Need to find a new web site & mail host

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by JLT » Thu Jan 11, 2018 5:12 pm

Greetings, hive mind.

I just received word that the company that's been hosting my email and web site for the last twenty years is closing its (virtual) doors. I have a few months to find a replacement.

While researching the market, I've found a lot of companies that offer the sort of thing I'm looking for ... Bluespot, GreenGeeks, IPower, GoDaddy and about twenty others. All have more or less intimidating use-of-service agreements, and more than a few don't seem to be able to give straight answers on registering and transporting domain names (which I always thought you could move from one host to another without penalty).

So I decided that, before I got into this too deeply, I'd ask the people here about their experiences. Was there a company you signed with that you had good results with? Are there any who you feel ripped you off?

Any comments are welcome.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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zabo
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Location: earth
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Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by zabo » Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:57 am

https://porkbun.com or http://www.dreamhost.com

I moved all my business from godaddy because of the ceo's big game hunting infatuation
60 beetle
78 bus

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by JLT » Fri Jan 12, 2018 2:56 pm

zabo wrote:
Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:57 am

I moved all my business from godaddy because of the ceo's big game hunting infatuation
Good thing to know. I'll cross 'em off my list.

Anybody else there with information on this?
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
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Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jan 13, 2018 4:25 pm

zabo wrote:
Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:57 am
https://porkbun.com or http://www.dreamhost.com

I moved all my business from godaddy because of the ceo's big game hunting infatuation

Good for you! Now move your vote from the current administration because they too have a thing for big game hunting.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Amskeptic
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Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jan 13, 2018 4:29 pm

zabo wrote:
Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:57 am
http://www.dreamhost.com
I like that 169/m dedicated server with "unlimited sql tables" and 2T of storage.
Couldn't I go nuts with my online trouble shooter there?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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russwiththebus
I'm New!
Location: Chattanooga, TN
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Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by russwiththebus » Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:07 pm

Well, this is my wheelhouse for sure.

After hosting with different companies for many years, I finally switched to a VPS with DigitalOcean and host it all myself now. Granted it took a great amount of backend setup, but I have experience as a Linux sysadmin so I have no problem with that side of it. I just log in to the remote shell and set it all up from scratch: Ubuntu Server, Apache, PHP, MySQL. The server is low end spec-wise, but with little overhead it's more than capable of hosting the handful of sites I manage.

Depending on your budget, bandwith and space requirements, I could potentially set something up for you. I'm not a big company, I'm just a guy, and I don't usually host stuff for people unless I'm directly involved in the website development itself too. I certainly can't compete on price for how little most of the big box hosting companies charge for shared hosting.

But I'm also happy to advise on any of it, too, I also moved away from GoDaddy and all my domains are managed through Namecheap, I love em. To answer your question: yes, you can definitely transfer your domain to different registrars with no penalty. That is something I can walk you through with if you need help. Generally you need to unlock your domain first and then request a transfer code from your current registrar, then you can proceed with initiating the transfer from the new one.

I also don't host any email, it's way too much overhead and headache (spam, RBLs, IP reputation) for a one-person shop. I use Mailgun for sending (bulk and transactional) and I've found Namecheap's private email service to be pretty decent. Like $10/year for 3GB of storage and POP/IMAP/webmail access.

This is me: https://www.kombinetworks.net/

And a few of my sites:
https://www.riversidechattanooga.com/
https://www.bugapaluza.com/
https://www.volksfolks.org/
https://www.tneuros.com/

And a silly little personal page I developed: https://russwiththeb.us/

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by JLT » Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:31 pm

russwiththebus wrote:
Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:07 pm

Depending on your budget, bandwith and space requirements, I could potentially set something up for you.
Thanks for your offer, but I think I'm going to go with one of the bigger host sites.

A friend of mine has recommended Fat Cow. Others like Porkbun and Dreamhost. So there are choices there, and I'm open to suggestions from people who have experience with these companies.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

User avatar
JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by JLT » Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:41 pm

Well, Fat Cow turned out to be a disaster for me. It will probably be a $50 mistake that I can't get back, due to their wonky "30 day guarantee" policy. And I was never able to get functional email and web hosting from them. Communicating with them via phone or "chat" was fruitless ... I was forever connected to techies who didn't have a clue, didn't know where to get one, couldn't connect me to somebody who did.

I ended up going to a company called OMSoft in nearby Davis. It cost a little more, but the phone was answered by real human beings who knew what to do and patiently talked me through all the protocols. I now have my web site hosted by them, with my own domain name:

http://www.dragonwing.biz

And an email of jlatorre at dragonwing dot biz.

My problem now is very minor: how do I change my email address at IAC? There doesn't seem to be a way to do that in the Control Panel, unless I'm missing something. Please advise.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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asiab3
IAC Addict!
Location: San Diego, CA
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by asiab3 » Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:42 pm

JLT wrote:
Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:41 pm
…the phone was answered by real human beings who knew what to do and patiently talked me through all the protocols.
Damn near priceless these days! Congrats on finding a good one.
My problem now is very minor: how do I change my email address at IAC? There doesn't seem to be a way to do that in the Control Panel, unless I'm missing something. Please advise.
Control panel - Profile - Edit Account Settings.

An odd string of submenus, but necessary I suppose.

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by JLT » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:51 am

asiab3 wrote:
Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:42 pm
Control panel - Profile - Edit Account Settings.


[/quote]

Found it! Thanks!
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Need to find a new web site & mail host

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:14 pm

JLT wrote:
Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:41 pm
Well, Fat Cow turned out to be a disaster for me.

how do I change my email address at IAC?
Please advise.

It has been done for you. And now you can't get on the site without your new password.

I have emailed your new password to your old email and new email.
Colin

(but, I just checked your permissions and the changes didn't stick. Please PM or email me and let me know if all is working for you)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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