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besson3c · Aug 2, 2006, 12:05 AM

Thoughtful explanation, I also appreciate that in companies.

My own experience also indicates that mixing and matching hardware within a set cluster is a no-no... in the case of Dreamhost, it looks like they were mixing makes of disks and switches (the latter according to some user comments).

They certainly seem competent overall though, servers don't like having power yanked on them or environmental surroundings (such as temperature) erratic.

turtle777 · Aug 23, 2006, 12:44 PM

I haven't had any problems with Dreamhost in almost two years. Until about 3 months ago.

The past 3 months have been rough. I hope they will get back to their old days of high reliability.

-t

Landos Mustache · Aug 23, 2006, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

I haven't had any problems with Dreamhost in almost two years. Until about 3 months ago.

The past 3 months have been rough. I hope they will get back to their old days of high reliability.

-t

why all of a sudden? Do they have a killer new offer or something?

Eug Wanker · Aug 23, 2006, 02:27 PM

^^^ A bunch of unforeseen events, plus a bunch of stupidities on their part.

It has been fine though for the last few weeks.

turtle777 · Aug 23, 2006, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

why all of a sudden? Do they have a killer new offer or something?

I don't understand your question.
What "why so sudden" ?

Do you mean why do they suddenly have so many issues ?
I dunno. I don't know enough to judge if it's bad luck, bad management or trying to cut corners. In many cases, their explanations seam believable, and there might just have been a ton of unfortunate events...

-t

Eug · Sep 8, 2006, 08:47 PM

I can't access the panel right now, and as you can see, my sig image doesn't work.

IceEnclosure · Sep 9, 2006, 02:13 AM

I'm logged in to my Dreamhost via AFP, and my site is loading fine.

It's 2am Eug, and your sig loaded, but too a while to do so.
(edit: nm, your site is movin' quick)

RGB · Sep 9, 2006, 02:32 AM

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

I'm logged in to my Dreamhost via AFP, and my site is loading fine.

It's 2am Eug, and your sig loaded, but too a while to do so.
(edit: nm, your site is movin' quick)

You know, I never new Dreamhost had afp access. Thanks for pointing that out!

DayLateDon · Sep 9, 2006, 02:36 AM

My email access is spotty. Oddly, Mail seems to connect to about half of my Dreamhost-ed POP accounts in my primary domain, and indicates failed connections on the other half ... but the accounts change almost every time Mail does a check. Outgoing mail queues up for quite a while before finally going out.

According to Dreamhoststatus.com, DH will be leaving everyone twisting in the wind until Monday night.

besson3c · Sep 9, 2006, 07:10 AM

I like their temporary status site... I guess they didn't have a backup ready they could have used or something?

Eug · Sep 9, 2006, 08:14 AM

Working fine now.

paul w · Sep 11, 2006, 12:07 PM

OK this stinks. My site's down yet again - and the timing couldn't be worse as I'm trying to launch a couple new sites...grrr....

So as my billing period ends in about 3 weeks, anyone got any decent competitors to dreamhost that can be counted on for reliability and stability while still be reasonably priced? Just wondering.

Eug · Sep 11, 2006, 12:11 PM

Mine's working fine, but they're supposed to be doing some major updates today. However, it's supposed to be later:

Network downtime MONDAY night! (UPDATED)
Posted 3 days, 17 hours ago (September 7th, 2006 at 3:07 pm PST) by jeremy
We’re rescheduling the network maintenance previously scheduled for 8pm PDT Sunday night (Sep. 10) to 10pm PDT Monday the 11th so that we can perform a more thorough upgrade. We will be taking the network down for some fairly invasive central network upgrades, so most everything will be down for the duration. We’re now expecting downtime to be in the range of 30-45 minutes due to the extra work, but doing things this way will prevent a second or third outage later in the week. During this time everything (web, ftp, email, panel) will be unavailable.

Happy DreamHost Fans-Of-The-Network Team!

P.S. This thread illustrates why DreamHost costs so little.

paul w · Sep 11, 2006, 12:31 PM

Got an email from them saying it's attributed to the Filer problem which hopefully will be resolved with the this evening's maintenance (I'm paraphrasing).

So basically I'm out yet another day. I was patient the last couple times, really I was. But now I'm losing confidence and am looking at other hosts - anyone?

besson3c · Sep 11, 2006, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by paul w

Got an email from them saying it's attributed to the Filer problem which hopefully will be resolved with the this evening's maintenance (I'm paraphrasing).

So basically I'm out yet another day. I was patient the last couple times, really I was. But now I'm losing confidence and am looking at other hosts - anyone?

What do you need in terms of features?

IceEnclosure · Sep 12, 2006, 01:18 AM

Umm, crap.

IceEnclosure · Sep 12, 2006, 01:20 AM

eh, I'll do some laundry for a bit then:

------------------------

Network Maintenance

Posted 1 hour, 7 minutes ago (September 11th, 2006 at 9:03 pm PST) by micah

The planned network maintenance window for tonight is going ahead in approximately one hour (at 10pm PDT). We will be replacing our entire core router with new hardware during that time.

This maintenance window will entail downtime for all services (HTTP, Mail, SSH, Webpanel, etc…) for approximately 30-60 minutes. We are taking steps to minimize the impact of the afteraffects on our servers and we have Admins standing by in the datacenter as well as extra Tech Support staff available for helping you with any problems you might encounter. We ask you to please wait for a network up post here before writing in to support.

besson3c · Sep 12, 2006, 01:52 AM

There are several websites and forums which review hosting company offerings... You guys should think about switching, unless you think that saving a couple of extra dollars by staying with Dreamhost is worth this hassle.

This sounds like utter crap service. There are too many other options available for you to feel stuck with these guys.

It isn't at all unusual for the quality of a company that used to be solid to take a dive like this. Personnel changes, people leave, stuff happens.

IceEnclosure · Sep 12, 2006, 02:14 AM

My site was down for an hour tonight, and hasn't been down since I started this thread more than a month ago when they were having problems.

JoshuaZ · Sep 12, 2006, 10:28 AM

For some reason, every time I glance at this thread, I read it as "Is your Dreamcast down." And every time I have the urge to check my Dreamcast.

This upsets me in so many ways.

Landos Mustache · Sep 12, 2006, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

For some reason, every time I glance at this thread, I read it as "Is your Dreamcast down." And every time I have the urge to check my Dreamcast.

This upsets me in so many ways.

If your dreamcast was down I am sure you would know it as the room would be silent.

JoshuaZ · Sep 12, 2006, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

If your dreamcast was down I am sure you would know it as the room would be silent.

That hurts in all the wrong ways.

Eug · Sep 12, 2006, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

There are several websites and forums which review hosting company offerings... You guys should think about switching, unless you think that saving a couple of extra dollars by staying with Dreamhost is worth this hassle.

This sounds like utter crap service. There are too many other options available for you to feel stuck with these guys.

It isn't at all unusual for the quality of a company that used to be solid to take a dive like this. Personnel changes, people leave, stuff happens.

I'll stick with them for the year, since I paid for the year. Fortunately it was with some deal, and I only paid like 10 bux.

What Landos suggested earlier may be part of the problem - oversold?

besson3c · Sep 12, 2006, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

I'll stick with them for the year, since I paid for the year. Fortunately it was with some deal, and I only paid like 10 bux.

What Landos suggested earlier may be part of the problem - oversold?

It would be interesting to see how their ratings and public perception have been affected as of late.

paul w · Sep 12, 2006, 11:01 PM

I probably won't renew - the last couple months caused a bit too much stress. Also I didn't even use most of the disk space or bandwidth supposedly available, so I'm definitely looking to spend the money on a host that doesn't oversell too much and gives me more reliable uptime and excellent support.

Heck I don't even need much in the way of special features. I'm trying to think if I need anything more than php and mysql...

CharlesS · Sep 12, 2006, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

I'll stick with them for the year, since I paid for the year. Fortunately it was with some deal, and I only paid like 10 bux.

What Landos suggested earlier may be part of the problem - oversold?

They've got to be oversold. The amount of bandwidth they claim to give you is ridiculously huge for the price.

Normally, hosts bank on people not using all their bandwidth. If people started getting close to the huge bandwidth limits Dreamhost gives out, then that would quickly cause them some rather large problems.

Eug · Sep 12, 2006, 11:14 PM

Well, FWIW, the stuff on my site is quite fast... until it goes down completely.

Then it goes back up and it's quite fast... and then it goes down completely.

Or at least that's what it was like for a couple of weeks. Before the recent serious issues, everything was hunky dory... and fast.

I do think they are oversold for what they advertise, but I now wonder if it's more just incompetence than overselling, since as you say, most people never use anywhere close to their advertised bandwidth.

Mastrap · Sep 13, 2006, 06:56 AM

We're still good. There were general mail hiccups yesterday but I am not sure if these were due to a slow and flaky DSL connection. Other services (AIM etc) also had issues, so I am reluctant to blame DH.

Landos Mustache · Sep 13, 2006, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

I'll stick with them for the year, since I paid for the year. Fortunately it was with some deal, and I only paid like 10 bux.

What Landos suggested earlier may be part of the problem - oversold?

See that was my point, for you it is no big deal but if my company site/email kept going down no matter how infrequent I don't care if it only cost me $10 a year as I could lose hundreds/thousands in business. I'd rather pay $75 a year and never have to worry.

paul w · 10:56 AM

There's a reliable web host out there for $75 a year? The $10 you might pay with Dreamhost is only the first year with a promo coupon. Afterwards it's back up to $10 a month or whatever.

Oh yeah, my DH is down again.

Landos Mustache · Sep 13, 2006, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by paul w

There's a reliable web host out there for $75 a year? The $10 you might pay with Dreamhost is only the first year with a promo coupon. Afterwards it's back up to $10 a month or whatever.

I and about 8 of my clients all use www.pair.com and I can't recall it going down for more then a couple hours in the middle of the night perhaps 2-3 times total in the last 7 years.

Eug · Sep 13, 2006, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

See that was my point, for you it is no big deal but if my company site/email kept going down no matter how infrequent I don't care if it only cost me $10 a year as I could lose hundreds/thousands in business. I'd rather pay $75 a year and never have to worry.

Oh I agree completely. However, I figured for this price I couldn't lose, cuz I mainly just host personal stuff on it. I do have some simple work related stuff on there sometimes, but I don't depend on it to make money.

Mind you, I did manage to hit about 50 GB

bandwidth in a month on this supposed personal fun account, when I posted my Vista on the MacBook videos (1, 2). That would have cost me $60 that month if I was on the $10 basic plan with pair.com.

Landos Mustache · Sep 13, 2006, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

Oh I agree completely. However, I figured for this price I couldn't lose, cuz I mainly just host personal stuff on it. I do have some simple work related stuff on there sometimes, but I don't depend on it to make money.

Mind you, I did manage to hit about 50 GB

bandwidth in a month on this supposed personal fun account, when I posted my Vista on the MacBook videos (1, 2). That would have cost me $60 that month if I was on the $10 basic plan with pair.com.

Ya like I said for you it doesn't matter. For hosting large files I just use my own server anyway.

I think anyone who would run a company off dreamhost is nuts though.

Mastrap · Sep 13, 2006, 11:44 AM

I run two companies through DH, with little to no problem. We've been lucky that the recent hiccups have bypassed us almost completely. We use DH as a file server for our support centre which in turn runs on projectpath. No problems to report.

Our agency extranet is also powered by projectpath, again we use DH as a file repository with no issues.

besson3c · Sep 13, 2006, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Ya like I said for you it doesn't matter. For hosting large files I just use my own server anyway.

I think anyone who would run a company off dreamhost is nuts though.

Do you run your own server out of your home? What kind of upload speeds are common up there in Toronto these days? Are with Rogers, or some DSL company?

besson3c · Sep 13, 2006, 11:51 AM

If I were to offer you guys hosting on my dedicated server, would you be at all interested?

Landos Mustache · Sep 13, 2006, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Do you run your own server out of your home? What kind of upload speeds are common up there in Toronto these days? Are with Rogers, or some DSL company?

I bought a mini hooked it up to my TV to use it as an iTunes server. At the same time I set it up so I download torrents on it, serve FTP files, share photos online etc.

My friend set something up that costs $0 so any sub domain I make up such as whatever.bitflydesign.com gets directed to my server.

I use Sympatico DSL which is 3 megs down 85K up for $40 a month.

Eug · Sep 13, 2006, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Do you run your own server out of your home? What kind of upload speeds are common up there in Toronto these days? Are with Rogers, or some DSL company?

I get 700-800 Kbps (100 KB/s) upload speed real-world. There are faster plans, but they cost more.

Originally Posted by besson3c

If I were to offer you guys hosting on my dedicated server, would you be at all interested?

No thanks, unless you run a hosting company.

Landos Mustache · Sep 18, 2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

Mind you, I did manage to hit about 50 GB

bandwidth in a month on this supposed personal fun account, when I posted my Vista on the MacBook videos

Hmm, well, that's why God invented YouTube, Google video or one of the million free file sharing sites.

So is $10 just for the first year? Can you cancel after a year? How much does it go to after that?

Eug · Sep 18, 2006, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Hmm, well, that's why God invented YouTube, Google video or one of the million free file sharing sites.

So is $10 just for the first year? Can you cancel after a year? How much does it go to after that?

I hate both YouTube and Google video.

Yes, you can cancel after the first year. It's $9.95 a month after the first year. Or else if you prepay, it's about $95 a year, but you have to pay for 2 years.

If I went with Pair.com, I'd have to get at least the Advanced option, which is 80 GB bandwidth per month and that would cost me either $17.95 a month, or $164 a year after the discount.

P.S. For you Pair.com types:

Send Us A Postcard -- Get a $5 Credit

Any customer that sends us a postcard between now and September 30, 2006 will receive a $5 credit on their pair Networks Web hosting account. The credits will be posted during the month of October 2006. In order to receive the $5 credit, you must include your name, five or six digit billing account number, login name, and domain name on the postcard. If you're going on vacation this month, be sure to pick up a postcard to send us.

pair Networks, Inc. -- Postcard Special
2403 Sidney Street
Suite 210
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Only one $5 credit will be applied per billing account number. Billing accounts must be open and in good standing in October 2006 in order to recieve the $5 credit.

Landos Mustache · Sep 18, 2006, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

If I went with Pair.com, I'd have to get at least the Advanced option, which is 80 GB bandwidth per month and that would cost me either $17.95 a month, or $164 a year after the discount..[/i]

Why at least? you always plan on hosting giant video's of vista on a Macbook?

You can easily get a $5 plan at pair for your blog and put those video's in whatever form you want on another free site.

Eug · Sep 18, 2006, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Why at least? you always plan on hosting giant video's of vista on a Macbook?

You can easily get a $5 plan at pair for your blog and put those video's in whatever form you want on another free site.

Like I said, I hate those free video sites, including YouTube and Google Video.

The pair.com $5.95 plan is utterly useless. 250 MB storage? Hell, upload a few PDF copies of my presentations, and I've already used half of that.

besson3c · Sep 18, 2006, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

I get 700-800 Kbps (100 KB/s) upload speed real-world. There are faster plans, but they cost more.

No thanks, unless you run a hosting company.

I do run a hosting company:

NetMusician :: web publishing software for musicians

This service is a subset of my overall business. I don't want to focus my attention on competing with the other hosting companies, which is why I haven't advertised it too much. My primary motivation for my post here was to gauge interest as to whether there would be interest in using services of a small provider such as myself who has not devoted resources to attempting to compete with a company like Dreamhost.

turtle777 · Sep 18, 2006, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I do run a hosting company:

NetMusician :: web publishing software for musicians

Can you guarantee better uptimes and service than dreamhost ?

-t

besson3c · Sep 18, 2006, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Can you guarantee better uptimes and service than dreamhost ?

-t

Nobody can "guarantee" anything. I'm a small operation, so my server doesn't have all of the hardware redundancies you'd find in more expensive hardware, but then again there are less users on my server too, so it doesn't have to do as much heavy lifting.

I'm diligent about doing nightly backups, securing the machine, and can offer more personalized service than a company like Dreamhost. In my opinion, the tradeoff one gets when they start dealing with massive hosting companies is a loss of personal service. If one is looking for a place to run a dedicated server, certainly a company that can offer services such as console access and 24/7 monitoring at a reasonable price is a plus. However, for running a website on shared hardware, I think there are advantages to going with the smaller guy who will likely be more interested in going beyond simply setting you up with some open source control panel and leaving everything to you to sort out.

I don't know exactly how to convey this in competition with a company the size of Dreamhost, so I haven't really bothered - left this as a challenge for somebody else. However, if something like what I can offer would be appealing to you, I'd be interesting in hearing from you. I'm not going to get rich out of hosting a few websites, so I will be no means attempt to twist your arm, just mildly curious about the interest level here, to whomever I'm addressing...

Eug Wanker · Sep 18, 2006, 06:25 PM

FWIW, Dreamhost is very quick to respond to emails. They have their problems, but responding to questions isn't one of them IMO.

turtle777 · Sep 18, 2006, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

FWIW, Dreamhost is very quick to respond to emails. They have their problems, but responding to questions isn't one of them IMO.

Agreed.

And in my opinion, compared to what you pay for and get, reliability is still ok.

You could go to some mom-and-pop hoster, pay ten times as much and still end up with a major problem.

-t

Mastrap · Sep 18, 2006, 08:25 PM

Agreed. The one thing DH are good at is personal service. Part of my hosting plan are free callbacks when I've got a problem. This is supposedly only valid in the US but every time I put in a callback request my phone rang within 15 minutes*. I hope they'll solve the current problems, they are by far the best host I've ever had.

*They might just not recognize my area code as being Canadian of course.

EvenGrift · Oct 6, 2006, 05:41 PM

Dream Host is weak sauce now a days. I'm not sure what changed, but they're no longer competitive, too much downtime, too slow and unreliable a network. Not to mention that their customer service lags somewhere behind Stalin, Basically, they're so 2004.

IceEnclosure · Oct 7, 2006, 01:32 AM

You don't post enough for me to wanna listen to ya!