web hosting opinions

[aedipuss]

i just got my first domain and need a place to put a small fairly static 10 page video website. no database or java needed. it's mostly for the u.s. audience only and just needs to be up and running.

should i go with a hosting compnay like godaddy, tucows or networksolutions?

the other option might be to upgrade to comcast business cable 16mbps down 2mbps up, with a static ip and building my own server. but my question with that would be how do i get the dns servers to direct my url to my ip? probably out of my league here.

anyone with good or bad comments on u.s. hosting companies - the advice would be appreciated. i don't need to be repeating others' mistakes.

[thecoalman]

Any cheap hosting from a larger host will be sufficient for that... e.g. $5 to $10 a month... The thing to be aware of is they will advertise huge amounts of bandwidth and disc space which is fine for you. It's when you put some pages on there that actually use CPU and Mysql that you find out what the real limits are. Forum, Blog, php photo gallery...

Try here though: http://www.jaguarpc.com/shared-hosting/

The next one up is a powerhouse if you ever need to upgrade, you need to get a dedicated machine to get more power. A typical host puts hundreds of sites on machine, they've hinted that with this plan its around the 20ish range.

http://www.jaguarpc.com/semi-dedicated/

Support has been awsesome, and they are quite transparent with problems. Check out the forum, the guy who owns the company even stops in once and while.

the other option might be to upgrade to comcast business cable 16mbps down 2mbps up, with a static ip and building my own server.

Is that a business plan that allows that? I have a plan from them same speeds but its residential, you can't run a server from it...least not without them giving you the boot. What are they charging for that?

There's other options if you want to get nuts like VPS ....

[aedipuss]

thx coalman. the comcast business cable is listed here -
http://www.comcast.com/corporate/business/small/default.html?lid=1BusinessClass&lpos=ContentPromo

but you have to actually call a salesman to get a price quote and i haven't done that (yet). they offer different levels and some have static ips available. running your own server isn't listed but how would they know as long as you have the ip?


ps how are coal prices looking for this summer? i heat my house exclusively with a vermont castings vigilant stove.

[thecoalman]

Well if you have to ask the price you know what that means... In any event you'll get a faster server using a dedicated hosting company. Much faster. Won't matter for a small site much. As far as how they know I don't know exactly but I'd imagine they monitor ports and traffic for such things but if its a business plan you can probably run a server from it. If it's anymore than $10 than your regular bill I wouldn't even consider it.

As for the coal it should be the same price as it was in the fall, going up in August if not before but it always does... Current delivery price locally is $150 a ton in bulk but I've seen prices as high as $375 in Michigan for bagged... What's even more shocking they are still saving money...

I have quite an active coal forum here if you're interested: http://nepacrossroads.com

Here's what I heat my house with in Pennsylvania, 4000 sq. foot and it cost $1500 dollars last year and that includes domestic hot water.:

[aedipuss]

yeah i'd probably get bagged by comcast for some minor hidden infraction anyway. i'll go with dedicated hosting as it's only going to be about 100/year for what i need.

interesting burner. home-made? forced hot water, and is it equipped with shaker gates down into that bottom cleanout?

i'm up in nh and used 2 tonnes for the winter, which is about average for the last 6 years i've been burning coal, but electric hot water. house is half your size, too.

[stiltman]

I use AFMU and GoDaddy

I like AFMU better and their support is MUCH better

http://www.afmu.com/free-web-hosting.php

[thecoalman]

Homemade? It's a stoker boiler that supplies hot water baseboard, its the only heat in the house. We burn it year round because its cheaper to make hot water with the coal, that's one reason its insulated. You almost have too with unit like this because it will gretly increase the lifespan and there is no reason not to.

The company that made this one isn't in business anymore and its NOT because they had a poor product. This particular one was installed in about 83, should be good for another 25 and I'm serious. :P There's no grates, there's an auger that goes into a 55 gallon drum on the other side inside the coal bin. Inside the furnace it goes into a upside bell shaped pot that's called a burn hot. It's completely automatic, you just put coal in the drum and take the ashes out the... It can go for week if not more during weather like this and about 2 days when it gets down around 0.

The upside down bell looks something like this but this is from a EFM, the round part on the left side is where the auger gets connected. The holes you see are for forced air, these types of soves use very small coal about the size of an eraser and it needs forced air to burn.

http://www.efmheating.com/

[aedipuss]

it looked like a converted oil burner. i like the non-electric stoves. we lose power a couple times a winter and one recent outage lasted almost a week.....thankfully we can cook on top of it also.

pita shaking down/emptying/re-loading 30-40lbs of nut coal everyday i will admit.

[thecoalman]

It's not converted, that design is actually quite old. Somewhere around the 40's or 50's . True you need electric and if you're in a an area like yourself where the power goes out then probably not a good option.