So, I wondered over to Godaddy today and noticed they had a sale on for their hosting (amongst other things), meaning that their "Ultimate" hosting is £5.43 a month which is awesomely cheap. Of course, I know next to nothing at the moment about going self-hosting, just exploring the possibility at the moment. But, those of you who do have self-hosting: Who are you with? Would you recommend them? What's downtime like with them? What is their support like? Do you get speed lag during peek times? How big a 'package' would you recommend? Which forum software do you use? If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues?
I am with Invision Power Services, and honestly - I couldn't recommend them more. I'm under their 'Standard 25' hosted community plan, $20/month includes software, and the support is incredible. I've not experienced any downtime, their limits are completely reasonable and I'm yet to exceed them. It may not sound a lot to only be allowed 25 users at a time, but that doesn't mean 25 accounts and no more. It means that your average users on (at any given time) cannot exceed 25 over a period of two days. We've been on this plan for years, and we've not even come close -- our average is 18.5 at the height of activity. They also warn you when you get close to the limits, you don't just get cut off without explanation. So, if you're looking to go with IPB 3.x (what RPG-D also uses), it is something I really recommend. The community hosting also gives you access to IP.Content, IP.Blog and their other fantastic community tools -- well worth having!
Who are you with? Bluehost , recommended! , nonexistant downtime , excellent support , No lag , Arvixe , not recommended , hardly any downtime , excellent support , so-so lag x10hosting , hell no , medium amount of downtime , so-so support , quite a bit of lag Dreamhost , HELL NO , extreme downtime ( <= 60%) , support? HAH! , lag is their middle name How big a 'package' would you recommend? The smallest one available Which forum software do you use? Bluehost : myBB Arvixe : HTML website, ASP.NET custom coded x10Hosting : HTML website DreamHost : IPB 1.3 If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? Persistent downtime and lag : You can check their server status page if they have one, but you pretty much twiddle your fingers and hope for the best. Routing problems : When major routers go down along the route to the webbsite, you can't reach the website. This can persist for days. Do a CTRL-F5 to tell firefox to abandon its cache. Website down for days : We had this problem because our piggy-back host's domain name went unpaid for and went into grace period, rendering all the websites there unreachable. We pretty much had to wait for it to be resolved, but using WHOIS was crucial to identifying the problem. Note that BlueHost has a great price, but you're required to pay for it all up front - no monthly payments.
Who are you with? I'm currently with 1&1, where I have three domains. Until recently I was with Splicehost (who were actually really awesome, unless you ever needed to contact them), but they did not appear to be functional when I last checked. Would you recommend them? I've had zero complaints with 1&1 so far. The packages and prices are fairly reasonable. The administrative panels are a little wonky and it takes time in order to create a MySQL database and subdomain redirect (essentially you queue the effort and then it gets completed by someone or something else later), so that's a little hassle. I've yet to experience any major downtime, which is a plus! I've recommended them as a host to clients in the past. What's downtime like with them? I've been with them about a year and I think that I logged that one of my sites was down for a handful of minutes. What is their support like? They have an extensive FAQ, which is the only thing that I have utilized when seeking support. I tend to figure things out on my own rather than communicate with a living person. Do you get speed lag during peek times? I've seen a little bit of lag on one of my sites, but I'm wondering if it is related to the CMS since I don't experience it elsewhere on the same domain. How big a 'package' would you recommend? The Starter package is great. I think that it has 50 gigs, 250 email addresses, 10 MySQL databases, unlimited bandwidth, and -- for those who aren't too tech-savvy -- two click&build functions where you select software from a list and then the server automatically installs it for you. It's great because it usually takes less time for the install; it's not always the best option, however, because the versions are often a little out-of-date, which means that they may lack new functions or even important security updates. Which forum software do you use? I use a variety of CMSes across the sites. I have Wordpress, Drupal, SMF, and even Tiki Wiki. If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? None! I've been creating and maintaining sites for over a dozen years now and have yet to run into any major issues. Just remember to always backup everything, regardless of the CMS that you utilize. I try to do a full backup at least once a month and then do so again if I'm going to be applying any modification/packages/add-ons. Having a recent copy of everything makes it easy to reapply your site from scratch should any problems occur.
Who are you with? StartLogic Would you recommend them? A little reluctantly. I used to be happier with them <.< What's downtime like with them? Minimal. We get a few database connection errors in a week and a little downtime (for minutes at a time) throughout the month. What is their support like? Decent. They're good at answering tickets quickly but they may not always have a solid answer. You have to push for real answers from time to time. When things do go really wrong they'll give you credit. Do you get speed lag during peek times? How big a 'package' would you recommend? They give you a pretty great package at a base rate. Which forum software do you use? SMF If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? No disasters!
Who are you with? Ace-host.net Would you recommend them? Absolutely. Been with them for 7 years and they are super awesome. What's downtime like with them? Other then scheduled maitenance I've been down once or twice for a few hours but it was always quickly rectified. What is their support like? Fast. I have never waited more then 20 minutes for a response normally I have a post within 5 minutes or so. Do you get speed lag during peek times? Never have and I host multitudes of websites on my shared hosting. How big a 'package' would you recommend? Honestly that is a tough one. As I've said, I've had hosting for about 7 years and I don't often delete things (like only if I know it's not coming back) and I'm taking up maybe a gig of space at this point and never go over 10 gigs of transfer. Not to say I won't in the future but minimum of 50-100 gigs transfer and 1-5 gigs of hosting space. Which forum software do you use? IPB 3 primarily but I can host pretty much anything PHP based. I love IPB3 though and I code for it. If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? My biggest disaster was my own fault really. I backed up but my backup and my hosts backup failed because I tanked my database. I was trying to be fancy and I failed. My main site (RPers Anonymous) is paying for it as I search for a better software that won't tank if I try to do an upgrade or restore it.
I'm going to be a jerk and not use your form, but rather address something you mentioned specifically that you were going with GoDaddy. I have several sites hosted across several severs, but when I set up things on my own I generally use GoDaddy. I've been using them for six years or so now and couldn't be happier. One of the reasons I would recommend them is because for someone just getting started, they really do help you out a lot. From the time you buy your first domain/hosting/whatever product they've been known to call you - like, not a robo call, an ACTUAL person phone call to see if you need any help setting up and if you have any questions, and then they make it incredibly, incredibly easy to set up things like forum software (seriously, you just click an "Install phpbb" or "install SMF" etc button and they email you when it's done - usually within minutes.) and it's just a great way to get started. There's also no contracts or anything so you can pay month by month and everything's good. One of my hosting packages with them is about $7/month and has unlimited bandwidth, 150 GB of space, and 25 MySQL databases and I currently have two wikis, two high traffic wordpress sites, and three phpbb forums on there with no end in sight for running out of space or whatever. Ultimately you have to pick what you want to go with, but I would suggest going with a "big name" to start without a contract or with month-by-month payments so you can figure out what you want to do. Start small, learn the ropes, go with a host that lets you easy-install applications like forum software so you can check it out and test it, and then those same hosts let you "manually" install forums too, so you can learn that side of things as well. And if you don't like it, you've only paid for a month at a time so you can always drop it and go somewhere else. Sorry I didn't use your form, but since you mentioned GoDaddy I wanted to speak to their specifics a little bit since nobody else seemed to have yet. EDIT: HUGEEEE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION ABOUT GODADDY, uh, they are basically always having a sale. In fact, I suggest checking out http://livecodes.blogspot.com/ before you even /start/ to buy something from GoDaddy, because you almost never ever ever have to pay full price. I don't think I've bought a domain for more than $8 in years.
Yep they call me to ask me if I'm satisfied with my services and they'll call me to let me know I have a domain expiring. I used godaddy years ago and while I had a frustrating experience simply because I had bought the wrong kind of hosting, they were really helpful in making it right. So customer service wise? Can't beat it. another thing I want to mention is that it is financially a safer investment to pay month to month and here is why. Yes you get a better deal to pay 3 years in advance to get that 4 dollars a month rate. BUT, you pay 250 for 3 years and that company tanks a year later. Oops. The nice thing about godaddy is that I'm fairly certain their monthly rate doesn't decrease the more you buy. You can buy a month or 5 months and per month it will cost you the same. Or at least that's how it was when I used them.
It decreases a little bit, but if you buy monthly and uses discount codes you get it wayyyy cheaper. I generally renew mine 1-3 months at a time depending on how good my codes are, but always in individual 1 month segments. MATH.
I openly discourage using oversellers. Oversellers are those who offer extremely cheap hosting for a plan that will normally cost more on other hosting sites. Godaddy has terrible support, and is known to randomly shut down sites without warning (and certainly without explanation). I am currently with IPB hosting as a temporary measure before I go with a different host, and they are pretty good! I don't like that they say "unlimited" (more on this at the bottom), but their support is incredible. The board loads slightly slowly at times, but usually it is good. I also recommend G.C. Hosting. Frank, the owner, is fantastic. He's kind, patient, and will answer any and all questions you have about self-hosting. As for "unlimited" plans, please be aware. There is no such thing as "unlimited". Many hosting services will use that term to catch your attention if you don't have experience self-hosting, because WOW! Unlimited everything for $5? How cool is that? No. It's not cool, unfortunately. :I They will say something along the lines of "All packages are unlimited, but, you must use a reasonable amount of (whatever)." No, that is not unlimited. Unlimited should be exactly how it sounds like: unlimited. Many people fall for this, and are shocked when their sites get shut down without notice because they went slightly over the "expected usage". Don't be a victim!
I also want to mention with oversellers 'unlimited' gimmicks, you can easily fly under the radar when it comes to adult content and violence etc for your RP. With a small mom and pop hosting company, they'd be more likely to look in on you and see what you're up to. I'm with lunarpages and have been for over 5 years now. Maybe they oversell, idk what their books look like. But they have about 20 or 30 different servers and are constantly updating them and stuff. though I have been checking out http://www.mddhosting.com/
Who are you with? BigWetFish Would you recommend them? Yes. In a heartbeat. Been with them for a long time. Their support is amazing. A mere mention of their name on twitter would get some of the top developers in the world praising them. BigWetFish became famous with developers, and a lot of early forum developers years ago. They spread out and are a major sponsor of British universities. What's downtime like with them? I actually calculated this. In the last 3 months 99.96%, in the last year 99.997%. What is their support like? Friendly and quick. Most tickets have a reply within ten minutes for me. They have live twitter help, live instant messenger. Their staff is friendly, and love to talk and small talk as well. Do you get speed lag during peek times? Nope. How big a 'package' would you recommend? Any of them. What do you need? Most sites can fit onto their smallest one. It's paid yearly about $35 for a year, or around $4 a month Which forum software do you use? Technically, I use all of them. Have you seen my sexy list up there yet? If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? Yes. Once the entire datacenter crashed because of a tropical storm. But, not much we can do about that. Backups were up within a half an hour. My host is very upfront about everything. If there's a problem, they're already talking about it live, on twitter, facebook, or their website. They keep a log about this and they don't keep you in the dark. Most hosts will keep you in the dark. The control panel software is cPanel. Edit: There's another host that has been winning my faith lately. http://speedysparrow.com
Who are you with? Currently LiquidWeb. We were with Invision Power Services (like Mousie) but they got rid of the "Legacy" option and basically said we had to move because we had a website (the wiki) as well as a community. (I would probably recommend them if not for Siz having a website itself.) LiquidWeb was one of two they recommended and that came with free migration support. Would you recommend them? Not... really. To be honest, if it weren't so soon after the migration downtime in January, I'd probably be looking for a better host. What's downtime like with them? None since January. However, I have had to submit a number of support tickets for "403 Forbidden" errors. It turned out to be their mod_security, which seems to be extremely aggressive (I guess because we have a lot of articles about things like Elysian drugs, the filters are triggered a lot). These also block me from accessing the site altogether, so they're frustrating, and I suspect most fantasy-based sites will suffer similar problems. What is their support like? Their support team is patient and quick to reply, though not 24/7 like they say (I have to wait until morning USA time). They happily scour the logs to unblock the mod_security triggers, but this happens something like once a month. They've ignored my requests to loosen the filters, and it took severeal requests for more information for them to actually explain what the problem even was in the first place. Do you get speed lag during peek times? I do, but I'm not convinced they're the server. There's a lot of traffic all over the net at the same peak times so everything slows down for me anyway. How big a 'package' would you recommend? It depends on your stats, really -- and not just the size of your community, but how much disk space you're using. We originally had the lowest package with IPS, but we have a lot of skins and a lot of wiki content now. Eventually, they told us we needed to upgrade our package even though our numbers and base activity didn't go up. Which forum software do you use? IPB 3.2. It was kind of expensive and it doesn't have some of the features I believe you're interested in, but I love it. I did test out vBulletin, and I was a member of two other communities that used phpBB2 and phpBB3 but I hated them from both a member and admin POV. When IPS ditched us in January, I considered converting to SMF but wound up sticking with , though that was only partly because I was already familiar with it. (I also just didn't have the time to familiarise myself with SMF well enough to successfully convert.) If you've had any disasters/problems whilst self-hosting related to being self-hosted, please share! How did you overcome the issues? The most obvious was when I forgot to pay the bill (two separate times, actually; one for the server and one for the domain name) because I thought I'd set up automatic payments but hadn't. While with IPS, I did notice frequent drops in standard of service (lags, sudden 'site down' messages that we didn't get the rest of the year, that sort of thing) in the month just before the then annual bill rolled around. And as I've mentioned with Liquid Web, I get way more 403s than is healthy and they aren't prepared to loosen the filters for us.
