Where to go for web hosting

I

incompleatangle

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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
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
incompleatangle said:
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
Click to expand...
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.
 
Well, that sounds fantastic. What about the fact that all I see in FAQs is info for windows and linux. Just a product of our mac market share. It'll work fine? (please)

Greg
 
incompleatangle said:
Well, that sounds fantastic. What about the fact that all I see in FAQs is info for windows and linux. Just a product of our mac market share. It'll work fine? (please)

Greg
Click to expand...
You'll want a Linux account. You'll be fine, remember that the Mac is unix at heart. If you start getting technically oriented you'll find that the very same commands you can use in Terminal locally work exactly the same way when connected to the server.

It's good to get one of the accounts which gives you ssh access but you can do nearly everthing via WebDAV.

I've got a terminal session running right now connected to the server via WebDAV.

Previous to the 10.4.6 update the WebDAV connection was fairly slow but since then it's just as fast as an ftp connection, I've checked it with uploads and downloads of large files. Improvements to WebDAV were one of the things mentioned in Apple's 10.4.6 update notes.
 
I'd like to see 1&1 offer Subversion and Ruby on Rails support and I'd guess they probably will in the near future. They're pretty good at keeping up with what people want and ask for.

I've got a query into them right now about Subversion.
 
incompleatangle said:
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.

Thanks!
Greg
Click to expand...
I have tried Cabspace since reading this post. It works very well (well at least for me). It also allows you to do some simple page editing, if you're handy with basic HTML code.

Overall, I am quite impressed with it.
 
I like http://www.serverlogistics.com. It's not the cheapest (around $10/mo.), but they provide a lot of cool tools and statistics on usage, plus they have a web-based FTP uploader, meaning you can upload your pages directly through your web browser.

GoDaddy also has good hosting, as already mentioned, and it's dirt cheap.

I've used both these services and have nothing negative to say about either.
 
Yes, I've always liked the look of Server Logistics but they're real expensive when you compare features. I've never tried Godaddy hosting but I know a lot of people have problems with them. If I remember right on their lower level they don't permit .htaccess files and there's no built in access control system for directories.

My only experience with them is from helping others who have Godaddy out and watching.
 
I get an error message "cannot connect to server"

I use http://domain.com:81 and get the login screen, and then use the FTP login id and password. Are there any other things I need to do on the server side to make Webdav connections work? 1and1 isn't too helpful on Mac specific issues.

Thanks!
Joe
 
For WebDAV you must use your primary credentials. In other words you can not log in via WebDAV using your own created ftp accounts/credentials which look something like u1223456-joe.

The primary user name is in the form of u1223456 with no other suffix. The password will be the same as you use to log into the control panel.
 
Sorry, I am still having issues.
Using FTP (cyberduck for ex);

to connect, I go to: http://s944xxxxxx.onlinehome.us

then name: u358xxxxxx
password: password

So at least I know I'm doing something right. When I use the above, including the :81, I get an error "you can't connect to this sever because it cannot be found on the network."

any ideas?
joe

update - if I use ftp://s944xxxxxx.onlinehome.us:21
I get right in, but then cannot drop anything into the server space. It mounts as 'read-only' which defeats the point. So I seem be going around things a bit, and likely getting close, but still stuck. Thanks!
 
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I never tried using the subdomain as you are. It doesn't work for me either, it tries to mount as an afp server.

I have a domain name pointed to the root level (the same point http://s944xxxxxx.onlinehome.us takes you) and I use that, eg http://mydomain.com:81.

That works just fine, I see it as another read/write volume.

simbalala_com.png


I use it all the time, even more so now with the newest version of BBEdit which has vastly improved the main disk browser but not the ftp browser.
 
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I have multiple domains hosted at one and one. Should I be able to pick anyone of them? My OS is panther 10.3.9 but I didn't think that should matter.

I can FTP in, but no WebDAV connection is working. Any idea what I can be missing?
Joe
 
Joetaxpayer said:
I have multiple domains hosted at one and one. Should I be able to pick anyone of them? My OS is panther 10.3.9 but I didn't think that should matter.

I can FTP in, but no WebDAV connection is working. Any idea what I can be missing?
Joe
Click to expand...
You can choose any (or all of them). I specifically set up one to point to the top level htdocs directory, that way I can traverse the entire directory structure.

If you choose a domain which points to a lower level obviously you'll only be able to access files from that point down since they're within the domain path you're using.
 
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