-----
title: "Birthday present? Web space, please..."
content-type: article
timestamp: 1146142020
tags: "website|review"
-----
<p>Today is my birthday! <a href="/articles/20/">Not too happy</a>, but still my birthday after all. What presents did
	I get from my relatives and friends? Well, various things, but I told my parents and uncles I actually needed some
	web space&#8230; <em>&#8220;What? Didn't you have the hosting sorted out?&#8221;</em><br />
	Well, I had, up to a few days ago when my friends and hosting provider, DeWayne Lehman, decided to close down his <a
		href="http://www.block-house.com">company</a>. The reason being, to cut a long story short, that he can't
	keep up with competition: he doesn't have enough customers, and he can't afford server upgrades, while
	other companies are literally giving space away.<br />
	That was a pity, not only because Block House used to host various non-profit orgs and initiatives, but also because
	the guy who run it was an excellent admin, always offering excellent support.</p>
<p>Anyhow, in the end I'll have to transfer all five of my sites to a new host, so here we go again:
	<em>what's the best hosting company?</em><br />
	Obviously it depends a lot on what you're looking for, and here's what I need:
</p>
<ul>
	<li>At least 4GB of space</li>
	<li>At least 30GB/month bandwidth</li>
	<li><span class="caps">PHP</span> of course, but also other languages like Perl, Python and Ruby (+ Rails support)
	</li>
	<li>MySQL databases&#8230; at least 10-20</li>
	<li>Be able to host 5-6 sites minimum</li>
	<li>Subdomains allowed (10 in total?)</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> <em>and <span class="caps">SSH</span></em> access</li>
	<li>Subversion, if possible</li>
</ul>
<p>All this for less than 10$/month, ideally 5$, on shared hosting. I already made my choice and if you're reading
	this post it means everything worked fine, but anyway, let's have a look at what the market can offer for my
	needs. I only went for US-based hosts: Italian hosts are terrible and US hosts are normally more reliable and
	cheaper.</p>
<p style="float:left;"><img src="/images/pictures/dreamhost.gif" alt="" /></p>
<p>The first hosting company I was tempted by was <a href="http://www.dreamhost.com">DreamHost</a>. They can literally
	sell you anything but their mother, at stupidly cheap rates for what you get (apparently):</p>
<ul>
	<li>20GB of space</li>
	<li>1TB (!) bandwidth</li>
	<li>PHP4, PHP5 Perl, Python and Ruby + RoR support</li>
	<li>Unlimited databases</li>
	<li>Unlimited hosted domains</li>
	<li>Unlimited hosted subdomains</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> and <span class="caps">SSH</span> access</li>
	<li>Subversion and <span class="caps">CVS</span></li>
	<li>&#8230;and more</li>
</ul>
<p>For 7.95 if you pay two years in advance. And the first time you can get up to 97$ off by using one of the thousands
	referrer's coupons available on the net. OK, where's the catch? Well, there's a <a
		href="http://futurosity.com/231/why-dreamhost-sucks">bad review</a> about them which points out that their
	reliability is not too great, for example, and that the seem to be rather dodgy in general. &#8220;They are
	overselling, they'll soon enforce <span class="caps">CPU</span> restrictions&#8221; etc. etc. <br />
	<em>&#8230;let's move along</em>
</p>
<p style="float:right;"><img src="/images/pictures/rails.gif" alt="" /></p>
<p>I might try out Ruby on Rails someday, so perhaps I thought it would be wise to choose a host supporting it, for a
	change. The first Rails friendly I thought about was <a href="http://www.railsplayground.org">RailsPlayground</a>,
	which started off as <span class="caps">FREE</span> Rails host and then ended up offering interesting commercial
	hosting plans. They are not bad, and I'd have probably gone with them if I had only one site to manage: for
	60$ a year you get:</p>
<ul>
	<li>3GB of space</li>
	<li>30GB bandwidth</li>
	<li>PHP4, PHP5 Perl, Python and Ruby + RoR support</li>
	<li>Unlimited databases</li>
	<li>Unlimited add-on domains</li>
	<li>Unlimited hosted subdomains</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> and <span class="caps">SSH</span> access</li>
	<li>Subversion and <span class="caps">CVS</span></li>
	<li>&#8230;and more</li>
</ul>
<p>Well, the only reason why I didn't go with them was that I did slightly more space, only that. The plan for 5GB
	of space costs 11$/month, which was too expensive for my liking.</p>
<p style="float:left;"><img src="/images/pictures/textdrive.gif" alt="" /></p>
<p>Since we're talking about Rails, why not <a href="http://www.textdrive.com">Textdrive</a>? Founded by 200 IT
	professional, hosts high quality sites, it's the official Rails host&#8230; An &#8220;elite&#8221; solution,
	here's what you get:</p>
<ul>
	<li>Use Apache and Lighttpd web servers side-by-side</li>
	<li>Host PHP4 and PHP5 web pages and applications</li>
	<li>Host a weblog using Textpattern, Wordpress, MovableType, Typo, etc</li>
	<li>Host Ruby and Ruby on Rails applications (including <span class="caps">FCGI</span> and hundreds of gems)</li>
	<li>Host Perl applications (including 100's of Perl modules)</li>
	<li>Host Python applications like Django</li>
	<li>Manage your code base with version control (Subversion, <span class="caps">SVK</span>, Darcs, Monotone &amp;
		Arch)</li>
	<li>Share iCal files over WebDAV</li>
	<li>Mount a WebDAV drive on your desktop (like iDisk)</li>
	<li>Easily create free subdomains with wildcard <span class="caps">DNS</span></li>
	<li>Store your Basecamp file uploads over <span class="caps">SFTP</span></li>
	<li>Access your account via <span class="caps">SFTP</span> and <span class="caps">SSH</span></li>
	<li>Add domains, unlimited <span class="caps">IMAP</span> and <span class="caps">POP</span> mail boxes and mail
		aliases through a control panel</li>
	<li>Check your email through Webmail</li>
	<li>Host Mailman mailing lists complete with archives</li>
	<li>Use MySQL (default), PostgreSQL, SQLite and Berkeley databases</li>
</ul>
<p>Plans start at 12$/month for 1GB of space and one website&#8230; The 3GB one is 40$/month, for 20 sites in total. Too
	bad it's too expensive for me as they are truly the top for shared hosting &#8211; I think.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hostgator.com/">Host Gator</a>, which seems to be one of the most frequently recommended at
	SitePoint.com forums, is not bad either. They have a &#8220;hatchling&#8221; plan for 3,5GB at 6.95, which
	wasn't bad, but it only allows one domain to be hosted. The &#8220;Baby&#8221; plan allows unlimited domains
	and is 9.95$/month, which is kinda dear. You get:</p>
<ul>
	<li>5GB of space</li>
	<li>75GB bandwidth</li>
	<li>PHP4, PHP5 Perl and Python</li>
	<li>Unlimited databases</li>
	<li>Unlimited add-on domains</li>
	<li>Unlimited hosted subdomains</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> access</li>
	<li>&#8230;and more</li>
</ul>
<p>No <span class="caps">SSH</span>, no <span class="caps">SVN</span> and no Rails: out.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.site5.com/">Site5</a> is also one of SitePoint's favourite, but still has limitations on
	the number of sites. I would have got the SuperHosting <span class="caps">XTREME</span>, for 7,77$/month:</p>
<ul>
	<li>11GB of space</li>
	<li>400GB bandwidth</li>
	<li>PHP4, PHP5 Perl, Python, Ruby + RoR support</li>
	<li>Unlimited databases</li>
	<li>5 domains hosted</li>
	<li>Unlimited hosted subdomains</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> and <span class="caps">SSH</span> access</li>
	<li>&#8230;and more</li>
</ul>
Not bad, a little bit too much for only 5 sites&#8230; I needed 6, too bad :/
<div style="float:right; padding:3px;">
	<script src="http://www.bluehost.com/src/js/h3rald/CODE2/488x160/1.jpg"></script>
</div>
<p>This site is currently hosted on <a href="http://www.bluehost.com">BlueHost</a>, a hosting company established in
	1996, which seems to be reliable enough (not many complaints on the net) and seems serious enough. They don't
	offer subversion and WebDAV for &#8220;security reasons&#8221; and in order to get a shell account you have to send
	them a copy of an ID card. Annoying? Well, perhaps for some: this made me understand that they don't allow
	just anybody to get <span class="caps">SSH</span> access unconditionally, and I didn't mind. I sent them a
	scansion of my ID card and I got a friendly support email after a few minutes, confirming that it was activated.
	Here's what I got:</p>
<ul>
	<li>15GB of space</li>
	<li>400GB bandwidth</li>
	<li>PHP4, PHP5 Perl, Python, Ruby + RoR support</li>
	<li>20 MySQL databases + 10 PostgreSQL databases</li>
	<li>6 domains hosted in one account (easier for me!)</li>
	<li>20 subdomains + 20 parked domains</li>
	<li><span class="caps">FTP</span> and <span class="caps">SSH</span> access</li>
	<li>&#8230;and more</li>
</ul>
<p>For 6,65$/month, 2 years pre-payment. One of the good things is that they are not fussy about giving the money back
	if you cancel. Anyhow&#8230; let's hope for the best, so far, so good.</p>