Help! Web hosts

[thischarmingman]

Right, so I want to set up a website. I've already got the domain name, now I need a web host. Can anyone recommend a good host that I can use as I'm a bit lost. The site will mainly be text with a few pictures, I can't envisage there being much flash effects or anything. It would be nice if there was a free host that let me use my domain name but I'm willing to pay if it's a better option.

Any general advice, tips etc much appreciated.

Thanks.

[dahamsta]

Does your domain registrar not offer hosting?

One thing to bear in mind is that you get what you pay for. If the site isn't very important then a free host is just fine; conversely if it's important that it go up, stay up and be usable, then you need to shell out some dosh.

(I'm in a biz, but I'm commercial and not at the budget end of the market.)

adam

[thischarmingman]

Does your domain registrar not offer hosting?


adam

Ah.
Yes it does, it's free. It's www.godaddy.com

It's based in America, which leads me to my next question: do I need my web host to be in the same country/region as me?

[dahamsta]

Depends on the circumstances. Search engines like Google prioritise Irish websites in Irish searches, however even the definition of Irish is difficult to pin down. Generally it's people searching on Google.ie or from an Irish IP address, for a site that's located in Ireland or linked to from other Irish sites, but it's hazy. But in general, if you want your site prioritised for Irish searchers, you should host in Ireland. Or wherever is local to you.

Bear in mind that an Irish web host might not necessarily have servers in Ireland, ditto the UK or wherever you are. Domain Dossier is a good way of checking, see the "network whois record".

adam

[theworm2345]

I use Brinkster, a friend uses In Motion Hosting. Both cost money (though conned a friend into paying for mine) and he gets 5 domains for $225 or so. You may want Geocities, it is free (though you don't get a domain with it) and if you have a domain you should be set. However, I'm not sure how DNS forwarding works there

[dahamsta]

5 domains for $225 ain't cheap.

[theworm2345]

5 domains for $225 ain't cheap.

$225 a year and he only uses 3 of them He seems to think hes getting a really good deal though

[monutdfc]

I use qualityhostonline.com for a couple of non-mission critical sites. It's cheap and cheerful and has been very reliable.
I use web-mania.com/co.uk also - it's cheap too but the downtime is far too frequent (inertia has stopped me from moving.)
For Irish hosting hosting365.ie is popular but my preference is letshost.ie
I have no vested interest in any of the above

[blobbyblob]

im with web-mania too and find them great

[paul_oshea]

google will host for free on googlepages, you are limited in your layout however, but you can edit the html. I use it for this site, to give you an example: www.theshamrocks.co.uk

[thischarmingman]

But in general, if you want your site prioritised for Irish searchers, you should host in Ireland.
adam

I definately do.

$225 a year and he only uses 3 of them He seems to think hes getting a really good deal though

You can get domain names for a year for around EUR6.50, with a choice to add others from around Eur4, so $225 does seem a little over the top.

I use qualityhostonline.com for a couple of non-mission critical sites. It's cheap and cheerful and has been very reliable.
[b]I use web-mania.com/co.uk also - it's cheap too but the downtime is far too frequent (inertia has stopped me from moving.)/[b]
For Irish hosting hosting365.ie is popular but my preference is letshost.ie
I have no vested interest in any of the above

I can't risk the downtime I'm afraid. I want reliability. Might try letshost.com though.

[thischarmingman]

google will host for free on googlepages, you are limited in your layout however, but you can edit the html. I use it for this site, to give you an example: www.theshamrocks.co.uk

That's not a bad site at all, it's well done but I need flexability and to be able to easily expand and I want a lot of control over exactly what it looks like.

This is the letshost plan: http://www.letshost.ie/The_News/Late..._Hosting_Plan/

I know it's an impossible science, but will this allow me to upload many pages? Can I upload from Kompozer? How many people will be able to view the site at once? Given I'm based in Ireland, does it look a better option overall than Godaddy.com's Economy plan: https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/hosti...ed.asp?ci=9009 ?

It's critically important the site looks professional. I know a lot of that is down to how it's ultimately designed but intrusive adverts are an absolute no-go. I'd prefer to host adverts plastered around the place and being able to add GoogeAds that pay (however little!) by myself. Something like http://www.extratime.ie/ looks good I think.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[paul_oshea]

That's not a bad site at all, it's well done but I need flexability and to be able to easily expand and I want a lot of control over exactly what it looks like.

This is the letshost plan: http://www.letshost.ie/The_News/Late..._Hosting_Plan/

I know it's an impossible science, but will this allow me to upload many pages? Can I upload from Kompozer? How many people will be able to view the site at once? Given I'm based in Ireland, does it look a better option overall than Godaddy.com's Economy plan: https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/hosti...ed.asp?ci=9009 ?

its more of a science than you think. Depending on your package ( i havent looked in detail ) you will get a certain bandwith a month with your package. Lets say your bandwith is 5 gigs, and you have 10 pages of about 100k each, you can work out fairly quickly how many total users you can have accessing your site a month on average. The bit about how many concurrent users at once, is also a science really to be honest, thats all down to how good your host is and how much bandwith they assign to your site a second ( put simply ). You would need to speak to them directly about this though to be honest. At a glance though would you really be getting as many as 100 hits a second? I doubt it and if so then most hosts will be able to cope with that load.

[dahamsta]

You can get domain names for a year for around EUR6.50, with a choice to add others from around Eur4, so $225 does seem a little over the top.

You can get domains for those prices, but I don't recommend that either - google "godaddy" and "nectartech" to see why. I recommend the middle ground.

I can't risk the downtime I'm afraid. I want reliability. Might try letshost.com though.

If you want Irish traffic prioritised, and can't risk downtime and want reliability, go for an Irish host with their own servers. The only ones I can in good conscience recommend are myself and Blacknight. I won't comment on others, the hosting business is a bitchy trade and I don't want to sink to that level.

adam

[thischarmingman]

its more of a science than you think. Depending on your package ( i havent looked in detail ) you will get a certain bandwith a month with your package. Lets say your bandwith is 5 gigs, and you have 10 pages of about 100k each, you can work out fairly quickly how many total users you can have accessing your site a month on average. The bit about how many concurrent users at once, is also a science really to be honest, thats all down to how good your host is and how much bandwith they assign to your site a second ( put simply ). You would need to speak to them directly about this though to be honest. At a glance though would you really be getting as many as 100 hits a second? I doubt it and if so then most hosts will be able to cope with that load.

Thanks, I'll try using that to work it out.

You can get domains for those prices, but I don't recommend that either - google "godaddy" and "nectartech" to see why. I recommend the middle ground.

If you want Irish traffic prioritised, and can't risk downtime and want reliability, go for an Irish host with their own servers. The only ones I can in good conscience recommend are myself and Blacknight. I won't comment on others, the hosting business is a bitchy trade and I don't want to sink to that level.

adam

Grand, that's good advice. What's yours?

[theworm2345]

You can get domain names for a year for around EUR6.50, with a choice to add others from around Eur4, so $225 does seem a little over the top.

The $225 includes hosting, FTP, etc.

[soccerc]

Blacknight.ie are the only way to go IMHO.

Quality service, great Customer Care, Irish based servers, packages to suit every pocket.

[dahamsta]

Grand, that's good advice. What's yours?

Beecher Networks. Rubbish website, sorry. PM with details for a price.

[paul_oshea]

for Irish hosting for this website www.toolsdirect.ie, I use trojan, though I have a feeling they might just be a middle man to host.ie or someone else, but I'm not sure. I haven't had any problems with the site, and there are 600 registered users. Anytime I email I get a rapid response from them and can call if needs be. I don't have any worries with limits on upload/download a month either. Basically, I'd recommend them, but only because thats the only Irish crowd I use and have had no problems with them.