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Hey all,

We have talked about this stuff before, but times change, so here we go again. I am looking for a *cheap* hosting solution for my games. By which I mean that I have almost no spare cash but I am tired of dealing with pop-up city. However, I have been burned enough times to be a little cautious about changing hosts, so I am hoping someone has a good recommendation to share.

Thanks,
Grant

http://www.rcthost.com/

These guys seemed to be pretty decent, especially for the price; they have some of the lowest hosting prices I've seen.  They hosted my site for a couple of months; I decided to switch hosts for reasons that had nothing to do with their service, which I found to be adequate.  YMMV, of course...

Two words and a letter: "Clinton R. Nixon"

Private Message the guy and get a subdomain on the Forge for a really competative price.  That's what I did several months back and I've never regretted it.

www.interland.com is very, very cheap, with a sliding scale based on commitment and server type (e.g. $17.95 per month for a one year commitment on a Linux server, with the first three months free), and they have all the basic goodies one would want from web hosting.

I just ditched them because their web interface is dreck, and I want to be able to do things like set directory-level passwords without FTPing .htaccess files into place.   That may not be a problem for you.

Even cheaper, the next place I'm going to check out:  www.he.net (Hurricane Electric).  $9.95 per month for decent hosting, with shell access, something that most places don't even consider giving out any more.

I use Dreamhost (//www.dreamhost.com): you get 150 MBs of storage, 20 Gigs of bandwith per month, unlimited MySQL dbs, PHP and Perl support, CGI access, free domain registration, and a mess of other stuff for only $9.95 a month.

Their web interface is simple to use and easy to understand, and their tech support is quick and a reliable (plus their on-line Knowledge Base is very deep and easy to navigate).

Simply, I'm very impressed with them.

BTW, if you do go with them, mention I sent you: I'll get a free month out of it.

I'm going to second the recommendation to use Clinton's services.  I'm going to recommend against contracting directly with Dreamhost because I've had some rotten experiences with their accounting department (like them forgetting to send invoices).  Others have not mirrored this experience, as I'm sure you can read.

I can't beat Clinton's rates, but I do offer hosting for $15/month.  The only reason to use my services over Clinton's is to take advantage of some of the special services that I offer, such as a content management system (full list at my website).  Even if you do need those services, talk to Clinton first; he can manage a lot of them for you.

Dreamhost sounds interesting.  I've had billing problems with 40% of all companies I've dealt with on Internet matters, or so it seems, so...

Quote from: greyormBTW, if you do go with them, mention I sent you: I'll get a free month out of it.

If I do end up going with them, will they know you as "Rev. Ravenscrye Grey Daegmorgan?"  If not, who should I say is referring me?

I hate to steal Raven's thunder, but anyone who signs up for Dreamhost and uses 'crnixon' as their reference does a good deed - 10% of your bill is credited to the Forge's web-hosting account, bringing the Forge a bit farther away from impoverishing your friendly local site admin.

Quote from: Clinton R. NixonI hate to steal Raven's thunder, but anyone who signs up for Dreamhost and uses 'crnixon' as their reference does a good deed - 10% of your bill is credited to the Forge's web-hosting account, bringing the Forge a bit farther away from impoverishing your friendly local site admin.

I'm sure Raven stole thunder at some point during his long, prestigious mythological career, so I suppose turnabout is fair play! In all seriousness, though, I agree: go for it and support the Forge.