Choosing a Server
We have three server companies we recommend to people; all three are great deals and give you lots of features. Check out the info below to decide which is right for you.
| 1&1 | Dreamhost | MediaTemple | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rates | $3.99/mo | $8.95/mo (with 2yr prepayment) + plus $20 off with our promo code | $20/mo |
| Space | 10 GB Space | 500 GB Space + increases weekly by 2GB | 100 GB Space |
| Bandwidth | 300 GB Transfer | 5000 GB Transfer + increases weekly by 40GB | 1000 GB Transfer |
| Subdomain | 25 subdomains | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| FTP accounts | 1 FTP user | 75 FTP users | 100 FTP users |
| Wordpress, Gallery2, ZenCart | Manual Installation | Automated Installation | Automated Installation |
| Domain Name | 1 free with account | 1 free with account | $5/yr |
| Support | Phone Support | E-mail Support Only | Phone Support |
| Guarantee | 90 day money back guarantee | 97 day money back guarantee | 30 day money back guarantee |
Notes on Traffic and Up-Time
The main difference between the Dreamhost and MediaTemple is uptime. Dreamhost has consistently experienced outages related to hardware issues in the past few years. All server companies have these problems, even Media Temple isn't without it's outages, but with DreamHost these issues seem to crop up more often than with MediaTemple. We'd just suggest that you go with MediaTemple if you can afford the $20/month, if not, Dreamhost is great, you just may see your site go down for a day or two a year unexpectedly.
Another consideration for larger sites is that MediaTemple's servers are designed in a way that they can take large hits of traffic, without causing any interruptions, when a site gets written up in a large publication like the New York Times for instance, the amount of traffic could be too much for you'd want to be able to take on a large influx of traffic without the site. Other perks of MediaTemple include a nicer looking admin area and webmail interface.
Instructions for signing up with MediaTemple
- Go to the Media Temple Home page with this link.
- Click the Grid Server option (first picture on the left)
- Click the Order Now Button on the right
- Input your Domain Name in the box on the left.
- Select whether or not you are registering your domain now.
- Fill in your personal and billing info.
- Send us the two emails they send you and we'll take care of the rest.
Instructions for signing up with Dreamhost
- First, go to the DreamHost signup page (this page will open in it's own window)
- In the section called Choose a payment period: you can choose whichever you want here, but I would suggest at least going with one year so you don't get hit with a setup fee.
- In the section called Now for the upsell: leave everything unchecked. You don't need any of that stuff. They check Google Apps by default, you can uncheck this too unless you want to sign up for it now.
- In the section called Please configure your first hosted domain now... follow the instructions, if you already have a domain you don't need to sign up for a free one now, you can always do that later. If you do need a domain though, you should go ahead and sign up now. Also if you want to do a transfer, you can do that here as well, although it is a bit more complicated and I'd suggest contacting us first.
- For the First FTP/shell username: you can make something up (write it down)
- Then there's some personal info that you will know how to fill out
- In the field that says Promo Code or email of who referred you: it should already say mimoymima, but if it doesn't, you should type it in to get $20 off your order!
- Check I agree to abide by Dreamhost's terms...
- Click the Continue to secure payment button
- Fill out your payment info.
- Shortly after you're all done you should get an email with the info we'll need to get FTP access to the site. If you can just forward us that email we can setup the rest.
Instructions for signing up with 1&1
- Go to the 1&1 signup page. (This window will open in its own window).
- Look at the menu on the left, and click on Linux Hosting under Web Hosting
- Choose the 1&1 Beginner plan
- Leave the box unchecked for the special offer and click Continue
- This will bring you to a screen to pick a domain name. 1&1 will tell you if it is available or taken, and also provide suggestions. Click Check Domain after you've typed one in.
- Make sure the domain you wanted is checked and click Continue.
- The next screen shows Your cart. If everything looks good, click continue.
- Choose your country, then click Continue.
- When you are on the User Data page, make sure to fill in each mandatory field (marked with an asterisk *) then click Continue
