I can't believe my luck! Opportunity just about knocked down my door, so I had to answer. :yes:
A business partner and I are working on the final touches of a website hosting business.

Based on the competition, we're going to be giving more for less. :yes:

So as we're finalizing this I'd like to ask you about what you like and dislike about webhosts.

And YES, we will have a free space and a PoorBoy package too:D

So....
What do you like about your host?

Who do you use?

What do you NOT like?

If you could do it, what would you do?

I voted bandwidth...but storage is a close second...seems you either get one or the other :)

There are lots of things not mentioned that are important to offer in a shared hosting package, including shell access, multiple domain hosting, dedicated IP, a robust control panel, MySQL, PHP, and lots more.

Very true. The plans we're working on almost all have MySQL, PHP, and use cPanel. It's a shared server so, no there is no dedicated IP. Multiple domain hosting is something we're working on.

cPanel is one of my most favorite. I like Globat for the price and storage space, but their control panel is something that is very poor. Maybe it's because I'm used to cPanel, I don't know. But I'm not renewing.

Zero server downtime -- top of the list -- then bandwidth -- then support that I'm on first name terms with, so I know that any problems get dealt with instantly.

It's a shared server so, no there is no dedicated IP. Multiple domain hosting is something we're working on.


If you are serious about offering hosting, you need to get your own servers. Otherwise, you are just reselling, and you cannot control quality or performance, it's dependent upon the provider. Also, your support is dependent upon their support. It's really not a good idea -- unless your resources are partitioned, and not shared as one (VPS). Just my 2c.

Thread moved to The Lobby

You might want to look into Plesk (http://www.swsoft.com/en/plesk/) it's one of the most complete set ups for hosting I've seen.. much more you can do with it than you can with cPanel. ;)

You might want to look into Plesk (http://www.swsoft.com/en/plesk/) it's one of the most complete set ups for hosting I've seen.. much more you can do with it than you can with cPanel. ;)
Offer a selection of control panels.

cpanel is one of my favorites.

I just took a look at Plesks demo and didn't see any reason it could be considered better. My current cpanel setup has more options (as far as I can tell). Am I doing something wrong? I signed in as a 'domain owner'.

My biggest issue with webhosts lately has been about support. My current service used to have great support, but within the past few months it has gone WAY downhill. I have experienced hold times of 20 minutes or more waiting for someone to answer. 24/7 support goes a long way for me since I do a lot of my web work in the wee hours. Also, since I am starting to do some freelance design for some local businesses, the support issue becomes even more important. If the Bophe site goes down...its no big deal, but it one of my clients' sites goes down--they would expect me to get it resolved quickly.

Bandwidth first for me, support second, followed by storage space. Poor support or frequent downtime can quickly lead me to switch providers if they are not satisfactory, however!


As for actual webhosts,http://www.servage.net/ looks pretty good. Do a google search for "servage coupon" and you can get an even better deal. Again, I've had no personal experience with them as I have no need for a webhost at this point in time, I have heard only good reports about this company.

(If the above isn't appreciated in this thread, feel free to remove it. Just thought I'd share.)

Bandwidth.

Without being able to serve x customers your movie, the amount of storage you have is moot.

The other thing besides bandwidth to consider is the amount of concurrent connections the server(s) can handle. If there's a popular site on the hosting server, there would really need to be load balancing and probably a redundant server array. Otherwise you end up with something like Myspace.. not a bad idea, but too many people use it and clearly their server can't quite keep up, because the load times are often horrific.

I think the feature that would interest me would be multiple domains..its seems to be the thing most hosting companies dont offer for the average citizen that signs up..