Do all internet hosting services suck or what?

[wombat]

I have my website hosted at Laughing Squid, which I admit I chose because I like the name and wanted their logo on my website. BUT, they also make a big deal about how they host a lot of independent artists and creative types etc.

I think if you make a selling point out of that, you ought to make some effort to support people who are not techies. Well, so much not the case:

Yesterday I get an email that they are phasing out my hosting service and will now only have "cloud hosting." And if I want to move to "cloud hosting," the instructions are identical to setting up an entirely new website on an entirely new host. They have no way to move me automatically and offer no assistance whatsover.

Since I have to start over from scratch there is no advantage to staying with them instead of taking my business elsewhere. And I would kind of like to do this because this makes me mad. But, there is also no point in making the effort to choose a new service if they all suck. And in fact, just a few months ago, the Tech Staff's host did the same thing - booted him off onto a new hosting plan which includes an email program that makes me want to punch someone every time I use it.

So the question is: It is too much to expect that I can put up a website and keep it there forever? Or is this just going to happen every five years no matter what service I choose?

[pmcd9]

What the hell is "cloud hosting?"

[wombat]

I know. Sounds so unreliable, right?

[Carlos del Vaca]

I am not sure what cloud hosting is supposed to be.  The concept of "cloud computing" is that rather than having all your apps and docs on your local computer, they sit on a server somewhere (in the "cloud") and you access them on demand.  Think Google Docs vs. Microsoft Office.

Now, when you have someone else host a web site, you... put your files on someone else's server rather than standing one up yourself.  Which sounds a lot like cloud computing to me.  I don't know what they're going to be doing differently.  Maybe they will have a self-replicating failover-proof network of servers, rather than a dedicated server for your site.  Whatever.

Anyhow, I use Fatcow and they've been consistently awesome.  Make sure you put me in as a referral (bigfool.com) cuz I get a free month if anyone signs up.

[pmcd9]

Also, Laughing Squid is the website equivalent of a band that sMets would hate.

[wombat]

Also, Laughing Squid is the website equivalent of a band that sMets would hate.

So true.

Fat Cow is a pretty good name though. Oh wait, isn't there a toad.net?

[wombat]

OK, toad.net doesn't seem to offer hosting...   So Carlos, what makes your service "awesome?" I would pretty much define "awesome" in this case as "I never have to think about it once I have my site set up."

[Carlos del Vaca]

Yeah, that.  Haven't had any noticeable downtime, everything runs fine, they've never lost my shit, when I've contacted their help desk they've been really helpful.

Also, never come close to breaching my bandwidth limits, all the e-mail accounts you could possibly want, tons o' storage.

[fanta]

dreamhost.com is one of the best hosting services in the world in most respects, especially considering how cheap they are.  I use them as both a host and a registrar.