Web Hosting Help

markd_2

Hi. I'm looking to buy a couple of domains (most likely from 123-reg.co.uk) and then i will be looking for hosting.

Can anyone recommend a good hosting supplier - i will need php, mysql etc so that i can have a pretty interactive site with a forum etc?

Is it simple enough to link the domains bought from 123-reg to the other hosting company?

Thanks

Miss_Liquorice

For webhosting, I cannot recommend hostingplex.com highly enough - I used them for over six years, and had no problems at all, as well as that they are pretty cheap and you also get a domain free with their hosting package.

Unlimited hosting/downloads, php, mysql, perl, java etc support, too.

I only don't use them now because I'm in between domains (thinking up my next project), but when I eventually get another one, I'll be going back to them without hesitation.

TechTerry

Hello,

123-Reg is a good choice for buying .co.uk domains but not good for others, reason i say this is that if you go to namecheap.com you will find the prices are around half the price, come with a free SSL certificate and free privacy Protection.

The 123-Reg control panel i find is very basic and not user friendly.

As for hosting, i would highly reccommend a cPanel 11 based host ( http://www.cpanel.net )

Most hosts do come with PHP and MYSQL these days, however do be carefull, some hosts remove these functions on budget accounts.

99% of the time its quite simple to link your domains from 123-reg to your hosting provider, this is done through a thing called nameservers.

About the privacy protection function which is available at namecheap.com, i highyl reccommend it. Do note it does come free with any .co.uk domain no matter where you buy it. Its part of the rules for a .co.uk domain. Any other domain will not be pretected unless you subscribe to a protection service.

An example of a non protected domain is moneysavingexpert.com

If we go to: http://who.is

Then type in moneysavingexpert.com

It shows the following:

Name Servers:
ns0.moneysavingexpert.com
ns1.moneysavingexpert.com

Organisation Name.... Martin
Organisation Address. via. Tesciuba Ltd,
Organisation Address. 72 Cavendish Road
Organisation Address. Salford
Organisation Address. M7 4WA
Organisation Address. Manchester
Organisation Address. GREAT BRITAIN (UK)

These files are easily available to ANYONE ! Try it yourself on any website you want.

As we can see from the example the nameservers point to:

ns0.moneysavingexpert.com
ns1.moneysavingexpert.com

I beleive MSE is hosted on its own server hence the 'Custom nameservers' which are only available if you own a server or have a reseller account.

You can also see the address and name of the person who registered the site. This is ok for a company but for personal sites you dont really want your address, name and phone number on the net. ( NOTE TO MOD: If not allowed to post infomation PLEASE can you just edit the post and not remove the whole post as it has taken me a good time to write this guide up )

Also check with the smaller hosts wht their uptime is, their are LOTS of hosts setup overnight buy 'Teens' and gone the next week as they just cant cope with the demand. We can also see by the WHOIS results how long the site has been up for, in the example moneysavingexpert.com we can see it was first registered on:

2002-06-10

We weary if the site was only registered a few weeks ok as it could be something dodgy, this goes for any site that you need to trust.

Hope this mini guide has helped you and others, and any questions do PM me or reply to this thread.

isofa

The "privacy" feature mentioned by TechTerry, is called WHOIS opt out and is available from all registrars including 123-reg - however it can only be used on domains registered by individuals, not on domains registered by companies.

123-reg is fine for domain registration their control panel is quick, user friendly and never had an issue. I point many domains to all over the World using it, all without issue. The e-mail forwarding facilities are also very good, and I use hundreds of these with hundreds of domains!

You don't have to mess about with nameservers to forward domains, the 123 control panel has options to redirect traffic in a simpler way, including non framed and framed webforwarding, but you can also delve deeper, if you wish, to adjust DNS settings to route domains in a technical way.

I also have some basic hosting space with 123-reg for some simple sites, supporting CGI/Perl which works perfectly, I have some complex hosting with other companies.

shimmershelly

I use lunarpages for hosting, the domain was free with them as part of their basic package, but you can use your own domain too, you just point it to their nameservers. I think originally I paid £50 for the year (because I had a coupon), but when I renewed I added $7.50 for an anonymous domain. I didn't like all my info being on WHOIS. Cpanel is included, as well as unlimited space and bandwidth.
They are advertising the basic plan at $4.95 per month at the mo, but I have a link for $25 dollars off the basic plan if you are interested.

TechTerry

isofa wrote: »

The "privacy" feature mentioned by TechTerry, is called WHOIS opt out and is available from all registrars including 123-reg - however it can only be used on domains registered by individuals, not on domains registered by companies.

123-reg is fine for domain registration their control panel is quick, user friendly and never had an issue. I point many domains to all over the World using it, all without issue. The e-mail forwarding facilities are also very good, and I use hundreds of these with hundreds of domains!

You don't have to mess about with nameservers to forward domains, the 123 control panel has options to redirect traffic in a simpler way, including non framed and framed webforwarding, but you can also delve deeper, if you wish, to adjust DNS settings to route domains in a technical way.

I also have some basic hosting space with 123-reg for some simple sites, supporting CGI/Perl which works perfectly, I have some complex hosting with other companies.

I did not state that you can not buy it from all registrars i just said that 123-reg do not offer it for free on antything other than uk domains, they charge an extra £4.99 a year for it.

markd_2

Thanks for the advice - seems that everyone has there own take on things and there are plenty of options.

Is it pretty much a case of you get what you pay for?

M4RKM

yes.... don't pay under the odds, i personally steer clear of places that offer everything unlimited, as it really is unsustainable..

personally, i have a reseller account, which i host my own sites on, plus my clients, plus some others... i still have loads of spare space, and only pay $20 a month.. probably more than you want to spend, but it is a reseller account...

rarely had any downtime, insignificant amounts to be honest if i look at how long i've been with this hosting company..


M

TechTerry

markymoo wrote: »

yes.... don't pay under the odds, i personally steer clear of places that offer everything unlimited, as it really is unsustainable..

personally, i have a reseller account, which i host my own sites on, plus my clients, plus some others... i still have loads of spare space, and only pay $20 a month.. probably more than you want to spend, but it is a reseller account...

rarely had any downtime, insignificant amounts to be honest if i look at how long i've been with this hosting company..


M

I would highly reccommend going for a reseller account if you want to host multiple accounts.

markd_2

Sorry to sound thick but what is a reseller account and how is it different? Thanks

TechTerry

markd wrote: »

Sorry to sound thick but what is a reseller account and how is it different? Thanks

A reseller account can basicly allow you to create standard hosting accounts, these can then be sold to the public, given away to friends and family or just an easy way to manage multiple sites.

In short, it allows you to create hosting accounts.