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What do you look for in a free host?

NexDog

NexDog

New Member
We are setting up a free hosting service and just wanted to bounce some ideas of the members here with lots of experience with free hosts. The service will have:

Custom control panel
Decent address (yourname.host.com)
File Manager
WYSIWYG editor
FTP support
Webmail system (youremail@host.com)

There will be no huge banners plastered over the top, just 2 small and discreet "Hosted by" buttons at the button (one for the free host and one for our paid hosting service). The main reason we are doing it for is to increase link popularity and maybe help with brand awareness. We have a nice p4 server set aside for it and expect 100% uptime.

Aside from all the above, is there anything that needs to be added to create a great service? Would love to hear some feedback!
 
The ability to place the ad buttons manually, so they can be integrated with the page design.

Support for domains would be handy. ;)

Also, if you do add Perl, PHP, MySQL etc., it would be nice if you also offered a "no frills" version on a separate server, so that those with static content (only) wouldn't have their sites slowed down when other users' scripts hog the CPU.
 
I would say, NO MySQL. People can use unlimited-sql.com if they need to. MySQL isn't a good thing for a free server, it just bogs things down and people only use it for forums.
 
well, for me, i just wanted some space to putting up my art work, my personal site. don't need php or sql cause i can get a forums at invisionboard or some others . am sure personal site wont get lot visitor, so forums is not important for me . all i need is a space to putting up my site . around 30-50mb, 1Gb bandwidth . ftp upload , oh ya, if can, maybe make it domain host.
 
I look for domain hosting (usually), and probably space amount and bandwidth. Extras are always nice also :D
 
Thanks for the feedback. :)

We want to provide a service to people with basic needs. We won't be providing CGI or MySQL on this free host as those are things that require technical support and affect the amount of sites that go on a server. I think if you want those things, the host has put lots of glaring ads on your site to make it worthwhile. But that is not why we are doing it.

Domain hosting also affects the amount of sites that can go on a server as real hosted sites are listed in httpd.include. If your registrar doesn't support Frame or URL Forwarding, we could set that up for you no problem.

This is great feedback and I'd appreciate any more thoughts on what people look for in a free host and if they think the type of service that I have outlined sounds like a good one. :)
 
Nexdog: just to let you know, domains and sub-domains alike go in HTTPD.conf/ HTTP.include ( file included into httpd.conf ).

It doesnt matter, apache is able to handle as many as you add. Also, if you limit MySQL, and are strict about a no phpNuke and high usage DB for forums, then MySQL would be an option.

Depending on the amount of users you want to host, it would work out good.

I ran section5.net ( Its dead now :( ) and we had 300 users on one server. They each had 1 MySQL DB. 100 MB space, and 3 GB bandwidth. And some sites used even more bw. The server load was always low, and once MySQL is setup correctly, it wont go down =).
 
I'm well aware of how httpd.include works. ;)

Lots of mysql still requires constant monitoring thougj and people will always sneak a nuke site on, sure of that.

I will talk with our sysadmin about limiting mysql though. If we could limit each script to so many mysql connects for instance, then that would help alot. I am not a real sysadmin though and don't know if that is possible.
 
Originally posted by velton
well, for me, i just wanted some space to putting up my art work, my personal site. don't need php or sql cause i can get a forums at invisionboard or some others . am sure personal site wont get lot visitor, so forums is not important for me . all i need is a space to putting up my site . around 30-50mb, 1Gb bandwidth . ftp upload , oh ya, if can, maybe make it domain host.
Click to expand...
so do i.but i run a forums powered b a chinese guy, there being 2 language style(i love it very much, it is the coooolest i have ever seen). and i am studying photoshops ,need some space to put my the pics:)

others just for my personal pages;)
 
Web Hosting:
Good FTP
Good MYSQL
Reliable
20 - 50 mb webspace
---------------------------
As the other part of me say:

15 GB space, media can be uploaded :D

Like i would never get that free :D
 
Originally posted by drkmagic
Web Hosting:
Good FTP
Good MYSQL
Reliable
20 - 50 mb webspace
---------------------------
As the other part of me say:

15 GB space, media can be uploaded :D

Like i would never get that free :D
Click to expand...
few free host allow media files. even many paid host do not allow media files either.

maybe this can't be accessed
 
Originally posted by Antonio
few free host allow media files. even many paid host do not allow media files either.

maybe this can't be accessed
Click to expand...

I've never seen a paid host not allowing media, unless its illegal, of course.
 
Originally posted by NexDog
I'm well aware of how httpd.include works. ;)

Lots of mysql still requires constant monitoring thougj and people will always sneak a nuke site on, sure of that.

I will talk with our sysadmin about limiting mysql though. If we could limit each script to so many mysql connects for instance, then that would help alot. I am not a real sysadmin though and don't know if that is possible.
Click to expand...

In the PHP.ini file you can set the max allowed MySQL connections for a script i believe, but i have never had a problem with it.

And looking for phpNuke's is pretty easy. Most people install it and forget to change it from phpnuke_<row> to blah_<row> and after all, phpNuke has 93 tables in a database =).

And about the httpd.include, you were saying it as if hosting domains would limit the amount of poeple you could host. This is absolutly not true =).
 
Domain hosting is a nice feature if you can offer it.

I think it would also increase the percentage of your more "genuine" users (people with a domain are less likley to be signing up just to abuse the services)

A file manager, even the most basic one is a good consideration, as many people looking for low space free accounts often don't have experience of FTP, and user placeable ads rather than having them fixed (i think was already mentioned here)

Whatever you choose it's nice to hear somebody thinking seriously about how to offer a good service but without leaving it open to abuse, rather than just rushing to get traffic and signups, and as a result only lasting a few weeks or even less

I'm sure it'll be successfull :)
 
Originally posted by Loon
Whatever you choose it's nice to hear somebody thinking seriously about how to offer a good service but without leaving it open to abuse, rather than just rushing to get traffic and signups, and as a result only lasting a few weeks or even less
Click to expand...
I am sure Laurence has plenty of experience with hosting by now ;) He is just trying out the free side of it now. So is aware of all the security measures, can detect abusers, and won't die anytime soon :)

Good luck with it Laurence :)
 
In that case, still some tips from me:

-) Review every website you are gonna host by hand
-) Dont over fill your servers, its okay to say no
-) Make sure that the server load stays below a reasonable amount, or your gonna get complains about stuff being slow
-) Dont do auto signups. ( Goes with rule 1 )

Good luck to you.
 
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