Hosting Providers or Recommendations?
I did a search but if I missed a post, list, or such, a link is appreciated...
I gained Drupal experience on sites for my professional association (www.nena.org and www.al911.org) and I want to move our Church site to Drupal. I'm struggling to find a host in our price range as we are a very small church and money is tight. We use Slicehost for NENA but $20 a month is not in our price range. I may make hosting part of my financial support of the church and just go that route but I prefer something with Cpanel so it would be easier for someone else to take over if needed.
I decided to try Bluehost and of all the strange things I was assigned a server named "box666" and it was painfully slow.
Please let me know if you offer hosting (cheap) or have recommendations...
Thanks in advance
John
Dreamhost
We are using Dreamhost. They offer free web hosting to US nonprofit organizations. You have to make an application which includes providing a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter. They provide excellent service too.
See http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting-nonprofit.html
I've heard lots of bad news
I've heard lots of bad news about Dreamhost. Today, I was told that they have a security issue that some might consider severe. (I know from personal experience that Bluehost, and many other shared hosts have this same issue, although I often recommend Bluehost as the best of the cheapest providers.)
MediaTemple grid service looks like a good recommendation. I've been wanting to try them out myself, but I usually prefer a VPS where I have full control.
Drupal.org user profile
Portfolio: http://www.NinjitsuWeb.com
Drupal Micro-blogging: http://twitter.com/matt2000
MediaTemple is pretty
MediaTemple is pretty powerful for their grid service. I was able to SSH into my grid service and install a few php modules (like apc upload progress). My previous shared host didn't allow me to do this and wouldn't install it for me.
It's a trade-off. Do you want to manage a LAMP stack (keeping it updated and secure) or allow a host to manage the back-end while you focus on the front-end?
They all have their issues
... and your milage may vary. Just sayin, I have never had a problem with them, and if the church has trouble paying $20/month then the options are limited.
You could also check out the community opinions posted in the reviews section of the geeksandgod site:
http://geeksandgod.com/reviews
Select - Hosting from the drop down Review Type box.
We've used Dreamhosts's free
We've used Dreamhosts's free service for years and have nothing but praise for it. In fact, I'm seriously considering moving my personal accounts over to their shared servers and paying for it.
Pastor Dale
http://crossfeednews.com/podcast
MediaTemple has been treating
MediaTemple has been treating me well. Their innovative technology prevents the bad neighbor syndrome which plagues shared hosting environments.
Their basic plan is normally $20 a month, but they have a special promotion that makes it $95 a year.
http://mediatemple.net/webhosting/thehostingcard/special.php
They seem to be highly recommended around the drupal community and they host sites for Adobe, Sony, Jquery, Starbucks, and Warner Brother...so these guys mean business!
Thanks to Everyone
I really appreciate the feedback and suggestions...
I use mediaserve.com They
I use mediaserve.com
They have some exceptional features if you want to stream video from your own site, not a third party provider.
You can stream sermons, etc.
Their price is competitive and the support is excellent.
Dreamhost for non-profits
I'm moving a couple of non-profits to Dreamhost. I know several people running personal and commercial sites there and haven't had any real issues. Free is pretty compelling. For really basic Drupal sites, they have a 1-click install. For more involved sites, they provide sufficient information to get it installed and connected to the database server.
I may eventually (after our current contract is up) move our church website there as well.
Doug
YMMV: Hosting companies I have tried recently
While your mileage may vary, I have had recent experience with several hosting companies. Just some to check out:
Hostmonster - My current favorite. Works very well with Drupal and has a full CPanel implementation.
Lunarpages - Works fair with Drupal though it has some slowness sometimes that does not appear with Hostmonster.
GoDaddy - Horrible performance with Dupal, no CRON on their cheaper plans and their email is a joke (lots of accounts but with very little space).
1and1 - Some performance problems and No CRON unless you want to pay more for it.
Dave
+1 for hostmonster
+1 for hostmonster
I think you should really
I think you should really determine what you want to do with your site and lay out some specs you know will be required.
Some hosts will not make allowances for larger downloads, some will not allow screencasts from their servers, etc.
Never pay a year in advance, that is a ticket for disaster. The reason people want that upfront money is they are undercapitalized. I do the mediaserve hosting and pay each month with a direct charge against my CC. They send me an invoice on the first and charge the card on the 10th that is how a good well funded business will work.
I can ask for just about anything that is half reasonable and the will allow it. I use a reseller account, because I am always building sites with different requirements. I have a specified memory and bandwidth requirement. I can run any number of sites as long as the maximum for all sites doesn't exceed the package. They do not oversell, if I sold hosting I would not be allowed either. This way the sites always render on a timely basis regardless of traffic.