Web Hosting 101

January 30, 2006 10:34 AM

For those who pay for web hosting: I'm about to look for my first web host. What information, be it about privacy, or questions to ask, or really anything, should I have/look for as I shop around? I'll gladly take anything, I'm quite green.
posted by boombot to computers & internet (14 comments total)

What kind of site will you be running?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:35 AM on January 30, 2006

Essentially a funbox for friends and family. Basic HTML w/ some Ruby, SQL and perhaps PHP.
posted by boombot at 10:40 AM on January 30, 2006

So nothing too intense, eh? My suggested procedure:

1. Comparison shop heavily. Make a shortlist of providers who seem stable, well-run, and cheap. Your Ruby requirement may limit your options a little, but you should still be able to find a number of options under $10/month.
2. Once you have your shortlist, Google each candidate thoroughly. Pay attention to reports from former/current customers. Generic web forums are good for this. Read with caution, and obviously don't take every testimonial as gospel truth, but reading many of them should give you a feel for the company.
3. Once you have your company picked out, give them a try. This is the best way to evaluate a hosting provider. If they're not everything you want them to be, don't be afraid to drop them and move somewhere else.

You mentioned questions about privacy: what kind of concerns would you have? Are these concerns of principle (like selling of customer data) or merely technical concerns (like availability of SSL)?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:54 AM on January 30, 2006

I would just pop over to webhostingtalk. There are a number of places you should stay away from, a number that will treat you well, and also quite a few somewhere in the middle.

The biggest concern I have for you is that it sounds like you want to mess with stuff that you might be able to break (SQL), possibly without having the knowledge how to fix it after you break it. If this is the case, I would make sure to select a host that is highly managed--they make breaking stuff very difficult, and if you do break something, they will help you fix it. You will likely pay somewhat more for this ability, and be somewhat limited in capabilities (i.e., no root access), but not being responsible when "the server goes down" is nice.
posted by trevyn at 10:55 AM on January 30, 2006

Oh, and personal recommendation for low-cost nothing-too-crazy accounts: pair. I've used them since 1997 (as well as different hosts for more serious stuff), and while there have been a few minor hiccups during that time, I have zero intention of leaving.
posted by trevyn at 11:02 AM on January 30, 2006

DrJohn,
In terms of privacy, I have a vague memory of someone saying that one has to be careful what information is listed as the registrar because of spammers using whois. Am I mistaken?
posted by boombot at 11:05 AM on January 30, 2006

Trevyn,
If my host isn't well managed, and I do knock my server on it's ass, what usually happens from there? Do I pay my host some exorbitant fee for them to make things right?
posted by boombot at 11:20 AM on January 30, 2006

If you're going to be tinkering around with things, you might like to ask the host what their stance on sandboxes/testing/development is. For example, it's prohibited on TextDrive.
posted by djgh at 11:50 AM on January 30, 2006

Always, always, always search for them on Web Hosting Talk. WHT is the world's biggest hosted related forum and there's pretty much posts from customers of almost every hosting company out there. Buyer beware and remember that bigger is not always better in this industry.
posted by wackybrit at 11:51 AM on January 30, 2006

Find out what is involved moving any domain names from a potential host to another host. You don't want to be tied in with a crappy web host because they levy big charges to move any domains you may have purchased through them.
posted by seanyboy at 1:30 PM on January 30, 2006

In terms of privacy, I have a vague memory of someone saying that one has to be careful what information is listed as the registrar because of spammers using whois. Am I mistaken?

That's to do with domain registration, not hosting. Many registrars offer a privacy mode (at extra cost) to eliminate the spam problem. Alternately, you can simply set up a special email address for your domain registration. Just make sure you check it often enough that you don't miss your renewal notices.
posted by timeistight at 2:01 PM on January 30, 2006

Be warned that no matter what you do on the domain registrar side of things, your domain will receive spam. If your domain is boombot.com, spammers will figure there's a good chance of addresses existing at:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

These addresses, and likely more, will receive spam. This is incentive to get a hosting provider with a good spam filter.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 2:36 PM on January 30, 2006

HostGator offers unlimited domain names and Fantastico (very cool automated install of all kinds of useful scripts/applets/etc) for less than $10/mo. As a specific suggestion.
posted by blingblong at 4:41 PM on January 30, 2006

I love Dreamhost. They have good support, great packages, and they reward loyalty. For the new year, they quadrupled my disk space and octupled my bandwidth! As features go, they have a lot to offer, the basics (php, etc) and fast installs of software like wordpress, or ecommerce software. I'm not going to pimp a link, but if you feel like you're going to go with them, and don't mind mentioning my referral, you could sign up using this url: http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?zpao
Even without incentives like that, I would recommend them to anyone.
As privacy protection goes, registering a domain with a registrar that offers the domain privacy protection service helps a lot. However, as DrJohnEvans said, if your domain is gonna have email addresses, they're going to get some spam. There's pretty much no way around that. You could go a long way not ever textually writing the addresses on the site ([e-mail]), and use scripts or clever writing (likethis AT example DOT com), but beyond that, you're at the mercy of the internet. Good luck with everything!
posted by potch at 10:46 PM on January 30, 2006