13 replies to this topic

[Jim Browski]

On my travels through the silicon pipes of the world wide web i stumbled upon that little notice "hosted on dreamhost" quite a few times. Although i'm happy with my current provider i got curious. Once aware of dreamhost, i found notices about it everywhere in forums, blogs, website etc. Finally i clicked on one of those advertises ...

Looking on their hosting offers my eyes popped out: Nearly every script-language you can think off, video/audio streaming, unlimited mySQL-DBs, 171.5 GB disk storage(!!) and 1.715 TB free traffic(!!) for just $9.95/month (Crazy Domain Insane/One-Year Pre-Payment)???

Certainly my warning bell began to ring. Where is the rub in it? Maybe you can tell me. Do you have any experience with dreamhost?
I would like to hear some of the pros and cons about dreamhost before switching to it. Any comment is appreciated.

[Ralph]

Well, I have to say that I almost got addicted to reading several of the message threads pertaining to how bad Dreamhosts service is, but I managed to pull myself away before I wasted my entire afternoon...

To be honest, you couldn't pay me to host a customers site through them, nor would I host my own on their servers... You don't go around boasting how great your service is only to come back and insult your customers for voicing their concerns... And you surely don't tell people that they get what they pay for... I'm the kinda guy who wouldn't think twice about hopping a plane and paying them a personal visit to offer up a bitch-slap in response top some of their comments... I am appalled by their lack of professionalism, whatever that is, in handling customer concerns... It sounds like, to me at least, that they are only concerned about luring in enough people to keep their wallets fat so they can go to the beach rather than providing the level of service that they abundantly claim to provide... So much for after-the-sale service...

Rather than even thinking about using their services, look elsewhere... And without sounding like I'm advertising, you could always use Etohost.com for your Etomite hosting needs... I mean, after all, just how many web services does a person actually need to host a website... Shop by what you need, not by what someone is offering... Which brings to mind one of my favorite analogies, "more money than brains"... It goes hand in hand with the concept of "saving yourself into the poorhouse"...

Anyway...
NUFF SAID...

[Jim Browski]

Well, I have to say that I almost got addicted to reading several of the message threads pertaining to how bad Dreamhosts service is, but I managed to pull myself away before I wasted my entire afternoon...

I should have done that before posting. Today it was on me to waste a afternoon by browsing the net for posts regarding dreamhost. Now the word "overselling" is a new proud member of my english vocabulary

Rather than even thinking about using their services, look elsewhere...

So I did today, and found servage.net ... just to figure out that it's dreamhosts brother-in-law when it comes to lack of support and annoyance of customers.

And without sounding like I'm advertising, you could always use Etohost.com for your Etomite hosting needs...

Yes, it does

I mean, after all, just how many web services does a person actually need to host a website... Shop by what you need, not by what someone is offering...

That's what i did. What i really need is webspace, lots of it. Think of an archive for scientific high-resolution images online. But i realize that it was kind of naive to expect it for that small fee. I think i will check out offers for dedicated server hostings - having in mind that this will cost more than just a few bucks each month ...

[Ralph]

I'm glad you procured better hosting... All in all, it was a rather enlightening experience to read what users were posting about Dreamhosts services...

<<< Subliminal message: etohost.com - etohost.com - etohost.com >>>

[Dean]

I didn't read this thread earlier, as I've heard that many different bad things about dreamhost, so I thought it was another one of those bash-dreamhost threads

Yeah... what Ralph said

[polishprogrammer]

Czesc or Hello!

well, you cant say DH is just bad...
its really good when comparing possibilities and price.......and its bad when goes about reliability :)
anyway....i think its really good option for developing purposes (RoR, Shell access) OR storage

however i would NOT recommend it to any of my clients (sometimes their servers are just dead.........or maybe its because my clients are from calling them from poland?)

anyway.......whatever to say...........no files are ever missing :)

adam

PS: the really PRO is the marketing.......... its really first class........ i very often use it in case studies about crisis management :)

[PaulD]

PS: the really PRO is the marketing.......... its really first class........ i very often use it in case studies about crisis management

Czesc, (cool word!)

I would be really interested to read one of your case studies. Are any available? Sounds really interesting.

Paul

[Chris Fancy]

Guy's

I'm a web host for Small to Medium Businesses here in the UK, I'm putting have put together some Etomite hosting packages... Everything discussed in this thread, as a basic hassle free requirement to host an Etomite install/site, is provided as standard.

Sorry if this sounds like an advert but I've had lots of... should I say.... issues with various providers hosting my clients websites, (1&1 is just one...!), so I decided to get it sorted myself and provide what's required... Service, Features and the best possible Support, Best Practice and the Professionalism you would expect...

I currently host a number of clients sites, around 80+ the ones I develop are in the main are Etomite and Actinic Catalog...

Depending on the clients requirements I recommend Etomite, I'm so impressed with it's capabilities, the likes of which, until recent years, you could only find in commercial products of £1000's.

Anyone who needs more details just let me know, in the meantime here are the features and server specs that I provide...

Server Specs: Dell Blade Servers
Dual Intel® Xeon Processor 3.0GHz with 512K Cache
4 GB SDRAM
Dual 36 GB SCSI Drive (for the operating system)
RAID Mirroring (for the operating system)
Dual Power Supplies
Dual Gigabit Network Adapters
Pre-loaded Redhat Enterprise Linux.
PHP5
MySQL 5
Fully unrestricted CGI/PHP Scripts, including PHP.ini's
SSH server access - for advanced users
Full DNS Management, including sub-domains.
Your own smtp mail server, with as many pop3 email accounts as you need, various packages with various webspace etc...

But the main feature is you can have Etomite Pre-Loaded...!

Simply put it's total freedom to host what you want, when you want and change it as often as you want.

...Again not intended to be an add but I can offer the Etomite solution you are discussing here...


Jim,

If you let me know what you are looking for, I can build you a package that suites your requirements...
My hosting packages start at £1.99 per month...

I can also provide dedicated servers, or co-location in either windows (arrrggghhh...!) or Linux...

You can PM me if you wish...

Regards,
Chris.

[Dean]

Or for the official Etomite solution, read Ralph's post

[PaulD]

Since we are on the topic I would add that Heart Internet has been amazingly good. They also have loads of great auto install things for all sorts of software. I can set up a host account, add email accounts, auto install webaliser, auto install secure areas, auto install wordpress or cube cart or oscommerce and in muinutes from the control panel.

I have requested that etomite is added but they don't seem inclined to do so. Perhaps not enough people have asked. But setting up mysql database is a job of seconds too. Although their reseller account (virtually everything is unlimited) is not the cheapest, it has been fantastic.

The single drawback is that their SSL certificates are £149. But they do offer a free shared one.

I used to use 1to1 but they are 'rubbish' IMHO. Then Fasthosts, but they cost a fortune. ok if you have one site and only want one database for it. Since using heart I have developed quite a loyalty to them. Their support is really good too, even helping with things far outside their remit.

Can't reccomend them enough.

Paul

PS I am sure Ralphs hosting is cool too.

[Chris Fancy]

Since we are on the topic I would add that Heart Internet has been amazingly good. They also have loads of great auto install things for all sorts of software. I can set up a host account, add email accounts, auto install webaliser, auto install secure areas, auto install wordpress or cube cart or oscommerce and in muinutes from the control panel.

I have requested that etomite is added but they don't seem inclined to do so. Perhaps not enough people have asked. But setting up mysql database is a job of seconds too. Although their reseller account (virtually everything is unlimited) is not the cheapest, it has been fantastic.

The single drawback is that their SSL certificates are £149. But they do offer a free shared one.

I used to use 1to1 but they are 'rubbish' IMHO. Then Fasthosts, but they cost a fortune. ok if you have one site and only want one database for it. Since using heart I have developed quite a loyalty to them. Their support is really good too, even helping with things far outside their remit.

Can't reccomend them enough.

Paul

PS I am sure Ralphs hosting is cool too.

Paul,

My servers are with HeartInternet, The flexibility you get is great... I have spoken to them recently after I suggested they add Etomite... they are looking at it, once they add it to their extensive list it will be a "one click" install just like the rest of the pre-loaded programs...

Paul, have you seen their two latest features, Bulk Domain Managment where you can do 301 redirects on mass, Also TXT records in your domains DNS settings, TXT Records are commonly used for Sender Policy Framework (SPF), which enables you to specify which computers are allowed to send email which claims to be from your domain. handy for forms e-commerce and the like...

Ralph, not stepping on your toes of course...

Regards,
Chris.

Edited by Chris Fancy, 04 March 2007 - 01:35 PM.

[Dean]

ralph? who said it was ralph

[PaulD]

Paul,

My servers are with HeartInternet, The flexibility you get is great... I have spoken to them recently after I suggested they add Etomite... they are looking at it, once they add it to their extensive list it will be a "one click" install just like the rest of the pre-loaded programs...

Paul, have you seen their two latest features, Bulk Domain Managment where you can do 301 redirects on mass, Also TXT records in your domains DNS settings, TXT Records are commonly used for Sender Policy Framework (SPF), which enables you to specify which computers are allowed to send email which claims to be from your domain. handy for forms e-commerce and the like...

Ralph, not stepping on your toes of course...

Regards,
Chris.

Sorry, I missed this post.

I love heart internet but upgrading out of date systems can be as much work (sometimes) as installing from scratch in the first place. Have you seen how old their wordpress auto install is. About ten versions out of date! Even their cubecart auto install was out of date a week after they introduced it. (Minimal upgrade though in this example).

The best thing about them is the unlimited everything, including MySql databases, of which I have used hundreds while testing out open source things.

I thought about offering a hosting service, but in truth I know too little about the topic. The TXT records and SPF are all beyond me really. As all things I am sure if someone sat down and explained it, or if I spent ages reading about it, I could get to grips. But there are so many pro's already doing this it really wouldn't be efficient or affective if I added yet another service to the pile.

However, I too have requested eto, (ages ago) but they kind of just said yeah well we get alot of requests. We will see. If enough ask though....

I sort of think that eto is not for the general user, but for the amateur and pro developer. Eto seems so much more than a CMS, although CMS can mean so many things.

I have tried to think of what could be a better description than CMS, but failed so far. I think my view of a CMS has been damaged by things like Joomla. Eto is so much more.

I have had a guiness or two so possibly not the best time to be posting. Seem to have blabbed a bit.

Sorry

Paul

[Ralph]

I have tried to think of what could be a better description than CMS, but failed so far. I think my view of a CMS has been damaged by things like Joomla. Eto is so much more.

Paul

Think web application development platform... Etomite is not a portal - thankfully... And Etomite is not a CMS by the common definition of the term - thankfully... But it has the power to be either one and then some... The fact of the matter is that the real power of Etomite lies within the parser itself... The approximately 2000 lines of code within the parser are what makes the difference, not so much the back end manager... The way it can seamlessly merge disparate resources together and spit out fully valid markup is what puts it in a different class than portals and other CMS's... But that claim does, however, rely upon some valid content being entered by the site developers... Remember the old idiom, "garbage in, garbage out"...

<<< Jumps off his soapbox and scurries back into the dark recesses. >>>