Slashdot Mirror

If the site has a dedicated web server, then yeah the IP address will work even if the domain name gets taken down and DNS redirected.

But most small websites are hosted on shared servers. Dozens or hundreds of websites are hosted on a single server and all have the same IP address. The site that gets loaded in your browser depends on the domain name you used to get to that IP address.

Yup, this is a referral link. I've been using Bluehost.com for hosting and have customers signed up with them. Service just works, utility computing. Rates are reasonable with upgrade options available. I'll echo using another service for the registration, if Bluehost ever rolls over, I bring change the DNS and move sites.

The issues regarding Xampp security are well known and documented. (This is the link that would have made parent post a better post. But some persons prefer SHOUTING to backing up their assertions with useful informative statements.)

Basically, Xampp out of the box is not secure. It can be made reasonably secure for home / hobbyist level hosting and the link shows where to go to change settings and establish passwords. If the need is for a hardened site that adequately protects credit card data, health care data, patent almost pending data, etc, then there are better ways than Xampp. But if that level of security is needed, and the organization is seeking recommendations from Slashdot rather than its own security experts, then there will be a train wreck no matter what advice is given or taken.

Specific points in parent post are reasonable. In particular, if the only goal is to have a usable web site, then using Blue Host or a similar web hosting service is the best way to go. But you will not get much experience in configuring and securing your web site since the $6/mo that you are paying the host covers all that stuff.

She isn't blogging for money. The ad revenue is tertiary to the blogging. After two years it hasn't even paid for the hosting account if she's using a web host like Blue Host.

SSH access

Bluehost asked me for a photo ID to enable this service. Sent them a scanned copy, and never got SSH. Tried tech support, they never replied. I've heard there aren't many cases like this, but it can happen.

Decent logging/statistics generation

Long time ago, I was using Servage. It had Python support, so I tried various voodoo to get Django up and running (there was a blog post somewhere that said it can be done). The only problem was logging. They run their Apaches on clusters, and their admin told me that logs from various apps end up in the same log files (or something like that), so I can't find out what went wrong with my particular app. I don't know if that makes sense, or they don't know what they're talking about, but the bottom line was I couldn't troubleshoot my app.

CPanel can be the bane of your existence or your friend

Servage has their own control panel, and it works ok. It has a file manager that can unzip/untar files upon upload, etc. Very handy when you can't use FTP (e.g, you're behind a firewall that only allows HTTP[S]).

FTP Access

One should be very careful about FTP. It's a possible security hole, if the connection is not encrypted. I've got a few friends that were burned by this. They were the target of eavesdropping and the attackers got their passwords, modified their PHP files and included some nasty javascript on their pages.

Stay away from Microsoft Live and small Mom-and-Pop type outfits.

Sometimes (not a rule), there are decent small start-ups that offer competitive prices and good service. The only way to know if they are good is to actually find out what their users think. In some cases this can be an advantage, because such companies usually have admins also do the tech support. They can afford to do that because there aren't many users. It's only logical that as they get more users, they might introduce tech support, but it's a great thing to actually get personal feedback from people, who know the setup well.

BlueHost offers unlimited hosting space since few years, and my company hosts all our customer's websites with them.
But they did the trick: lowered the maximum file count limit of each account from 400,000 (source) to 50,000 (a very low limit, because each email message - *spam included* - is counted as file), as discussed in the BlueHost user forum (also see this forum discussion).
And they allow you to host up to 2,500 email account and unlimited domains.

All hosts have sleazy untold limits.

We're of course moving out of them, but we're sad because their support service was very good. And VPS providers have sleazy behavior as well.

http://bluehost.com/

You're welcome. :D

Like these two who hide behind their TOS to limit you on the resources they advertised to you.

http://www.bluehost.com/

That offer

Our professional Web Hosting plans include all the features you are looking for at the best possible price.

UNLIMITED Hosting Space (NEW!)
UNLIMITED File Transfer (NEW!)
web hostingHost UNLIMITED Domains!!!
2,500 POP/Imap Email Accounts
SSH (Secure Shell), SSL, FTP, Stats
CGI, Ruby (RoR), Perl, PHP, MySQL
2000/2002 Front Page Extensions
Free Domain Forever!
Free Site Builder (NEW)
24/7 Superb/Responsive Sales/Support

Or

http://www.wostgator.com/

Our Most Popular Hosting Plan

        * UNLIMITED Disk Space
        * UNLIMITED Bandwidth
        * Host UNLIMITED Websites
        * FREE Instant Setup
        * 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
        * 45 Day Money Back Guarantee
        * CGI, PHP 5, RoR, Perl
        * MySQL, SSH, SSL, IMAP, POP
        * FREE Site Builder
        * cPanel Hosting ( View Demo )
        * 24/7/365 Upgraded Support
        * No Contracts or Hidden Fees
        * View Web Hosting Plans

Only $7.95 /month

Got the link wrong.

I use Bluehost.Com for hosting and email services. They're currently 6.95/month with an annual prepayment for email, domain registration and web hosting. I use email for consulting and family addresses and set up small business web sites while I was free range consulting. You can arrange SSH access and get away from the browser GUI if you desire.

I used to really like Scottsdale Hosting for their prices, but they posted on their index page that they're not taking new accounts, and I couldn't get a satisfactory (or clear) answer from them as to what's going on, so I moved to http://www.bluehost.com/ and have been pretty happy with them. *nix/cpanel interface, all sorts of good stuff.

For domain registration, I've switched over to https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/. They seem to take your privacy a lot more seriously than others. They also have a very interesting pricing model.

Ha ha ha. I have a dedicated server and I only get 1200GB per month bandwidth included, so if you want more than that, expect to be paying at least $200 per month rental.

I also have a really crappy account with Startlogic.com that provides 300GB of webspace and 3TB of bandwidth per month for $5.95/month, but I can't get a dedicated IP address from them and they don't have shell access among other shortcomings.

The reason I need lots of bandwidth is that I'm hosting about 140GB of video and other material pertaining to the 9/11 hoax and other government false flag operations. See: http://crypt.cryptomania.info/911_Information/

Bluehost is a shared hosting site, but it gives me 200GB and 2TB of of transfers per month. I also have an shell account via ssh: nice for scp, manually managing files, editing files using vim, etc.
Please note I did not say emacs sucks, even thou I do think that...
I guess if you have a clue on how to use Linux, this can be your off-site storage unit for about $7/month.

I don't know of any other place that can beat this deal...