Domains and hosting

[kippard]

Does anyone have opinions about the cheapest/best domain name registration and hosting services? Thanks,

[minidv2dvd]

godaddy is fairly cheap and they are up about 99% of the time. their own site sucks and i'm not sure there is much help(other than sales pitches), but it works. i have a couple sites on shared hosting there.

[zoobie]

some that were "great" a few years ago are already in trouble
you can read up on them and even get coupon codes at the link below
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35

[ks47]

I agree with above posts. I encountered some difficulty in trying to get the “cheap”, the service help, and the quality up time, all in one package.

If you know all the details, that are required for your internet needs, it might not be a problem. On the other hand, if you don’t, then I would stay away from reseller of domain names; domain name transfer or pointing to domain nameservers some times get unwieldy. It’s much easier to register and host with the same.

TS

[jman98]

If you don't need any technical help, GoDaddy is cheap and reliable. However, if you think there is any chance that you are going to need handholding, they are probably not your best choice. If it's just for a personal site, they can be a good choice. However, you might consider whether or not you'd want to run a business with them as your registrar. I've heard very mixed things with them as a hosting service. I use them for some personal domains I own that have nothing at all to do with any business and they are fine for that. I do no hosting of any kind with them. I cannot stress this enough - if your needs are business related, they may not be your best choice. There are negative stories about them on the internet that you might try to find.

The company I work for (a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company in the USA) uses Network Solutions for domain registration. We do no hosting with outside companies. Network Solutions is not cheap, but they are fine for businesses. I've never called their technical support as we've never had any issues with them, but I suspect that they would have competent staff on hand if I did need that. GoDaddy and Network Solutions should both be in good financial shape, so I would not worry about either of them going out of business. I'm only commenting about services I have used, so I have no comments on other registrars.

[stiltman]

www.afmu.com

Great support (when needed, but rare) They will also register your domain.

[kippard]

Great. Thanks, everyone!

What exactly are we paying for with domain name registration fees? What do these name registration companies pay and to who? Hosting and bandwidth I understand, but why does it cost anything to get a name...and year after year? Thanks again,

[jman98]

I don't have the energy to do your research for you, but here's a quick answer anyway...

Imagine a world in which domains are all free. Let's say your name is Rufus T. Jones. The Dishonest Domain Stealing Corporation of America registers variants of your name since it's free for them to do so. They get things like:
rufustjones.com
rjones.com
rufusjones.com
and many many more. They are willing to sell or rent them for you to use - for a large fee. If there wasn't any charge, there wouldn't be any domains left except crazy ones. The guys who keep up with domain registration would get overwhelmed. Some dishonest companies would register MILLIONS of domains a DAY! I am not kidding. So making people pay for them does have the useful purpose of keeping people away from registering every possible domain there is and then holding it hostage. If your domain name is valuable then you are willing to pay to keep it. If it's not valuable, then you don't have to pay for it and you can let someone else have it if they want it.

[zoobie]

like jman said, it helps cut out just one middleman freely squatting on millions of domains...now imagine millons of middlemen (resellers)

but resellers can still squat on thousands and buy them in bulk...hoping for a sucker which comes along on a variable schedule and thusly reinforces/rewards the reseller's MO...

www.walmart.com was squat on for over a decade before the laws were changed favoring legit businesses who couldn't get their domain because a squatter had already registered it and was holding it ransom for several million dollars, a domain they only paid $10 for (unjust enrichment)

they had to use www.wal-mart.com for a long time

it's better today but still not without it's problems...a lot is covered in that forum I pointed to

[Nelson37]

Best and Cheap do not go together. Long-term reliability is an issue. Get involved in the process, be prepared to change hosts and registration in the future.

Make certain YOU are listed as the authority and/or owner. I have run into several situations where the domain could not be changed to a new host without the co-operation of the original host. If htere happen to be any disagremments about fees paid and/or monies owed, this can lead to a sticky situation.

If your site is created by someone else, look into possesion of the files and ownership of and rights thereto.

AS far as paying for site creation, I am frequently stunned by the fees involved. Complex sites may require significant work, but a fairly simple few pages of text and pictures or graphics should not cost multiple thousands of dollars.

[handyguy]

You're paying for them to register with ICANN & stuff.

Cheap hosts don't last long.