# Small website, best way to host?



## OnePostWonder (Nov 29, 2013)

I've searched around a few places, but I haven't found anything conclusive.  Often times the more common hosts are recommended (HostGator, BlueHost, DreamHost, etc.).  As it stands I don't foresee having ads on the site, as the event the site is for draws _some_ revenue.  I emphasize "some" because I'd like to find the best bang-for-buck, but I can do with a bit less bang if the price is considerably cheaper.

Like I said, it's a small site so it won't have a lot of traffic and certainly not a ton of content.  I already own a domain name.  I've also toyed with the idea of the domain name redirecting to a free Wordpress subdomain, but I'm not sure how much flexibility that leaves me with.


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## remixedcat (Nov 30, 2013)

Please pm me I can host you no problem. Full cpanel+ wp too

Server is in the west coast usa. Has an SSD drive and I can give you a lot of b/w!!

I can give you a free intro plan till you can afford to pay me!


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## pigulici (Nov 30, 2013)

I am from EU, so after I tested some free hosting, the best money vs quality, I found at hosting24.com, it have some promotion on hollydays too...I find the free hosting not good/reliable for long term...


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## OnePostWonder (Nov 30, 2013)

Thanks for the responses guys.  I decided to go with HostGator since they're so cheap right now, and the rate won't go up drastically after the term.  I'm still open to information though and maybe will look for something different down the road.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

Did they give you cpanel??


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

Over the years I've used numerous "free" hosting/domain etc etc, and my best experience has been with x10hosting for free hosting with NO ads (you CAN use your own) and dot.tk for free TOP LEVEL domain name. For example, you can register a domain name like OnePostWonder.tk and have it hosted on x10hosting for free. You can also have sub domains/domain redirection etc. Dot tk TLDs are just as good as paid ones. If you don't run too many scripts (the ones which actually cost significant CPU usage on the server) x10 is just as good as a paid host. You also get a fully functional cpanel. The ssh access is only for paid customers though. Just give it a try. You can always transfer it to a different host if you need so later down the road. You have nothing to lose.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

I have EXTENSIVE experience with low cost hosting providers and the below is the reason I will offer a superior service compared to them:

x10 requires routine forum posting as well as a really long approval process for the free service. I had an account with them and they have restrictions on certain software as well. I was unable to get a few peices of software to install becuase of lack of certain PHP modules installed, DB limitations, (table limitations were a problem as well). 

freehostia has the most restrictive environment as well. less then 1MB per file upload restriction so it's EXTREMELY hard to install custom software or DB backups/restores (note: those MUST be done in chunks then joined together using an external service)

000webhost/hosting24 also has restrictions on software packages as well. I could not get certain CMS packages to work properly like Vanilla forums and PHP-Fusion. used cpanel for a while but they moved all free and lower cost clients to a propreitary panel that has a broken backup feature that has NEVER worked since the changeover!  Also they have captcha locks on certain IP ranges where you need to enter one in to access the site on a server wide level, so using something like cloudflare CDN would not cache the pages properly and performance suffered. 

Free hostingcloud was a decent free provider however PHP Fusion, ikonboard and Vanilla would not work properly, however it had fantastic performance with MyBB forums. Also used Interworx control panel. 

If you really need a free legit host I can host you or you can always apply for a free Amazon EC2 instance and not have restrictions.


Also note: NO HOSTING IS UNLIMITED. PERIOD. NO MATTER HOW THEY SUGAR COAT IT! You will always have some fine print involved. Most of the time they have a CPU throttle. If your site/software use over a teeny tiny threshold (somwehrre in the realm of .08-.2% )they will flag you and you need to corral the usage or they will can you. This also goes for file sizes as well. They also have an invisible B/W cap of around 150-200GB and then they will have you flagged. Go over this constantly and they will notify you. 

Also one more note: OVERSELLING (selling more resources then the actual server has in order to profit more). They will try to cram as many of those accounts on an allready overstressed server and I've seen some providers like bluehost that will put 10,000+ DOMAINS ON A SINGLE SERVER!!!! 

This is why you do your homework when it comes to this. NEVER settle for the cheapest "unlimited" hosting becuase this is the worst gimmack ever.

Also a note on the dot tk domains. Those are a no-no as they are blocked by lots of firewalls, as they are often abused. I've been to a few restaurants that had those blocked in thier firewalls, as well as some social media sites will block that TLD from being shared. .cc and .co.cc domains suffer the same as well.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

Well, in my experience the service provided by x10 is more than enough for a small site. And no, "regular" forum posting is NOT required - about 1 per month or so loging in to the cp is required. And even if a post per moth is required, I'd say it's still a steal. And it's not like he would LOSE ANYTHING. And about stuff not working I'd say if you manage to find and try to run specifically the stuff you can't run, then you definitely won't. But if you say it is less functional than most other hosts, then I'd have to disagree. I've successfully installed Drupal, Joomla and other popular CMSes with TONS of custom scripts and modules, and everything has ALWAYS worked flawlessly. I think we should leave it to the OP to try and see if the free solution meets his needs or he really needs more. "More" is usually required when the site has a huge number of regular visitors who use up a lot of the server's bandwidth/cpu time. If he manages to get there, he probably won't need our help.

P.S.
Since my friend above has edited to include a lot more info (most of which don't apply to a small, new site), I'd like to add a little too. A website does not require constant CPU-intensive tasks to be running in the background to be functional - NORMALLY.  Sites don't become Facebook or thepiratebay overnight. I'm assuming it's not gonna be a media-related site, because we already have free photo/video sharing sites for that. So bandwidth is not likely to be a problem. Also, CPU is very unlikely to be over-utilized for a "small", "normal" site. And dot tk TLD is of course blocked by some m0r0ns and some "Offices" or "institutions", but do keep in mind, that most of the time these are the places where you"ll also find blocked access to Facebook and other popular places. However, I understand domain name is not an issue here, so...


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## shovenose (Dec 1, 2013)

x10's free services suck. So do all others.

I love this remixedcat character. Whether he's trying to spam or not I have no idea. However, he does know what he's talking about. So that makes two industry experts that say not to use a free host.

Now, moving on, SSDs don't make web hosting faster. In fact, in a shared hosting environment, they're pointless.


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## shovenose (Dec 1, 2013)

remixedcat said:


> Did they give you cpanel??


HostGator uses cPanel, but it's an EIG company now. Bleh


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

shovenose said:


> x10's free services suck. So do all others.
> 
> I love this remixedcat character. Whether he's trying to spam or not I have no idea. However, he does know what he's talking about. So that makes two industry experts that say not to use a free host.
> 
> Now, moving on, SSDs don't make web hosting faster. In fact, in a shared hosting environment, they're pointless.


May be you're also against free photo and video sharing sites? And definitely no to free Operating System and free audio/video codecs and free music, right? I'm no "industry expert" - just a victim.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

I'm not against them! In no way did I say that. I stated my experience and I advise people to do their homework when it comes to hosting and not just blindly go after the packages that have the most bells and whistles instead of doing research on the hosting company's performance/features. 

I've been into this sorta thing for more then 12 years and I've seen it all. I've had servers from free hosts like 000, to dedicated to managing a cluster of several servers, to cloud hosting like Windows Azure and EC2. I've also beta tested 2 hosting companies services as well (one of those cases I directly helped fix several Cpanel bugs to do with clusters and greatly helped cpanel out with that as well!)

I love how both you came to a conclusion about this when you've never worked in the industry like I have. /s

I'm not spamming I'm trying to help. I am speaking from experience. Genuinely.

Also for DB performance SSD drives are awesome. Again, you're bashing hosting technology you don't understand.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

remixedcat said:


> I'm not against them! In no way did I say that. I stated my experience and I advise people to do their homework when it comes to hosting and not just blindly go after the packages that have the most bells and whistles instead of doing research on the hosting company's performance/features. .



My last comment wasn't directed towards you, but the previous commentator. Sorry for not quoting. I've edited that. I absolutely agree with this. My point was exactly this - don't dismiss a free service until you've tried it for yourself. And by "yourself" I mean the Op - not you. I have tried x10hosting for MANY years and I've found it to be perfect for small websites with not so insane traffic. If you plan to use it for a botnet or a game-server then obviously it's not the right one. For "websites" it's just fine.



> I've been into this sorta thing for more then 12 years and I've seen it all. I've had servers from free hosts like 000, to dedicated to managing a cluster of several servers, to cloud hosting like Windows Azure and EC2. I've also beta tested 2 hosting companies services as well (one of those cases I directly helped fix several Cpanel bugs to do with clusters and greatly helped cpanel out with that as well!)
> 
> I love how both you came to a conclusion about this when you've never worked in the industry like I have. /s




I am not a "website" or "hosting" guy, but I've also been into "this sorta" thing for more than 12 years, but I _don't_ think I've seen it all. I believe there's always something new/better/different/unique around many corners. However, you don't know the first thing about me. So please don't assume anything about my qualifications or my experience. I don't want this to become a flame war of some kind.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

You are the one that brought the negativity into this thread, nabarun. 

I offered to help the OP with a service that did not have limitations the above I indicated did and NOT CHARGE for it becuase I'm a nice person and wanted to help out. Quit attacking people that are trying to help by offering advice. I've seen how confrontative you are on other threads here as well.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

remixedcat said:


> You are the one that brought the negativity into this thread, nabarun.


That's not true. I offered my small opinion - YOU dismissed that, bringing about the "negativity".



> I offered to help the OP with a service that did not have limitations the above I indicated did and NOT CHARGE for it becuase I'm a nice person and wanted to help out.


And you think I'm just a "bad person" for offering my piece of advice?



> Quit attacking people that are trying to help by offering advice. I've seen how confrontative you are on other threads here as well.


This just says "insecurity complex" more than "industry expertise".


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

Thing is I tried those services and NONE of them worked for my needs. They all have limitations and I pointed those out. Try installing software that's not on the control panel or doing a custom DB import on those is like pulling teeth. 

I quit using/recommending those as I don't want to see others go through what I went through. To me it would be worth 5 or 10/mo for me not to have to mess with convoluted stuff to get a non MyBB/PHPBB forum installed. It would be worth it to have a NORMAL control panel that has a functioning backup tool (unlike 000webhost that's NEVER WORKED). There's NO WAY I would ever want to go through that pain again. 

The WORST experience was getting ikonboard to work on freehostia. took me 4 hours because I had to think of a way to bypass the file size restriction!


Sure, some of those might work for a basic static page that only got 10 visits a week or whatnot, but when you got a forum that's active and the DB gets accessed regularly you start to get more and more CPU usage, etc.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

remixedcat said:


> Thing is I tried those services and NONE of them worked for my needs. They all have limitations and I pointed those out. Try installing software that's not on the control panel or doing a custom DB import on those is like pulling teeth.
> 
> I quit using/recommending those as I don't want to see others go through what I went through. To me it would be worth 5 or 10/mo for me not to have to mess with convoluted stuff to get a non MyBB/PHPBB forum installed. It would be worth it to have a NORMAL control panel that has a functioning backup tool (unlike 000webhost that's NEVER WORKED). There's NO WAY I would ever want to go through that pain again.
> 
> The WORST experience was getting ikonboard to work on freehostia. took me 4 hours because I had to think of a way to bypass the file size restriction!



Good to get back on topic. 

Even paid hosting has limitations. It all depends on "what" you're actually trying to accomplish. If it's a bog, it certainly is not likely to eat up the cpu. So please let the OP decide if he really has the need for paid services. Like I said, x10 worked perfectly for me. There are numerous ways to back up the database as well as the data. The ONLY downside of the free package offered by x10 was the lack of ssh access. But I suppose non-unix users won't feel handicapped by that.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

X10 had issues with PHPFusion and Vanilla forums as well as ikonboard. Lacked certain PHP modules and had DB hiccups.  These kinda things are A MUST TO KNOW if you are gonna run any forums.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

Let the op try out his software and decide whether his software works on x10 (provided he can run them on localhost using the same software as the host, like web server, db-server, php settings etc). I'm saying this for the last time - he has *NOTHING* to lose here, unlike in the case of paying hosts.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

He does have something to loose.... time and his mind. Some people would prolly come here and wanna thank me for such a comprehensive rundown and to save them trouble and data! You can't put a price on both of those things.

I still wish I would have those precious hours back I wasted on some of the crap I had to do.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

I disagree. Just because YOU had hiccups doing things right doesn't mean everybody will. You can't possibly guarantee anybody safety of data or mind irrespective of ANY amount of money he wastes. If you're really worried about peoples' data, then you should advise them to do a backup - which only takes seconds. Thousands of users can't be wrong for almost a decade.


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## remixedcat (Dec 1, 2013)

Not gonna bother with you anymore. Go ahead and endorse crappy hosting providers. I sure the hell won't and I, again, was only trying to be nice and offer the OP a nicer solution because I cared about them. Ok.


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## Nabarun (Dec 1, 2013)

Your love-filled nice offer sounds much like Microsoft telling people they shouldn't use Linux because they care about them.


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## shovenose (Dec 3, 2013)

remixedcat said:


> Not gonna bother with you anymore. Go ahead and endorse crappy hosting providers. I sure the hell won't and I, again, was only trying to be nice and offer the OP a nicer solution because I cared about them. Ok.


If you're building a datbase driven web app then a single or cluster of SSD MySQL servers is fantastic.
But in a standard shared hosting scenario SSDs are a bad choice. They won't outlast enterprise grade HDDs, they give you less space, and are much more (too) expensive.


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## remixedcat (Dec 3, 2013)

I have improved performance on the same hosting account ( dedicated ) on my forums I have hosted on this server.

The company upgraded me from HDD to SSD and its so much faster. I have 3 forums hosted on my server and each of them have thier own cpanel accounts.


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## remixedcat (Dec 3, 2013)

Also I have no clue why you are argiung with me when I was just trying to help the OP avoid going through what I did and have something better.


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## Jimmy6 (Dec 5, 2013)

Many best way to host in market you just find at google for best one maybe you will get what you want.


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