Where to go for web hosting

[incompleatangle]

Okay, so I'm starting to put together a web site with iWeb, and I want to publish to something other than .mac (it just seems so expensive for what I want... and 1gb of storage?)

So I'm looking for opinions and experiences (good and bad) about other web hosting services. Where should I go? Where shouldn't I go? What are the key features that I should be looking for?

Thanks!
Greg in Ohio

[Rhisiart]

Does your DSL/cable provider not provide free web space?

[camgangrel21]

You might want to try CabSpace they are free with no banners or Ads on your site. There is no bandwidth caps. Also unlike a lot of free host you can have as many folders and subfolders. That is something you will run in to with even most ISP's free hosting. I run in to that when I was setting up my site first on my two ISP's hosting. Then on places like tripod and yahoo's hosting. Tripod does not like how many subfolders that iWeb needs. I hope that helps. You might want to goto my site to take a look at what you can do. If so the link is at the end of my posting. And no not trying to Spam.
Have a great day,
Michael

[Sam6]

You could also try www.godaddy.com. their base hosting is something like $4 a month. and the customer service is unbelievable.

[billbaloney]

This response assumes that you're hosting something that's important to you. There is always a certain "you get what you pay for" aspect to hosting. If you pay for your hosting and have an actual agreement, then the provider is more likely to provide support and be generally accountable.

I've had some experience with probably 30-40 hosts over the last ten years in web development. Out of the small number that seemed to be worth the money, there were even fewer who could provide the whole package -- up-to-date software, stability, accessibility, configurability, accountability, etc. -- for less than $10/mo.

Downtime is unavoidable, so I don't consider it a fault of a hosting company. It just happens. What matters is how quick and transparent the recovery process is.

Dreamhost is one place to look. I have heard one complaint about them, concerning downtime, but years of good feedback.

HostExcellence has been reliable for one of my clients for several years, with the exception of some downtime on one of their database servers.

I use TextDrive for certain kinds of sites now, as their installed software packages and developer-centric approach are great for some projects. But their general focus is on web developers, not more casual users.

GoDaddy just called me the other day and tried to convince me to give their hosting a shot. I agree about their customer service.

[simbalala]

1&1 has good services and pricing for several package levels. They have some features (WebDAV support, for one) which many others don't offer and their FAQs are extensive.

This site (MacOSX.com) is hosted at 1&1.

[incompleatangle]

Hey, thanks! These all look like really viable options. I tried cabspace just cause it was free (makes it feel a litttle disposable... if this doesn't work, let them delete my account), and I had problems when I went to upload my site.

I downloaded cyberduck (any better--but free--ftp software out there?), and got all sorts of error messages. I'm not convinced I understand how to upload my files via ftp. Is there a nice easy step-by-step instruction site out there for remedial web authors?

Thanks!
Greg

[simbalala]

Originally Posted by incompleatangle

I downloaded cyberduck (any better--but free--ftp software out there?), and got all sorts of error messages. I'm not convinced I understand how to upload my files via ftp. Is there a nice easy step-by-step instruction site out there for remedial web authors?

Greg

That's one reason I mentioned WebDAV as being supported by 1&1.

With a WebDAV enabled server you can mount the server on your Desktop for read/write access. You can save directly to the server and pretty much treat it like any other disk you might have connected to your machine. File duplication, deletion and so on, it's all Finder operations.

For more technically minded people you still need ftp to change file or folder permissions (or shell). But for newbies it's just like using iDisk (which is also a WebDAV connection).

You connect to it using the Finder Go menu -> Connect to Server.

The address is simply http://yourdomain.com:81. The finder keeps track of your user name and password via Keychain.