendly features, like Subversion hosting and full SSH access. However, they don’t have the the greatest history of downtime, and they even accidently overcharged customers by over $7 million. All that being said, I’m still a happy customer, because, well, they’re really, really cheap, and, for the most part, I haven’t had any issues with them. I wouldn’t host anything mission critical with them, but for the average blog or personal site, they more than suffice.
- Dreamhost Plans
- Sign Up Page - Use this link to enable the KS50 promo code and get $50 off your first year of hosting.
EngineHosting
The Basics: No frills, high quality shared and dedicated hosting, aimed mostly at ExpressionEngine users.
Pricing: $10/mo. for their cheapest plan (400MB disk space, 10GB bandwidth, 100MB database, 15 emails)
My Thoughts: If you’re looking for a feature-rich host with gigabytes upon gigabytes of storage space, EngineHosting definitely isn’t it. On their lowest plan, you get 400MB diskspace, 10GB bandwidth, and only 15 email addresses, which means if you compare them solely on numbers to hosts like Dreamhost, they will likely always come out on bottom. However, their customer service and quality is excellent, especially if you’re building an ExpressionEngine site. I’ve used them for a client site for about 10 months now, and they’ve been absolutely stellar: the site hasn’t been down once, and I haven’t had to contact support once. I won’t think twice about using them for any future ExpressionEngine sites.
RailsPlayground
The Basics: Affordable VPS hosting, specializing in Ruby on Rails.
Pricing: $14.95/mo. for the cheapest VPS plan (10GB diskspace, 256MB RAM, 100GB bandwidth)
My Thoughts: Although I only used RailsPlayground for a couple months, I really enjoyed their service. I had never run a VPS (virtual private server) before, and I was able to pick it up pretty quickly, thanks to their excellent support: I would come across an issue, email them, and they would respond right immediately. Even though I no longer use them, it’s not due to a poor experience, but rather due to my desire to try out Slicehost. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending them to anyone looking for an affordable VPS.
Slicehost
The Basics: Cost-effective VPS hosting, with an amazing community.
Pricing: $20/mo. for the cheapest plan (10GB diskspace, 256MB RAM, 100GB bandwidth)
My Thoughts: Slicehost is currently hosting this site, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m no sysadmin, but following their excellent articles has helped me to build a fast, secure, and stable VPS. I was further amazed by their community when I mentioned an issue at 1AM on their IRC channel, and within 20 minutes, it was fixed. They seem to be completely focused on providing really reliable hosting, and it really shows. The result is rock-solid hosting, and I highly recommend them for anyone looking for VPS hosting.