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GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

marco.org

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Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#3

Post by wonderyak »

My least horrible experiences have all been with DreamHost as well.

Our company did reseller hosting for about 5 years and went through all of the acquisition stuff Marco mentions. We had to exit SoftLayer because they were horrible, only to be brought right back.

Hosting is a horrible business. To be good at it and have marketplace success you need to deliver over the top support; which is just unsustainable at scale.

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#4

Post by lelandbatey »

Web hosting customers are nomads. If your host hasn’t been ruined yet, just wait.

This line right here is absolutely sage wisdom. Here are some of the companies I've bought services from, as well as what I remember happening to them:

    ClubUptime
        Closed in a disastrous closure due to basically being conned.

    DirectSpace
        Still around, haven't changed much

    VolumeDrive
        Very sketchy, I don't really know how they're still in business

    Fazewire
        Local Seattle hosting/colocation company. Originally founded by a guy
        when he was 15, he sold the company when he went to college.

    URPad.net
        Still around, only used them for a short period of time.
    
    OVH
    Amazon
    Digital Ocean

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#5

Post by jfb »

wonderyak wrote: post #3

My least horrible experiences have all been with DreamHost as well. Our company did reseller hosting for about 5 years and went through all of the acquisition stuff Marco mentions. We had to exit SoftLayer because they were horrible, only to be brought right back. Hosting is a horrible business. To be good at it and have marketplace success you need to deliver over the top support; which is just unsustainable at scal…

It seems like the kind of thing that well-intentioned people can get into without too terribly much capital, only to have things go totally non-linear on them. My own minimal needs have always been perfectly well met by Linode, so I recommend them if anybody asks me (which people rarely do.)

I've heard goodish things about Dreamhost, as well.

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#6

Post by cylinder »

Hosting is like commercial airlines. Everyone wants excellent service, but they shop on price, and expect it to be low. Those who can actually spend a lot, do it themselves anyways (private jets). This could be the beginning of a consolidation phase in the hosting industry just like what took place with airlines.

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#8

Post by SteveGerencser »

In the late 90s i was a partner in a hosting company. To this day every time someone asks me to host a small site on my personal server I get flashbacks and the shakes. Never again. Hosting is not a game for people without very strong nerves. I won't even resell hosting.

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#9

Post by CharlesW »

wonderyak wrote: post #3

My least horrible experiences have all been with DreamHost as well. Our company did reseller hosting for about 5 years and went through all of the acquisition stuff Marco mentions. We had to exit SoftLayer because they were horrible, only to be brought right back. Hosting is a horrible business. To be good at it and have marketplace success you need to deliver over the top support; which is just unsustainable at scal…

I'm not a fan of "me too"s, but I've been a DreamHost customer since 2001 and use them for smaller sites and may try VPS and/or dedicated with them in the future. I recall one rough patch with them in 2006 (http://www.dreamhost.com/dreamscape/2006/08/01/anatomy-of-an...), but I felt like they did a pretty good job of keeping customers informed and so I stuck with them.

Re: GoDaddy, Media Temple, and the Horrible World of Web Hosting

#10

Post by driverdan »

wonderyak wrote: post #3

My least horrible experiences have all been with DreamHost as well. Our company did reseller hosting for about 5 years and went through all of the acquisition stuff Marco mentions. We had to exit SoftLayer because they were horrible, only to be brought right back. Hosting is a horrible business. To be good at it and have marketplace success you need to deliver over the top support; which is just unsustainable at scal…

DH's shared hosting is bad, possibly horrible. Their shared servers go down frequently. Often they didn't even seem to know the server I'm on was down until I sent a support request. I keep my account for testing and sites I don't really care much about.
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