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Web Hosting needed URGENTLY


calbiterol

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I just got an email from my free server today. In short, it said that my host will no longer be offering free hosting. This is a true shame; this particular host was by far the best I have ever had. I have until the end of this week (the 28th) to find a new host. The majority of what I have now is listed below:

 

Hosting package: Free;

Subdomains: 1 / 20;

Parked Domains: 0 / 3;

Addon Domains: 0 / 3;

Mysql databases: 0 / 10;

PostgreSQL Databases: 0 / 10;

Disk usage: 3.46 / 100.00 MB;

SQL Disk usage: 0.00 MB;

Disk space available: 96.54 MB;

Bandwidth usage: 3.57 /5000 MB;

Email accounts: 1 / 10;

Email forwarders: 0 / unlimited;

Autoresponders: 2 / unlimited;

Email filters: 0 / unlimited;

Mailing lists: 0 / 2;

FTP accounts: 1 / 10;

This is essentially what I need for a server. Is there any host that someone can recommend to me? I realize that it is extremely unlikely that I'll find another free host for free; as such, I am willing to pay up to about $5 monthly. Added DNS service would be a plus as well, although that cost does not need to be figured into the $5. I should add that the host must allow PHP, .htaccess/custom error pages, password protection, and index management, and must NOT have ads. It would also be a nice plus if I could add my own adds. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. Any questions, feel free to ask. Any help will be deeply appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

Calbit

 

P.S.: Yes, I had all that in a free host. Like I said, the best free hosting service I've ever seen.

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Or you could host off of your own comp. That's what I do... ;-)

 

Are you talking about a server application on a PC? Is that compatible with a regular cable modem and Windows XP? Could I link a domain name to that for a low cost? Please let me know.

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The issue with hosting it on my own machine is that it's not my just personal site, and I expect a chunk of bandwidth, and a lot of the people who will view it have dsl. My dsl isn't the best upstream, and I need something with a high data transfer. The two sites that have been given look great, keep posting stuff like that. I really appreciate the help. Molotov and Stusi were right on the dot.

 

Thanks much.

Calbit

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Are you talking about a server application on a PC? Is that compatible with a regular cable modem and Windows XP? Could I link a domain name to that for a low cost? Please let me know.

 

 

Sure, as long as you are able to open port 80 or any custom port you wish to host the webserver on you should be fine. There are quite a few webservers that will run on Windows XP. I don't think you can install IIS on XP Home but you can always install Apache (Download). This can be rather complicated sometimes if youve never configured Apache before and if you want to include things such as PHP and MySQL on your "server" it might be best to download something like WAMP.

 

Either way, you can then place files you wish to serve up into Apache's http root directory and people can then access those pages by going to http://youip:portIfCustom/page.html and then if you would like it to use a nice url you can either buy a url and dns entry or use something like No-Ip or DynDNS which can associate your ip with a domain name.

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Looks like your requirements are just about the kind I need for my own personal webhosting needs. This falls under the budget web host category ($4.95-$7.95 per month). You should visit webhosting forums. A search of this on google will do the trick (webhostingtalk.com is my favorite). See what they have to see. In a nutshell however, you will find that it is best to pay rather than go free, because of the issue of uptime. Paid hosts tend to be up 99.99% of the time. Also, aim for the larger more established hosts. I've heard too many cases of people getting ripped off. Again, more of these details can be read on the web hosting discussion forum sites.

 

Personally I'm using a $5.95 per month service and it's been great. No down times, no database screw ups, awesome script engine and great customer support. My personal list:

 

Site5.com

Lunarpages.com

iPowweb.com

 

They may slightly above your stated budget, but again it depends on how you value web hosting service ^^. Unless you are a completely unlucky customer, I doubt they will let you down. There are cheaper services and I leave that for you to judge. (in anycase often times budget hosts give customers who use alot of bandwidth or run intense scripts on their servers a hard time since this is seen as resource hogging on shared systems, but I think that doesn't apply to you)

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Sure' date=' as long as you are able to open port 80 or any custom port you wish to host the webserver on you should be fine. There are quite a few webservers that will run on Windows XP. I don't think you can install IIS on XP Home but you can always install Apache (Download). This can be rather complicated sometimes if youve never configured Apache before and if you want to include things such as PHP and MySQL on your "server" it might be best to download something like WAMP.

 

Either way, you can then place files you wish to serve up into Apache's http root directory and people can then access those pages by going to http://youip:portIfCustom/page.html and then if you would like it to use a nice url you can either buy a url and dns entry or use something like No-Ip or DynDNS which can associate your ip with a domain name.

 

I have a firewall on my network's router, and I use a software firewall on my computers. Is there any way I could open port 80 without turning off the firewalls and decreasing the security of my computers?

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I have a firewall on my network's router, and I use a software firewall on my computers. Is there any way I could open port 80 without turning off the firewalls and decreasing the security of my computers?

 

Depends on the firewall, most of them will allow you to open any port you want.

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ZoneAlarm Pro allows me to open and close any port I want. However, my router's firewall doesn't appear to have any settings. The firewall is automatically on when the router is on.

 

What type is it? it's possible someone on the forums has some experiance with it...

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Aren't there "Port Forwarding" options. I have a Linksys WRT54G Wireless router. It includes a "firewall" although it doesnt seem to do much. Obviously all the ports are blocked by default but theres a tab called "Applications and Gaming" which has Port Forwarding, Port Triggering etc under it. You should be able to route traffic on port 80 to port 80 on your computer. Again not sure exactly how you do it on yours. Try checking the manual for Port Forwarding or googling it.

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200 mb storage, 5 gigs bandwidth

• 0 Addon Domains

• 0 Parked Domains

• 1 Sub-Domains

• Unlimited POP E-Mails

• Unlimited FTP Accounts

• 1 Mailing Lists

• 1 MySQL Databases

• Personal CGI-BIN

• Shell Access

• Frontpage support

• Streaming Audio / Video

• Secure Server (SSL)

• Site Statistics

• CPanel Control Panel

• File Manager

• Fantastico Script Installer

• Shopping Cart Software

• Preinstalled CGI Scripts

• Perl

• PHP (PHP Info)

• MySQL

• Server Side Includes (SSI)

• 24/7 Customer Support

$0.07 a month (paid annually)

That's what I use personally, but they're shutting it down shortly.

 

There are many other plans ranging from $2 to $20 a month (3 plans under $5, but two of those are temporary deals). http://www.webhostingboy.com/

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When it comes to web hosting (as with just about everything else), you pay for what you get. Is it possible to make money off of customers while charging 0.07$ per month? Absolutely not, and you'll find yourself moving quite quickly to the next host as your "budget" host shuts down.

 

Or, another situation (and problem with) budget hosts: on a cheap Celeron server (we all know how well celeron's perform for just about anything, let alone an intensive web-server environment), the hosts packs a ridiculous ammount of accounts, slowing your web page delivery to a crawl.

 

*Edit*

By the way, anything with "boy" in the title that is supposed to be a professional service...buyer beware...it's most likely run by a 13-17 year old "boy."

*Edit*

 

Hope this helps.

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When it comes to web hosting (as with just about everything else)' date=' you pay for what you get. Is it possible to make money off of customers while charging 0.07$ per month? Absolutely not, and you'll find yourself moving quite quickly to the next host as your "budget" host shuts down.

 

Or, another situation (and problem with) budget hosts: on a cheap Celeron server (we all know how well celeron's perform for just about anything, let alone an intensive web-server environment), the hosts packs a ridiculous ammount of accounts, slowing your web page delivery to a crawl.

 

Hope this helps.[/quote']

 

 

Don't forget the servers connection will probably be an ISDN line shared between 200 of you :P

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Don't forget the servers connection will probably be an ISDN line shared between 200 of you :P

 

If you're lucky -- it's more plausible for it to be shared between over 500. Being in this business for a few years, I've seen more companies fail due to bad planning than I could have imagined I would have. It basically comes down to this: You cannot sell a service for so cheap, expect to make a profit, and run your business for any decent length of time. It just simply cannot happen. Not to mention the lack of any sort of extra features or support you'll get from this host. Not possible.

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Kenel, perhaps you should be a little less blind. He's asking for a cheap hosting service, I showed him one. The site offers many others. Also note the fact that it is a limited offer (they shut it down recently and reopened it due to demand--it'll close again soon). Also, I run a site on there (nothing major, mind you) that runs perfectly fine. Not slow. The host is not shutting down mainly because it has other offers for those people who need more in their site than I do. As for the "boy" comment, first off--is that supposed to be an insult of some sort? Many teenagers can do plenty of things better than you or I can, and not only related to drugs or video games.

 

I appreciate the warning (it is a valid warning aside from those things), as do, likely, most of the people here. But a simple "$0.07 a month probably isn't worth it, you usually get what you pay for," would've been perfectly fine.

 

If you believe what you are saying, why not buy it and find out? It's only 7 cents a month after all, and then you'll have some sense of research behind your statement.

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Kenel, perhaps you should be a little less blind. He's asking for a cheap hosting service, I showed him one.

 

Perhaps you should be a little less offended. I believe you're confusing the term "cheap" with "i'm willing to pay at most 5$ per month." What you showed him was exactly as you explained: cheap.

 

But a simple "$0.07 a month probably isn't worth it, you usually get what you pay for," would've been perfectly fine.

 

Will you make statements like..."According to my hypothesis, man evolved from whales..." and not back them up? No because you would be ridiculed and laughed at. An explanation why, in combonation with a comment, is what I had given -- so that reader(s) may better understand WHY they should not buy a "cheap" web hosting plan (which is COMPLETELY different than a "5$/mo" web hosting plan).

 

Many teenagers can do plenty of things better than you or I can, and not only related to drugs or video games.

 

Of course they can, and, being 21 myself I am not bashing the abilities of teenagers. What I am bashing is a teen's inability to act as a professional, a teen's immaturity, and a teen's non-commitment to their product/service. Are there teens out there that DO care? Of course, but you're talking about a very small minority. In a service industry, it is the quality of service that counts, and if it cannot be given, then that company is producing a bad service.

 

I know this because I realized when I turned 17 how "childish" my past teen years had been. After my change, I soon noticed how 98% of my peers were still acting immature and care-free. Again, research proven true.

 

Yes there are capable, mature, and responsible teens out there, but they are the minority -- and if you know one, congratulate him/her because they are exceptional people.

 

If you believe what you are saying, why not buy it and find out? It's only 7 cents a month after all, and then you'll have some sense of research behind your statement.

 

The reason I founded my company was my previous episodes (begining more than 5 years back) with "cheap" web hosts. I have done my "research," and proved my theory to be true. Thank you though for your kind words.

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Disk space is so cheep they probably could make a profit with $.07 / month. As long as that 7 cents gets 10 mb. There are lots of people who would fall into that market. My first server was 10 mb, I think it was about 96 cents. I learned PHP and a bit about Linux.

 

That was a couple years ago. I remember that I ran out of space and had to start deleting stuff, though.

 

My current website is 114.8 but a lot of that is files in /misc, most of which I probably wouldn't be hosting in the first place if I did buy a server.

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