Pros and cons of using Godaddy for hosting?

[clarityat3am]

Can someone tell me their opinion of using Godaddy for hosting? I'm being told that unless the site is "extremely low key" that it's not worth it. Is this true?

 

[digitize]

Don't use it. You'll get better performance by putting your website on a floppy disk and trying to plug an ethernet cable into it. Plus, from a technical standpoint, things like .htaccess and MySQL are impossible to deal with... everything is delayed by up to an hour or so.

 

[clarityat3am]

Well. That's convincing. (not being sarcastic)

 

[digitize]

If I may recommend a host, I had really good luck with DreamHost. They're more expensive than GoDaddy, but I believe you get unlimited storage space and bandwidth (although they do ask that you but a semi-private server if you are doing anything overly bandwidth intensive, eg hosting a blog service where people can register their own blogs), and I had really good luck where performance was concerned. I almost felt guilty over canceling my account when I didn't need my site anymore, because they did such an excellent job as a host.

I've also had decent luck with iPowerWeb, except for the fact that they randomly canceled my account for nonexistent "malicious scripts" for about a day before they realized their error.

 

[Liesje]

I can't stand GoDaddy, and honestly I never got far enough to even be able to critique the technical bits, but their web interface drives me nuts. I've used Surpass for years and have never switched or tried anything else, easier for me to have everything on the same account.

 

[clarityat3am]

I'm also working with someone who's offered to design a website for free in exchange for us paying for him to host it. What kind of questions should I ask him about his hosting? How can I know if his server and set up are reliable?

 

[NotBono]

Well, I was actually just looking at GoDaddy for hosting... and then I saw this post. Is it seriously that bad?

Does anyone else have any experience with any web hosts other than DreamHost (can't stand the control panel)?

Space and bandwidth are not issues (even 1GB of bandwidth should suffice). Just need PHP, MySQL and .htaccess. Just going to be hosting my very small, part-time businesses website as well as a back-end for customers.

I'd prefer not to use any type of free hosting as I will be using the hosting as a place for clients to get their bills and check status on services.

I've been looking into HostRocket, T35 and HostClear. Anyone have any experiences with them? Looking to keep it under $5/month.

 

[Canadiens1131]

1and1.com

Solid, cheap, reliable. Been using them for ages now for personal sites and more recently for web design clients.

 

[NotBono]

1and1.com

Solid, cheap, reliable. Been using them for ages now for personal sites and more recently for web design clients.

I've heard nothing but horror stories about 1&1 especially with cancellations, customer service, etc. You've never had any problems?

 

[Liesje]

NotBono, I use Surpass hosting, it is all I've ever used, had it for years. I pay $4/mo for my domains (500GB space, unmetered bandwidth, 10 domains per hosting allowed, unlimited MySQL, unlimited e-mail accounts, unlimited subdomains...). I can't remember the last time I've had any down time. They've always been good at addressing any HelpDesk tickets I submit within 24 hrs. Only weirdness I've experiences is that when buying a domain and hosting together, they do not automatically enter the correct nameservers. A very simply fix but it took me a while to think of that one time when I could not get a new page to load (I guess I assumed since we bought it as a package they would enter the correct nameservers themselves when it was initially setup).

 

[Canadiens1131]

I've heard nothing but horror stories about 1&1 especially with cancellations, customer service, etc. You've never had any problems?

Hmm, not so far, anyway.

If that wards you off, then I have dealt with Dreamhost before for hosting and their customer service via email was A+, quick, even witty and humourous.

 

[digitize]

I love DreamHost.