Cheap Linux Hosting

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There are many reasons that cheap Linux hosting is always in high demand.  The two most popular platforms are Linux and Windows, but Linux has been able to keep a firm grip on the top spot.

Reasons that Cheap Linux Hosting is More Popular Than Windows

Linux offers a variety of advantages to webmasters that Windows has not been able to duplicate. Here are some of them:

1.    Price

For many people, the price alone is enough of a difference, especially if they have little experience with either platform.  Since Linux was created with the GNU General Public License, anyone can access it.  This has led to a variety of different Linux based platforms to suit a particular area of focus including: Red Hat, Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux.

2.    Compatibility

Compatibility is a big reason that cheap Linux hosting is the preferred option.

If you are working on a Linux server and for some reason have to move to a Windows based server, the transition is comparatively simple.  However, if you start out on Windows based server, the transition to Linux almost isn’t even worth the trouble.

Linux makes moving to another platform very simple, whereas Windows makes it a hassle.

3.    Support

Linux has a very large and supportive community that continues to refine Linux and continually make improvements.  Even large companies like HP, IBM, Nokia, and Motorola use Linux and are dedicated to helping it grow and expand as the premier option.

4.    Security

Over the years, Windows has gotten a bad reputation regarding security.  Linux on the other hand has always been considered very secure.  One of the benefits of such a large supportive community is that when a threat is noticed, it is quickly fixed.  Linux has the benefit of being both simple yet powerful, making it a much more secure option.

5.    Stability

Linux is well known for being one of the most stable platforms available.  Its stability comes from a variety of factors including the supportive community.  However, one of the biggest reasons that Linux always seems to be stable is because it needs very few resources to operate.  Windows, on the other hand, consumes much more resources, even when it is inactive.

Cheap Linux hosting will always be in high demand as it continues to boast a number of advantages over its closest competitors.

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Bluehost – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Web Hosting Reviews 1 Comment »

Summary

Bluehost is one of our recommended web hosts. They have been around since 1996, and currently host over 750,000 web sites. They provide professional web hosting plans that include all the features one can possibly want, and at the best possible price. From top-notch support (I personally have seen answers to my support requests within minutes) to great service and features, there is everything to like about Bluehost, and nothing to dislike, from my personal experience.

Why I’m so impressed with them: Among other things (read below for more), I once sent an email to their CEO Matt Heaten, just to see what happens. I got back a personal reply from him! Now look. It’s not like Bluehost is a company running out of someone’s basement or anything. They host 750,000+ websites with them! So the CEO replying back to an unknown person is a BIG DEAL, as far as I am concerned. It shows how much he cares about his customers. This is reflected in everything that the company does. They keep improving their technology, their packages, their support system, and everything else.

Website: Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Quick Facts

  • Number of domains hosted: Over 750,000
  • Services: Shared hosting (at $6.95/month) with free set-up, no hidden fees, domain included, unlimited disk space, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, and support for almost every script you can imagine
  • Location: Provo, UT (USA)
  • Guarantees: 30-day money back guarantee, highest uptime, no hidden fees, free domain for life
  • Contact information: Call (888) 401-HOST, (888) 401-4678, or visit their contact page.

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Products & Services

Shared Linux hosting (at $6.95/month) with free set-up, no hidden fees, domain included, unlimited disk space, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, and support for almost every script you can imagine.

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

While Bluehost does tend to oversell like every other web hosting company out there, they have tried really hard to not let that affect the overall performance of the servers. Judging from the feedback by other people who host their sites with Bluehost, and other reviews (and my own personal experience), they’ve just got to be one of the better performing hosts in the shared web hosting space.

With the rapid growth that Bluehost has been experiencing in the recent past, they have constantly been upgrading their bandwidth as well as servers and data centers to keep up with the increasing demand.

Overall, they seem very reliable for hosting serious websites.

Features

The number of features offered by Bluehost just boggles the mind – unlimited storage, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, drag and drop site-builder, support for 100 databases, e-commerce support, several plug-in scripts and shopping carts, blogs, forums, wiki, multi-media support, and so many other things, it just boggles the mind.

They offer almost everything you would want from a Linux web hosting service – cPanel (the best hosting control panel), fantastico support, .htaccess customization, custom php.ini files, and more. They even allow shell access (SSH), and have DDOS protection and power backup and complimentary site backup services.

Support and Customer Care

Here again I can speak from personal experience. Their support is unlike ANYTHING I have ever seen. They are the best!

I have received answers to my questions within minutes of sending emails to their support no matter what the time was. And the biggest surprise (!) was that the support person used to actually read my email and give me exactly the answer I needed!

They even helped me with a problem I had with a PHP script I had installed on one of my websites.

Not surprisingly, they have won several awards for customer support. And why not, when they take such good care of their customers.

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Actual Customer Feedback

Used bluehost for 2 years now. Always up, good customer service, and good value. - g torregrassa

They are definitely WELL worth the $6.95 per month and even more! I’ve been very impressed with their service, speed and features. The uptime could be a bit better, but I’m guessing it’s about 98%. Just a few unannounced outages over the year. Overall, I couldn’t be more stoked about a Web host. I run 30k unique users and about 20gb of monthly bandwidth no problems! - Jason Mitchell

I’ve been with Blue Host for one year now. They are the BEST! Best overall and best value. Outstanding customer service. The company is always making improvements AND they are HONEST. A novice might find it a little challenging to figure everything at first, but once you do the number of features is unbeatable. - Brad

Bluehost is amazing. Their service is really amazingly outstanding. They go well beyond what is required and are always eager to help. - Amit

I have been with Bluehost for over 5 years and as a web designer, appreciate a good host. I recommend Bluehost to all my website clients. I have worked with many different hosts and have not found one yet that I liked more than Bluehost. - Chantal

I have been with bluehost for over a year, and have not had a single hick up, i am running 3 domains. Whenever i have needed help their support has been able to promptly help me. - Isaac Witton, Australia

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Verdict Of This Review

Bluehost beats almost every other web host in the Linux shared hosting space. Unbeatable pricing, unmatched features, what more could one want?

Highly recommended!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

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Apollo Hosting – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Web Hosting Reviews 2 Comments »

Summary

Apollo Hosting hosts over 165,000 domains since 1999. They provide reliable and affordable website hosting services for business, ecommerce, reseller and personal use with all the tools you need for a successful website.

Website: Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

Quick Facts

  • Number of domains hosted: 165,000
  • Services: Business hosting (starting at $6.96/month), Personal hosting (starting at $6.96/month), Windows hosting (starting at $13.96/month), and Dedicated hosting (starting at $99.95/month)
  • Location: Austin, Texas (USA)
  • Guarantees: 30-day money back guarantee, 99.9% uptime guarantee, price freeze guarantee (for dedicated server hosting)
  • Contact information: Call 1-877-525-HOST (4678), or visit their contact page.

Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

Products & Services

Business Hosting: Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, Shared web hosting – Linux, Shared web hosting – Windows, Dedicated hosting – Linux, Dedicated hosting – Windows, Reseller hosting

Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

Several customers of Apollo Hosting have posted their reviews of their service. Most of them have reported negatively about their performance, uptime, etc. People report that their servers are frequently down, and at least one person has reported their site being down for a whole day. Another person reported their site being down at least once every week.

I wonder how many people take advantage of their 99.99% uptime guarantee, and if they don’t, why not.

Site speeds are also reported to be on the slow side. All in all Apollo Hosting does not score high on performance.

Features

Apollo Hosting offers a wide variety of features to cater to every need, budget and technical requirement. If you want any additional features not included in one of their core packages, you can always pay a bit extra to get them. This lets you totally customize the feature set if you want.

However, other web hosting companies offer more disk storage, more bandwidth/data transfer, and more domains on a single account.

Support and Customer Care

Their technical support is based out of their headquarters in Austin, Texas, and is completely in-house. This means no more struggling with foreign accents or trying to get your point across to someone with English as a second language.

In addition to this, Apollo Hosting provides a lot of options to help you with your support issues. There is a pre-sales FAQ, a collection of quick start guides, knowledgebase articles, video tutorials, online manuals, forums, help desk, live chat, and phone support to assist you in every way they can.

Their contact number and a live chat button are available from every page on their site, making it easy to get in touch with them, should you have any issues.

All that said, it is really difficult to get a meaningful response from them, especially if you run into a challenging technical problem. The live chat support personnel will usually ask you to get a support ticket, which makes you wonder why they are there in the first place.

The fact that their telephone support is not outsourced is both an advantage and disadvantage in that though you are spared the trauma of struggling through foreign accents of non-native speakers, they can only afford to employ a limited number of support people, causing long wait periods for telephone support.

On the bright side, their manuals, tutorials, and articles are really good, and if you are not afraid of getting your hands dirty managing your sites yourself, Apollo Hosting can be a very good choice for you.

Cons

  1. A lot of features are offered at an extra price, and are not included in the package price. These prices are all clearly mentioned though, both on the package details page and the plan comparisons pages, so you will have a clear idea of what you would be paying before you purchase their services. Also, extra cost usually means they will spend additional resources to make sure everything runs smoothly, which is ultimately more important for a business than a few dollars per month. In addition, this pricing scheme means that those who don’t need the extra feature can pay less.
  2. Their prices are slightly higher than other hosting companies. But this also means better hardware, better network and server performance, and better support, so it’s all worth it, if you think about it.
  3. Customer support is not as good as some of the other hosting firms.

Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

Actual Customer Feedback

The Live Chat Tech Support is awesome and the low cost and great service is why I have been their customer for over 2 years. Apollo’s web hosting needs little web knowledge for upkeep. If I can maintain a website, anyone can! Thanks Apollo! – Dawna Avery, visualtestaments.com

I eventually tried 3 other providers before stumbling on Apollo. Email is extremely important in my business as our employees are all over the world and being up and running all the time is critical. I can not say enough good things about Apollo. They are always on call and always ready to help. Their network is one of the best. What they are doing is right on track. With a very in depth understanding of the industry and what is critical, I can truthfully say, they are doing a fantastic job. Customer service is one of the most critical areas for a company, and they know what they are doing. My business’ success depends on the website and email, and I feel that I am in good hands with Apollo. – Chris Atkins, linguasmex.com

I had previously been jumping from one hosting company to another, in search of the perfect host. I have now had my two websites with Apollohosting for about 2 years, and I am perfectly happy with their services – the main reason for choosing Apollohosting was that they have [a premium email filter] which blocks 99.9% of all spam and virus suspect emails on their server, and I don’t have to deal with them. Considering that I get around 700 spam messages per email address a day, this is a big load off my back, and my computer! But I also must say that the fact that I have not noticed any downtime of my websites at all, and they run smoothly, is also very valuable. When initially setting up my accounts, the help staff were always very helpful and kind, and since then I have not had to contact them once. I am here to stay! – Mimi Sidwell, jxranch.com

I am a long time Apollo Customer, Apollo Reseller, web developer and entrepreneur.

Apollo Hosting is there when you need them, late night, early morning, holidays, whenever. Apollo is there and that is nice and that’s why I’m still using them after 6 years. – Jeff Miller, closingvideos.com

Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

Verdict of This Review

Apollo Hosting does seem to be offering a wide array of services to cater to every need and budget, but it would have been better if they could focus on improving their pricing model, customer support, and performance of their servers in terms of speed and reliability.

Not recommended, unless maybe you are in Austin, Texas, and are looking for a local hosting provider.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

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1&1 Internet UK – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Web Hosting Reviews 1 Comment »

Summary

1&1 claim to be the world’s number 1 web host and the fastest growing web hosting company. According to their “About 1&1″ page, 1&1′s global community is 7.46 million people strong with 2,500 new customers signing up every day.

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Quick Facts

  • Number of domains: 9.82 million registered domains, and over 2.7 million websites
  • Services: Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting
  • Location: 1&1 Internet Limited, Aquasulis House, 10-14 Bath Road, Slough, SL1 3SA, UK
  • Guarantees: 60-day money back guarantee, 99.99% uptime, no hidden charges
  • Contact information: Call 0871 641 21 21. Or visit the contact page on their website.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Products & Services

Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

Several customers of 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK have posted their reviews of their performance. Most, if not all, have a negative review of their performance.

From horror stories of how their servers seem to be down intermittently to how everything is slower than a drugged tortoise on occasions, the impression we get is not good.

Of course, some people report good things too, but it does shake your confidence in them overall.

Features

This is probably the only good thing about 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK and their web hosting packages. They are loaded with features.

But then so is every other hosting provider. :-| In fact, most hosting providers let you host more domains in a single account.

They offer about £400 worth of software for free with their web hosting packages, and you can also get RatePoint for free with select business packages. You get 100 business cards for free when you sign up for their 1&1 Home package.

Support and Customer Care

Support and customer care seems to be a joke, in the words of many of their customers (who are now ex-customers and very happy about it). Some people switched hosting providers solely because of 1&1 Internet UK’s poor customer support.

In fact, they put you on hold for such long periods that it might be worth getting a speaker-phone just so you can continue doing other work while you are waiting for someone to answer the phone.

Not just that, it’s a battle to get them to understand the problem, and an even bigger battle to get them to solve it in a timely manner.

Cons

  1. Canceling your account with them is very difficult, and requires you to fax a signed copy of your application to them.
  2. Support is outsourced to a non-English speaking country, and not only is the accent difficult to understand, the support staff doesn’t seem to be competent either.
  3. Because of their low prices, they are forced to share the same server among a lot of sites, and as a result the site performance is not up to the mark. Speeds are slow, and uptime is not good either.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Actual Customer Feedback

Awful, awful, awful service. Avoid these people like the plaque. I have customers who have registered domain names with one and one and releasing them to (better) other suppliers is a nightmare with .coms. The helpline is some far off country and the operators are difficult to understand especially when you require technical assistance.

Consequently my customers 1and1 domain and email account has NOT been running for 2 weeks. – Paul

Have now 6 domains with 1and1 uk and am very happy with the customer service and uptime, cant fault them yet – James Brabyn

I have bought an eshop from them and all I have to say is their online based program is so slow and you can not use any other things, they say you have 500mb but they don’t let you upload any thing to your space by any ftp or program other than their eshop which means you can only upload certain image files and that it.

Their customer service were alright in the begining but now no answer what so ever for a month or non at all for some of my posts.

I have to mention if you really want to go into truble then they are good at it. – Parkook

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Verdict of This Review

Everything about 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK hosting is bad. May be a bit useful for registering cheap domains, but not good for hosting sites. Not recommended at all. Avoid at all costs.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

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1&1 Internet Inc. – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Web Hosting Reviews 6 Comments »

Summary

1&1 claim to be the world’s number 1 web host and the fastest growing web hosting company. According to their “About 1&1″ page, 1&1′s global community is 7.46 million people strong with 2,500 new customers signing up every day.

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Quick Facts

  • Number of domains: 9.82 million registered domains, and over 2.7 million websites
  • Services: Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting
  • Location: Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Guarantees: 60-day money back guarantee, 99.99% uptime, no hidden charges
  • Contact information: Call 1-877-GO-1AND1 (1-877-461-2631). Or visit the contact page on their website.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Products & Services

Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

1&1 Internet’s performance, according to customer reports found all over the web, is not too impressive. Several people report long downtimes, some even up to five days!

While they do have impressive hardware and connectivity, they host SO many websites, it’s apparently taking a toll on performance.

Well, that might be the reason, or it could be something else, but a prospective customer would be better advised to look for another web host with better performance records.

Features

They do offer an impressive array of features, but then, so do most web hosts these days.

Oh wait! Actually, there are quite a few web hosts that offer MORE features than 1&1 Internet does. For example, these days, several web hosts offer unlimited domains on a single shared hosting account. But the marketing angels at 1&1 only offer from 1-5 domains on a single shared hosting account, depending on your account type.

With the exception of a couple of features, most features can be classified as either something that everyone offers, or something that no one needs. Methinks someone at 1&1 Internet Inc is just trying to bloat the feature list.

We don’t want features we don’t need. We want more value, better hosting, better performance, and better service.

Support and Customer Care

One word: Crooks!

Several people complain about 1&1 Internet Inc. continuing to charge their credit cards long after they cancel their accounts with them. Getting a refund may not be impossible, but it’s close. Be prepared to file a complaint with your credit card company AND change your credit card if you want to avoid getting rebilled.

I have also read accounts of 1&1 Internet Inc’s customer service people yelling at customers, calling them names, and hanging up on them.

In case a customer’s credit card fails to authorize for some reason, they send it to a collection agency before even contacting the customer to remedy the situation. This is very strange, considering it would be a lot cheaper and quicker for them to just inform the customer that there is a problem, and ask them to update their billing information. Not to mention the PR suicide they are committing.

Cons

  1. Horrible customer service and rude customer service people.
  2. A big portion of the customer support is outsourced to a non-English speaking country, which makes understanding them difficult.
  3. Performance is very bad, and customers frequently experience downtime, despite their 99.99% uptime guarantee.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Actual Customer Feedback

If you are thinking of purchasing from 1&1 don’t do it! – Louis Lang

Filed complaint with Better Business Bureau. They already have and Unsatisfactory rating there. – Owner ( customerservice at clean-fill-wanted(dot)com )

My site has been down for 3 days with no support from 1and1 at all. Nobody will tell me what is going on. This company should be avoided at all costs. My site was intermittently down for 2 weeks prior to that. Please Please someone start a class action lawsuit. Google 1and1 and see millions of negative messages regarding 1and1. – Steve Tarnowski

1 and 1 is horrendous in every way! After transferring a domain to them and receiving confirmation from them that the transaction was completed, they sold the name to someone else without letting us know. They continued to bill us of course, and didn’t even give the promised and advertised promotional discount. This national campaign for the site lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they have still not corrected their mistake. The Better Business Bureau and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office are investigating them, and so is the media. As an investigative journalist myself, I have been sharing my story with the print and broadcast community and my colleagues who are realizing how poorly this company conducts business. Hundreds of emails gone unanswered, phone calls dropped with no resolution, no support at all, and ethical issues are just the tip of the 1 and 1 iceburg. Caveat emptor! – Kelly

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Verdict of This Review

Not impressive at all. Stay away from this company at all costs. In fact, if you don’t like someone, send them over to 1&1 for hosting their websites. Not recommended, if you are thinking of hosting your own sites with them.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

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