cheapest web hosts in NZ

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yurt

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#95821 13-Jan-2012 23:05

Looking around for NZ based web hosting, I find this free package from Hosting Direct:

http://www.hd.net.nz/free-web-hosting.html

Anyone use this? How is it managed to be free compared to so many other NZ hosting plans with much less space & typically some $25/mo and up?? What did I miss?

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#568652 13-Jan-2012 23:14

It's a loss leader, they get you as a customer in the hope you upgrade or purchase more services off them in the feature. It's also one less customer for their competitors. Also kind of means you can't really complain if something goes wrong as you aren't really paying anything for it :)

mattwnz

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#568653 13-Jan-2012 23:19

yurt: Looking around for NZ based web hosting, What did I miss?

It's like everything, you get what you pay for. It is like saying you can buy a car for $10k, what makes a car costing 100k any better. For any host, you will want to read and compare all the features with other hosts, the control panel they use, server uptime, the backups they do, and terms and conditions, and find out how good the support is by emailing the host. Best to do it in the weekend after hours, to see how quickly they reply. Much hosting is different if you compare them in depth and it largely depend on what you are using it for.

DonGould

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#568655 13-Jan-2012 23:34

yurt: Looking around for NZ based web hosting, I find this free package from Hosting Direct:

http://www.hd.net.nz/free-web-hosting.html

Anyone use this? How is it managed to be free compared to so many other NZ hosting plans with much less space & typically some $25/mo and up?? What did I miss?

At a quick glance it seems like a good deal for a bit of learning. If you want something to host a basic HTML web site with a few photos/images.

Good way to get to know their control panel, host to set up a domain name, that sort of stuff.

Then when you want to install an application like a CMS (Wordpress, Joomla) all you have to do is upgrade and away you go.

Their 'easy' plan looks cheap enough... how much less would you want to pay?

They say they have Dual Quad Core Server which is cool but means nothing. If they've got 50,000 sites on that then it might be a bit slow, if they've got 2 sites on it then it should be fairly quick, but it doesn't tell you that does it?

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mattwnz

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#568657 13-Jan-2012 23:40

DonGould:
yurt: Looking around for NZ based web hosting, I find this free package from Hosting Direct:

http://www.hd.net.nz/free-web-hosting.html

Anyone use this? How is it managed to be free compared to so many other NZ hosting plans with much less space & typically some $25/mo and up?? What did I miss?

At a quick glance it seems like a good deal for a bit of learning.? If you want something to host a basic HTML web site with a few photos/images.

Good way to get to know their control panel, host to set up a domain name, that sort of stuff.

Then when you want to install an application like a CMS (Wordpress, Joomla) all you have to do is upgrade and away you go.

Their 'easy' plan looks cheap enough... how much less would you want to pay?

They say they have Dual Quad Core Server which is cool but means nothing.? If they've got 50,000 sites on that then it might be a bit slow, if they've got 2 sites on it then it should be fairly quick, but it doesn't tell you that does it?

Yeah server stats are really meaningless. Seeing the load history, uptime stats on the servers, and know how many websites on each server is far more informative.

DonGould

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#568659 13-Jan-2012 23:47

mattwnz: Yeah server stats are really meaningless. Seeing the load history, uptime stats on the servers, and know how many websites on each server is far more informative.

And even all of that can be just about meaning less...

Say I've got 16 core, i7, 256GB (yes GB) XEN server... with 2mbit uplink ... see any problem?

...oh, the VPS you're on has only been allocated 64mb... and suddenly that's not enough to run Wordpress properly...

...or I've got 10,000 sites, but 1 site with 20,000 concurrent users.

...my site was great when I set it up 18 months ago... when the server was new... since then the sales guys have over sold the disks...

...server is running 15k disks in raid1 v's 7k disks in raid5, which one is quicker?

...server has 2tb of Raid1 disk, v's server with 15tb of disk in raid5... which one is quicker?

...we've got a 20tb SAN... and 10Ge lan cards in the servers... oh... did anyone check the PPS on the core router?

I could go on, but most will get the idea...

Really you have to keep tabs on your hosting all the time because it can turn pear shape at any time even if you have your own dedicated server with CIR.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

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mattwnz

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#568663 14-Jan-2012 00:05

DonGould: .my site was great when I set it up 18 months ago... when the server was new... since then the sales guys have over sold the disks...

I think many of the cheap hosts oversell their servers. I mean the other hosts that advertise unlimited diskspace and traffic for $5, which is common,. They are obviously setting up accounts on a server with hardrives with a finite size (eg 1TB diskspace shared across 1000 accounts). They are just relying on most accounts no using their diskspace. Although they often have fineprint saying that that unlimited doesn't mean infinite, and there are restrictions. Well they mean the say thing to me.They are often the hosts who only do weekly backups, rather than daily and weekly ones.

DonGould

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#568668 14-Jan-2012 00:16

mattwnz:They are often the hosts who only do weekly backups, rather than daily and weekly ones.

That is a very good point... that's actually something I didn't see any comment on that link the OP provided.

Also is the database backed up?

What's the restore policy?

Can I do my own backups if I want to?

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yurt

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#568681 14-Jan-2012 01:15

DonGould:
mattwnz:They are often the hosts who only do weekly backups, rather than daily and weekly ones.

That is a very good point... that's actually something I didn't see any comment on that link the OP provided.

Also is the database backed up?

What's the restore policy?

Can I do my own backups if I want to?

It says:
"We backup your web hosting account every 6 hours and keep an archive on-site and off site. Deleted files by accident? We can restore them for you. "

Also says "Please note that NO phone support is provided with the FreeB plan."

So I guess its probably fair enough for a loss leading ''model'. There are a few missing features on the free plan of course to encourage an upgrade but I think the $5 plan is pretty good for NZ based host. Also another one is completehost.co.nz, $2.95/mo. Maybe some are gong to be resellers using the same datacentre somewhere in Auckland?
I agree you get what you pay for but it's good to see some cheaper NZ based hosting finally coming available whereas before many would just host overseas on "oversold" packages, or pay pretty high prices for pretty small space in NZ.

xpd

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#568694 14-Jan-2012 08:51

You get what you pay for.

Ensure they do regular backups.
Ensure theyre not just reselling another hosts services - some do this and the company selling you the service maybe in NZ, but the servers etc are run by HostGator/Dreamohost etc in the US, so the servers arent in NZ.

WHat are you planning on running ? If its something thats not speed critical (ie : you NEED a 10ms ping to your site from home), then Hostgator, Dreamhost etc have good names (Ive been using DH last few years) for approx $15NZD a month - if you visit their site on a US public holiday, you can quite often get a really good deal, such as 1 years hosting for $15NZD (which is what I did for first year).

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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DonGould

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#568726 14-Jan-2012 10:40

yurt:
It says:
"We backup your web hosting account every 6 hours and keep an archive on-site and off site. Deleted files by accident? We can restore them for you. "

Also says "Please note that NO phone support is provided with the FreeB plan."

So I guess its probably fair enough for a loss leading ''model'. There are a few missing features on the free plan of course to encourage an upgrade but I think the $5 plan is pretty good for NZ based host. Also another one is completehost.co.nz, $2.95/mo. Maybe some are gong to be resellers using the same datacentre somewhere in Auckland?
I agree you get what you pay for but it's good to see some cheaper NZ based hosting finally coming available whereas before many would just host overseas on "oversold" packages, or pay pretty high prices for pretty small space in NZ.

Nice, What will it code me to have those restored?

Is there an air break?

$2.95 a month... might have to look at that one next. That's a keen price.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

DonGould

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#568727 14-Jan-2012 10:41

xpd:
Ensure theyre not just reselling another hosts services - some do this and the company selling you the service maybe in NZ, but the servers etc are run by HostGator/Dreamohost etc in the US, so the servers arent in NZ.

Ya that's an important point.

I've got customers who were told their hosting is in New Zealand for me to then find it's not.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

robbyp

1199 posts

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#568745 14-Jan-2012 11:30

yurt:
DonGould:
mattwnz:They are often the hosts who only do weekly backups, rather than daily and weekly ones.

That is a very good point... that's actually something I didn't see any comment on that link the OP provided.

Also is the database backed up?

What's the restore policy?

Can I do my own backups if I want to?

It says:
"We backup your web hosting account every 6 hours and keep an archive on-site and off site. Deleted files by accident? We can restore them for you. "

Also says "Please note that NO phone support is provided with the FreeB plan."

So I guess its probably fair enough for a loss leading ''model'. There are a few missing features on the free plan of course to encourage an upgrade but I think the $5 plan is pretty good for NZ based host. Also another one is completehost.co.nz, $2.95/mo. Maybe some are gong to be resellers using the same datacentre somewhere in Auckland?
I agree you get what you pay for but it's good to see some cheaper NZ based hosting finally coming available whereas before many would just host overseas on "oversold" packages, or pay pretty high prices for pretty small space in NZ.

And what does it cost you for them to restore the files for you. That is where hosts can make money. Some charge over $100 for restoration, while some will do it for dfree.

robbyp

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#568746 14-Jan-2012 11:35

xpd: You get what you pay for.

Ensure they do regular backups.
Ensure theyre not just reselling another hosts services - some do this and the company selling you the service maybe in NZ, but the servers etc are run by HostGator/Dreamohost etc in the US, so the servers arent in NZ.

WHat are you planning on running ? If its something thats not speed critical (ie : you NEED a 10ms ping to your site from home), then Hostgator, Dreamhost etc have good names (Ive been using DH last few years) for approx $15NZD a month - if you visit their site on a US public holiday, you can quite often get a really good deal, such as 1 years hosting for $15NZD (which is what I did for first year).

Pretty sure hostgator only does weekly backups. You are right that there a NZ hosts who are just reselling hostgator. Nothing wrong with that, but you will probably pay more, but the support by a NZ company could be better and more comprehensive.

michaelmurfy

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#568755 14-Jan-2012 12:18

Remember, cheapest is not normally best. Free or cheap hosts will normally make no guarintee of uptime, data security, server security etc and are normally oversold.

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robbyp

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#568758 14-Jan-2012 12:37

michaelmurfy: Remember, cheapest is not normally best. Free or cheap hosts will normally make no guarintee of uptime, data security, server security etc and are normally oversold.

From my experience, CMS websites such as wordpress run pretty slowly on the cheap ones I have used.

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