Well here’s the part most people never thought of. What if the host scams you? What if the host just kicks you out? What if the host steals your files and databases? What if? And you know what sucks more? You can’t do anything about it! Remember, there are no laws for those stuff in that country?

Don’t forget the server specs and price. Here’s two things that could happen:

1. Hosted on a good server, but you get ripped off.
2. Hosted on a shitty, oversold server for cheap.

And what if the support people don’t speak English or can’t speak properly? Google Translate? Have fun!

Offshore hosting is just a little hype made up by noobs who make warez forums. I personally would suggest that you stay away from it. BTW, here’s a shared hosting checklist and 5 great shared hosting plans. Just trying to make it easier for you to find the perfect host!

Advantages of shared hosting

• Everything comes installed. You’re good to go.
• There is tech support at no extra cost.
• Your life is a lot easier since it comes with something like cPanel.
• Everything is point-and-click. No SSH.
• You’re hosted on a (very) good server.
• Can handle traffic spikes well (most of the time).
• Noob-friendly (and sometimes even idiot-proof).
• A lot cheaper!

Disadvantages of a VPS/dedi

• Most of the time you need to install whatever you’ll need
• Tech support is optional. You’ll need to pay a few hundred dollars just for that.
• No cPanel, Plesk, etc. You’ll need to pay extra for that.
• You need to know how to use SSH (which is like the CMD for Linux).
• You get what you paid for. So, you need to pay a lot if you want a good server.
• Can it handle traffic spikes? Depends on the server specs.
• Not noob-friendly!
• Its expensive!

Okay there it is. You can now see how shared hosting makes your life easier. You should seriously stick to a shared host if you’re new to all this. VPS and dedis have their advantages, but they can be hard to handle.

But hey, you can’t even stay with a shared host forever. You need to upgrade once you get some pretty decent traffic. I would say around 2K-5K unique visitors per month. It depends actually. Depends on how much resources (ex: CPU, RAM, bandwidth, etc) you’re taking up. So, its not exact science.

Another tip, if you stick with a shared host then get a dedicated IP. And I made a list of 5 great shared hosting plans and a shared hosting checklist. Be sure to check them out and avoid oversellers!

It looks like overselling started back in 2005. I couldn’t find out which company started it though. But, it did look like BlueHost started it all (damn you BlueHost!). Again this is might not be right. We’ll never know who came up with this “brilliant idea”.

2005

A few hosts (ex: BlueHost, PowWeb) are overselling the bandwidth, only. They’re overselling upto 100GB of bandwidth. Still not bad. Just trying to beat the competition (by lying a bit).

2006 (early)

Hosts aren’t happy. They want to oversell the bandwidth a bit more. On average its around 100GB to 300GB bandwidth. A few hosts (ex: BlueHost) are offering upto 15GB space though.

2006 (mid-late)

This is where it gets better. I mean for those greedy hosts. Bad for us, of course. Hosts such as PowWeb are offering upto 20GB of space and 400GB of bandwidth. PowWeb’s probably saying in your face, BlueHost! Oh wait. BlueHost is offering 50GB of space and 999GB of bandwidth.

Woah. Holy shit! DreamHost is offering 1TB of bandwidth. There we go. We’ve found our leader in bandwidth overselling.

2007

Okay here’s where we get our 100% oversold plans (aka the “modern overselling”). DreamHost is offering 200GB of space and 2TB of bandwidth (and so is HostGator). What are they thinking? We’re not complete idiots. Enough overselling!

Oh no. Its not enough. BlueHost wants to kick the competition’s ass by offering 300GB space and 3TB of bandwidth.

2008 (early)

Yay 2008! Everything’s pretty much the same as 2007 right now. Everyone is offering 300GB space and 3TB bandwidth. Now lets fast forward a few months. Hosts are offering 1500GB space and 15TB bandwidth. Which greedy bastard came up with this? I think it was PowWeb. There are no archives of 2008 on the Wayback Machine yet. But, I remember PowWeb offering it first.

A few hosts are offering unlimited space and bandwidth too (oh crap!).

2008 (mid)

This is where things get totally screwed. Now most of the oversellers (PowWeb, BlueHost, etc) are switching over to the unlimited plans. This is where we’re at, right now.

Who started it all?

Well to me it looks like BlueHost and PowWeb were the masterminds behind this. But, hey I didn’t go around checking every single host. I only checked the leading oversellers.

Over to you

I hope you guys learnt a bit on how overselling grew. This isn’t very accurate, but still, you get the idea. Well go ahead and drop a comment on what you think about overselling and if you have any idea where overselling really started from.

Don’t forget to subscribe via RSS or email, if you’ve enjoyed this. And lastly, I would like to say “thank you” to the hosts that completely destroyed changed the hosting industry with the idea of overselling.

BTW, these are real live chats. I didn’t modify them (except for taking out the unnecessary crap).

1. PowWeb

The hosting industry’s leading overseller with <sarcasm>a great support team</sarcasm> and the best sales reps (who can really lie). Take a look at the chat I had with their sales people (they know what they’re talking about).

Me: How can you provide unlimited space?
Virgil Shaw: It is decided by our Product Management team. <WTF?>
Me: No I mean. Its not possible for servers. There is a limit, right
Virgil Shaw: Yes, it is possible. <Woah breaking news!>
Me: Oh ok. Do you guys oversell?
Virgil Shaw: No. <How do they provide unlimited space then?>
Me: Oh ok. Do you guys suspend accounts for using too much space or having too many files?
Virgil Shaw: No.
Virgil Shaw: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Me: No. Thank you. You answered my questions. Powweb doesn’t oversell, your servers have unlimited space and you won’t suspend accounts.

Man these guys are great! They are the first host in the world to come up with servers that have unlimited space. Just amazing. How did they do that? Some kind of alien technology I guess (Area51 Sector-Powweb). They don’t even oversell. Well why would they need to oversell when their servers *really* have unlimited space.

2. BlueHost

Hmm BlueHost does not oversell. They have some crazy configuration on their server that allows them to provide unlimited space without overselling. How cool is that? They’ve also got a really courteous sales rep, Ann A. (she never closes the chat without asking if all questions were answered).

Me: How can you offer unlimited space?
Ann A.: Hi! We have several hard drives per server. the space is dynamically allocated between accounts. larger accounts share the server the server with less users than smaller accounts. <Oh really? Wow. So smart!>
Me: No I mean. Its not possible to give unlimited space. At least for $7
Me: Do you guys do overselling?
Ann A.: We are simply saying we won’t charge additional for extra bandwidth or storage used but it does have to be used in a responsible manner. We do not oversell. <Don’t lie to us! Frigin overseller!>
Me: Oh ok. So you do not oversell. Good to know that
Me: How much space and bandwidth falls under responsible manner? <An excellent question!>
Ann A.: Our cpu limit is 35% CPU for 30 seconds and we have a 20 concurrent process/connection limit. As long as the limits are not exceeded, there’s not limit for the amount of space and bandwith used. <Bit smarter than PowWeb’s rep.>
Me: Ok. Are you sure Bluehost doesnt oversell?
Ann A.: Yes, I’m sure.
Ann A.: Obviously, most customers do not come close to use the amount of space available. For those that do use the space available, they are moved to a server that is shared with less users, so the space that promised to them in their hosting package is available. <That IS overselling>
Me: Ok ok. So you guys don’t oversell <I smell a big fat lie>
Me: If we get closed because of using too much space. My friend will refer to you and take legal action against you, personally. <Lets freak her out>
Ann A.: ok, i understand. thank you! <How rude! Closed the chat right away. Nice sales rep, BlueHost>

These sales reps are awesome! Saying whatever they need to say to make you buy a hosting package. These guys are the teller marketers on the web. They lie just as much (maybe a bit more), they’re just as desperate, but they’re not as annoying as those teller marketers.

I hope you guys found it very educational. And don’t believe whatever those sales people tell you. You know why, right?

More like this coming up soon (that’s right!). And if you have anything like this then email me (I’ll credit you). Don’t forget to drop a comment and tell us what you thought of this.

The 5 Hosts

These guys are not oversellers or resellers. They’re all big reputable hosts. I’ve called all the hosting companies for you guys and got all the info. Just making it easier for you. BTW, the list is in order of most affordable to the most expensive.

1. 1&1 Internet Inc – $3.99/month

2. GoDaddy – $4.29/month

3. Netfirms – $4.95/month

4. (mt) MediaTemple – $20/month

5. Mosso – $100/month

1. 1&1 Internet Inc

• Space: 10GB
• Bandwidth: 300GB
• MySQL databases: 10 (100MB)
• Domains allowed: 20
• Concurrent users on database: 250 (just awesome)
• Types of support: 24/7 Phone & Email support
• Price: $3.99/month (Limited time offer: $1.99 for first 3 months)

My friend survived the “digg effect” with this shared hosting from 1&1. So its pretty reliable. And I was going to go with them myself, but later I got a VPS from GoDaddy. Great price, great plan. Just love it.

2. GoDaddy

• Space: 10GB
• Bandwidth: 300GB
• MySQL databases: 10 (100MB)
• Domains allowed: Unlimited
• Concurrent users on database: 100
• Types of support: 24/7 Phone & Email support
• Price: $4.29/month

Some say that the support isn’t that great. I never used GoDaddy shared hosting so I can’t tell. I did find a lot of mixed reviews though. You might wanna someone who used GoDaddy before.

3. Nefirms

• Space: 10GB
• Bandwidth: 500GB
• MySQL databases: 1 (100MB)
• Domains allowed: Unlimited
• Concurrent users on database: 7 (not good)
• Types of support: 24/7 Phone & Email support
• Price: $4.95/month

I like these guys. I buy all my domains from them. The support was great. I’m thinking the hosting would be great too. This plan from Netfirms would be only good for a small blog or a static site since its only got 1 database and 7 concurrent users.

4. (mt) MediaTemple

• Space: 100GB
• Bandwidth: 1000GB
• MySQL databases: 1000 (400MB default)
• Domains allowed: 100
• Concurrent users on database: 40 (not bad)
• Types of support: 24/7 Phone, Email & Support ticket
• Price: $20/month

These guys are the pros. Most of the high-traffic sites use them. You’ll be hosted on a bunch of clustered servers. Meaning it can handle traffic spikes well. And about the big storage space and bandwidth. I’m not sure if they oversell. I don’t think they do because its $20/month, right?

5. Mosso

• Space: 50GB
• Bandwidth: 500GB
• MySQL databases: Unlimited (no size limit)
• Domains allowed: Unlimited
• Concurrent users on database: 3000 (fucking awesome!)
• Types of support: 24/7 Phone & Live chat
• Price: $100/month

A big competitor to (mt) MediaTemple. They allow you to resell. They have everything ready for you to resell. Keep in mind that this is not for mass reselling (or for opening your own hosting site). Its good if you would like to sell hosting to your clients or friends. Its just great for a web developer or anyone with a high-traffic forum. Oh and you’ll be on clustered servers just like on (mt).

Yeah there’s the list. Hope this was helpful. See which host will be good for you. And if you know any good shared hosts then please share it with us.

Don’t forget to let us know which host you would choose!

Some hosts are proud of the fact that they oversell. They admit it on their company blog (like HostGator) or site. And they give us a bullshit reason on why they oversell. They say something like how can you expect us to give you 15,000GB dedicated space and bandwidth for just under $10/month, servers cost a lot and we know that no one is going to use all the space. Well that really pisses me off!

Well why the fuck do you need to oversell in the first place? I know its because of competition. But, do they really think that all of us are so dumb that we’ll fall for their “unlimited” space and bandwidth plans.

For example, when I order a pizza I expect to get the whole pizza (not just a few slices). I don’t care how much I payed for it. I don’t care if I only paid $15 for a large pizza. The company set the price and they better give me my whole pizza. I don’t want the pizza guy to come with a few slices and tell me that they knew I wouldn’t eat the whole pizza so they took off a few slices.

Like don’t lie to us. We don’t need 15,000GB of space. A dedicated 10GB is good enough. If you can’t really give us 15,000GB of dedicated space then don’t offer that. Hosts should be honest. Offer us what they can afford to. We’ll choose a transparent host over a lying overseller, any day of the week.

I don’t know who came up with the idea of overselling. Hosting isn’t buffet! At least in buffet they have all the food for us. In the hosting world, they don’t even have that.

What is a “reseller”?

There are 2 types of resellers. I’ll list them below.

1. Reseller plan: You can buy reseller accounts from other hosts for about $10/month (cheapest deal on average) and make your own hosting company. I call them phony hosts and you wanna avoid these guys.
2. Dedicated servers: Now this one’s a better choice. These guys have rented a dedicated server and is actually serious about their business.

Who can become a reseller?

Anyone! Yeah anyone can get his or her hands on a cheap reseller plan. But, dedicated servers would be pretty expensive. So, most of the resellers are using those shitty ass reselling plan which are hosted on an oversold piece of shit server. And what if the reseller oversells? Crap! That would be overselling on an already oversold server. Oh you’re screwed!

You know what’s shocking? People are fucking giving away reseller accounts for free. Just polluting the web (a bit more). You can go on forums like FreeWebspace.net and Digital Point, and you’ll see these free plans. They usually get you to post on their forums to keep the reseller account running (post2host!).

That means kids can start their own hosting site (and a lot of them are). Plus these plans are meant to attract teens (and young adults). No technical knowledge necessary!

I know this 15 year-old guy. He’s the dumbest guy of all time. He couldn’t even install WordPress. I am not even joking. WordPress is idiot-proof! And he couldn’t install that. WTF? Why am I telling this? Well because he bought a reseller account and started his own hosting site. I’m not sure what I should say. Just think! Do you think he can provide you with technical support? Hell no! What are the chances of him closing down his hosting site within a few weeks? A lot!

Should you use a reseller?

Try to avoid them. But, if you really had to choose a reselling company then choose the one with their own dedicated server rather than a cheap reselling plan. These guys are actually serious about the business. They probably hired a few technical support reps. A lot better choice, huh?

HostGator is a reseller. They rented their servers from The Planet. So, you see there are few “big fish” resellers. But, most reselling hosts are run by people with no knowledge on servers, programming, web dev, etc and they don’t plan to stay in the business for too long (fly-by-night hosts!).

I’m hoping this article gave you guys a better view of the reselling hosts. I’ll be writing an article on how to tell if your host is a reseller or not, this week. So, stick around and don’t forget to subscribe!

Well we all know the basics. See how much space and monthly bandwidth you will get. Don’t forget email accounts and databases. You know the usual stuff. So lets move on to the more important ones.

Are they overselling?

Oh please don’t go with a overselling webhost. Chances are you’ll be hosted on a oversold piece of shit if you go with them. So how to tell if they’re overselling or not? Well is it too good too be true? Are they giving you 500GB or 1500GB of space and 100TB bandwidth for just $5? That’s overselling my friend.

And you won’t even need more than 2-10 gigs of space. Trust me. And for bandwidth I would go with like 50-200 gigs (just so it can handle traffic spikes).

Are they a reseller?

Most resellers are fly-by-night hosts. They take your money and they go poof! Say goodbye to your money and files. You don’t want that to happen. And even if they are a reseller check how long they have been in business.

The database size limit

This is very important if you plan to host a forum or a database-based site. I’ve looked around and most big webhosts have about 100MB limit in a shared environment. 100MB should be good enough for a while. Like if your site grows you’ll probably move to a VPS or a dedicated server.

Number of concurrent users on a database

Oh yeah this is 100% geeky thing. Its the number of database connections being made at the same time. This is really, really important if you have a forum (especially if its running on vBulletin). Now the limit ranges from 10-250 depending on the webhost.

Just call the support people and ask them about it. Most hosts don’t have info on it on their site. You might also wanna check their AUP (acceptable usage policy).

Reviews! Good or bad?

I would do a quick Google search and check for some reviews. Now don’t fully make your decision based on the reviews. Some might be fake (like written by a competitor). More important is word of mouth.

Type of support available

Most hosts do have a support number on their site and offer 24/7 email and/or live chat support. But how long do you have to wait till you get help? Here’s the mini checklist for support.

1. Call support and see how long you have to wait till you talk with someone. You might get a host that puts you on the line until you hang up or just take messages.
2. Email support with a few questions. Like concurrent users, database limits, etc. See when you get replied.
3. Yep you got it! Use the handy live chat. See how long do you have to wait till a rep. gets on the chat and see how professional they are (like the replies and stuff).

Big fish or small fish??

I don’t care if some new host is giving an awesome deal, I would always go with a big host with a good reputation. Wondering why? Well you’ll be hosting your files and databases there. How do you know if they follow the privacy policy? How can you be sure that they won’t download your files and databases and make a clone or sell it somewhere? The list can go on and on. But you get my point, right?

Using a big host always makes me feel safe. I’m not saying that something like this is never going to happen on hosts like GoDaddy, MediaTemple, DreamHost, etc. But if it happens then you can at least sue their ass. They won’t just go poof unlike the small fishes.

UPDATE (July 25, 08): I listed down “5 Great Shared Hosting Plans“. Check that out.

I think that’s it. If I’m missing anything then please let me know. Thanks for reading guys! And don’t forget to subscribe to my feeds or via email for more like this.

Okay there is nothing called unlimited space and bandwidth. It is fake! Like the servers can only hold a certain amount of files. Its just to make it look like you’re getting an awesome deal. Okay do you really think that they will buy another server if one of their servers gets filled up with your files? You’re paying like $5-20 per month. A server costs more than that man.

Now this is the surprising part. I can bet that if you use up about 5 gigs of space, they will suspend your account and give you some weird ass reason. Refund? Forget it. In your dreams pal. Those are greedy bastards.

And because of this crazy overselling their servers are going to be super slow. So just be careful next time. Don’t fall for it. Go with hosts that are giving you a reasonable amount of space and bandwidth (ex: 10gb).

First of all, never move your site at the last minute. For example, if your hosting is expiring in 4 weeks then start finding a web host. After you found a good hosting deal. Plan on moving your site 2-3 weeks before your hosting expires.

Time to move

Okay so its time to move your site. Download all the files and/or databases from your old host to your computer. And then upload them to your new host. Make sure that everything is running. If needed bring in a team of highly trained monkeys to do some testing.

Don’t delete the files

Wait! Don’t delete the files and databases on your old host yet. Keep them just the way it is. Okay now go change the nameserver to the new host’s. It should take about 3-10 minutes for the DNS changes to take place.

How to know if you moved?

So how do you know if you have moved successfully? Hard to tell since everything went by smooth. No one knows that you moved. No crazy downtimes! Well if you want to make sure that you moved successfully then put a little HTML fill called “test.html” (and write something like “server move test”) on your new host. And then point to www.mysite.com/test.html. If you can see the file then congrats!

See how easy it is? Now say good bye to downtimes while moving hosts!

Oh and keep the files and databases on your old host for about a week or so. Just incase something goes wrong on the new host, you can then just change the nameserver and no one will notice. Smart, huh?