# Site Host Question



## UkITsubuki (May 19, 2010)

I am planning to create a social media site/network, any recommendation on a good host?


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## Runefox (May 19, 2010)

If you're expecting a lot of traffic, I'd recommend you go with at least a virtual dedicated server to start off with, though if it's really just going to be a forum, you can get by with pretty much any kind of host. As far as a generic host (as in, not a server, virtual or otherwise) goes, FatCow is, I hear, pretty great, while their ToS is a little restrictive (no adult content, no unrelated storage, etc). I used to get my hosting through GoDaddy, and while the terms of service pretty much give you free reign last I checked, they're more expensive and offer less for your money.

As far as virtual private servers and dedicated servers go, I was looking into this a while ago, and while they seem to have changed their name recently, a company called Rackster offered pretty good deals. They go by IQDCS now, but their rates are still the same as they were before, and they offer unmetered bandwidth for all their servers. Good place to start if you're looking at making this serious, but then again, you are posting this as your first post on the FAF, so... Maybe FatCow is a better choice.


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## Apollo (May 19, 2010)

I used to run with GoDaddy, I absolutely hated it due to crappy setup on their servers. Currently using DreamHost and haven't looked back.


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## Geek (May 19, 2010)

http://hosting24.com/

Unlimited Web Space
Unlimited Data Transfer
Free Domain For Life

$4.84/month


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## Runefox (May 19, 2010)

On a year-to-year basis, hosting24 is more expensive than FatCow and GoDaddy's Deluxe hosting unless purchased in 3-year blocks:



			
				hosting24.com RE hosting rates said:
			
		

> * $4.84 rate is valid if you pay for 36 months. If you decide to pay for 1 month only, price is $7.84 for the "Silver" plan and $10.84 for the "Gold" plan.



Particularly of interest for a social media/network site is the ToS for "unlimited space":



			
				hosting24.com RE disk space said:
			
		

> But, there is one thing you should know â€“ all the files you store on your account must be legal. For example, you cannot upload music that is copyrighted; only music that you have permission to distribute or music that you have created yourself can be uploaded to your account. You cannot upload any copyrighted photos or videos either, only your own material. *Additionally sites designed to file sharing / archive / backup / mirroring purposes are not allowed by our terms of service.*



This kind of restriction would also apply to most hosts offering the "unlimited" option, actually. However I believe GoDaddy is a bit more relaxed about most things from what I gather from their ToS a while ago (particularly about backup/file-sharing/etc), but for the most part you'll probably find that "unlimited" plans aren't actually unlimited.


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## UkITsubuki (May 19, 2010)

Thanks


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## Geek (May 20, 2010)

I think you should go with Runefox for FatCow.
But with GoDaddy, porn is allowed?


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## Runefox (May 20, 2010)

Last I read GoDaddy's ToS, so long as it's legal, they're juuuuust fine with it.


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## Apollo (May 21, 2010)

I do have to admit though, on GoDaddy's (paid) shared hosts, they are very lenient. If it's not illegal, they're fine with it.


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## Nollix (May 21, 2010)

Angelfire.






lolitrolu


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## Runefox (May 22, 2010)

HenriW said:


> I do have to admit though, on GoDaddy's (paid) shared hosts, they are very lenient. If it's not illegal, they're fine with it.



It's pretty much the only reason I'd recommend them. I used their paid hosting for a while to offload the webserving task from my home network (which for a while worked out, but now I'm back to serving it mainly from home again), and their ToS is extremely lenient. When I was looking into other hosts like FatCow, I was noticing a trend - The files you upload MUST pertain to the site being hosted (no storage), and the files must NOT be pornographic in nature, usually along with a few other restrictions. Personally, the former is the most off-putting for me - One of the major uses I have for webspace is to store/distribute random files. I can understand with the "unlimited" space they offer, but there are even some other hosts who don't offer unlimited space and still don't have as good a ToS as GoDaddy does.


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