It took a lot of support tickets (and time), but I have got my server and my files back. (phew)

For some reason, the host I am with cancels and deletes files a day or two after missing one payment… And because they work through Burst Net, it takes long… It takes a day to have them bring a server online for you, or to do an upgrade… And if it’s a weekend, of course no one is working…

Support is horrible, never answers the question I ask, and dodges around it. They are also never online. I am probably going to shop around for another VPS, now that I have my files back… I have had enough of hostgigs. Then I will just transfer my files directly from one server to the other.

I will keep everyone posted on this.

If anyone has or is planning to sign up for an account so they can post a comment loaded with links (a.k.a. spam) then I will spam the comment. A small comment with one link is OK, but a comment that has 2+ links could easily be defined as spam.

Trackbacks & Linking are allowed in comments, as long as they do not appear to be “spammy”.

Further more, if I find more than 20% of your comments are spam, your account will be removed.

I am sorry if I remove your account thinking you are a spammer. If you have been wrongfully accused, please do not hesitate to sign up again, and post something that is not “spammy” as your first comment.

Make Money Linking: LinkBucks

I would like to start this article off thanking you for your revenue, as I have more than likely used this service to link you to my post.

LinkBucks is a way for anyone to earn money, simply by providing someone with a link. The process is rather easy, and you can use these links anywhere! Some examples of where you can use these links:

• Forum Posts
• Emails
• Messenger Names
• Messenger Messages
• Comments
• IRC

Example link: http://43f71ab9.linkbucks.com

The process is simple. Once you have created your account, login. When ever you are going to give someone a link anywhere, open LinkBucks, and paste the link in there. Configure the few settings there and generate a link. Give out the link that LinkBucks generated, so that everyone views an ad before viewing your link.

The greatest thing about LinkBucks is that you can cash out your money at any time, and the threshold is $5. You can make $10 and cash it out to buy lunch if you want.

Another good thing about LinkBucks is that you can choose from multiple domains for your link. This is great, because sometimes you want to link to a file download, not a web site.

Arm up with your LinkBucks account, and join some forums. Make comments on other peoples websites with LinkBucks links in them. You are sure to make a bit of extra cash!

Visit: linkreferral.kthxbai2u.com

Okay, this is a somewhat interesting story…

About a week or so ago I was out in my garage, smoking a cigarette. I was just chilling, and I heard this rustle rustle come from behind me where the garbage was. We had maybe 6 bags of garbage because we missed a few weeks. Anyways, so I just go back to chilling and listening to the radio.

Again, I heard this rustle rustle rustle so I turned around to investigate. I started looking around and moving stuff – there is a lot of crap in our garage. All of a sudden I see this big mouse jump up the garbage, onto the couch, and then scurry inside the couch and hide.

So this went on for like a week, and every time I went in there I would open the door and start disturbing stuff. Once in a while, I would pick whatever the mouse was hiding behind, and he would jump out, run around and then hide – this mouse was fast. I almost got him out the door a few times.

One day, I scared the mouse and it ran right up to the door. I didn’t see him go out, so it wasn’t a confirmed win. That mouse pulled some sort of ninja-mouse moves and somehow got back further into the garage… I think he might have climbed up and over the door and raced over the storage area and then hid until I left. The next night, rustle rustle rustle rustle. Damn mouse.

For the past couple days I haven’t heard anything back from that little pest, but I did notice one thing kind of interesting… When I was out for a cigarette last, I noticed that the bottom left corner of the door had the paint scratched off it. The wood was dug in quite a bit. I think that rat did finally leave, and now was coming back and trying to dig his way back in through the door.

I think its because it was warmer in the garage, there was shelter from snow and rain, and it was probably lunching on the garbage – which was why it was so big. I am not sure, but hes gone now!

WebHost: IPage

IPage is a great web host, offering unlimited space and bandwidth for US$3.50/month. IPage actually does have 99.99% up-time, and at such a low price too!

Pro’s:

• Very Cost-Efficient
• Instant Setup
• Unlimited Space/Bandwidth
• Host Unlimited Websites
• Unlimited MySQL Databases
• Live & Ticket Support System
• Custom Control Panel (including billing)
• Reliable, with 99.9% uptime

Con’s:

• Custom Control Panel (takes time to get used to it)
• No more that I can think of right now

IPage differs from the other hosts, mainly because they have created their own control panel. It did take me a while to get used to their control panel – I am a CPanel user – but I did eventually get things set up and working. Sometimes it is hard to find something, but they also have a search tool in their control panel.

IPage has High Performance Load Balanced Servers with a 99.9% up-time guarantee. For the entire time I was hosted with them, their servers never went down.

I would recommend IPage over all of the other unlimited web host’s, just because I had a total of 0 support tickets opened, and their up-time is great! It may take a bit of time to learn how to use their control panel, but I am confident most users would figure it out. Worst case scenario, you just get a refund.

Visit: IPage

WebHost: HostMonster

HostMonster is another of the many discount web hosts, offering unlimted space and bandwidth for a low price. I have not been with HostMonster long. I switched to JustHost and then IPage shortly after.

Pro’s:

• Cost-Efficient
• Instant Setup
• Unlimited Space/Bandwidth
• Host Unlimited Websites
• Unlimited MySQL Databases
• Live & Ticket Support System
• CPanel, Billing, Support, all integrated into one panel

Con’s:

• Limited SSH access
• CPU Throttling

I initially saw the throttling as a good thing, but soon realized it is also a drawback. Throttling is good in a sense that it will throttle other users on the server if they use too much CPU. It is also a drawback though, being if your site uses a lot of CPU, some parts of it may not be displayed correctly/fully. Of course I am assuming when you hit the threshold it stops the process dead in its tracks.

One of the main things I liked about HostMonster is the CPanel. When you log in to it, you will notice that it is modified, with tabs at the top. The tabs link to the billing & support systems and more. This is the first host that got that part right…

Other than the throttling, HostMonster is another well established web host, with a great deal and superb support!

Visit: HostMonster

Well, I am glad to say I have finally kicked HostHi to the curb. I gave them WAY too many chances. In the end, I get only what hasn’t been used for a refund. No compensation at all for the 40-60% downtime… I don’t care though, as long as I at least get the unused portion back I am somewhat satisfied.

I am now happily residing on a HostMonster server. I don’t want to spoil the upcoming review, but HostMonster is comparable to HostGator. I will break down the slight differences in the review – possibly up to a month away.

I have ran into the problem many times of Windows (or me) wiping out the Grub boot loader. After some searching, I found how to re-install Grub and get it working again, so you don’t have to go through another linux install just to fix it. Of course, this is providing your partitions still exist!

Follow each step with caution, super user priveleges required:

1. Boot off of a live CD
2. Open partition editor (press ALT + F2, type in “sudo gparted”), and find the partition (Ex. hda1) that is usually mounted as “/” (root).
3. Press CTRL + F1 to get to a shell, log in
4. Assuming you are smart and logged in as a regular user, type in “sudo grub” and enter your super user password.
5. If your root partition is hda1, Inside of the Grub prompt, type the following lines: root(hd0,0)
setup(hd0)
quit

If your partition is on a different hard drive (Ex. hdb1) then you would change root(hd0,0) to root(hd1,0) and setup(hd0) becomes setup(hd1). If your root resides on the same physical drive, but it is not hda1, (Ex. hda5) then you would change root(hd0,0) to root(hd0,4). Note the use of 0 base counting.

After typing Quit, reboot your computer by typing sudo reboot, and your Grub boot loader should work! If not, post back here for help, or just run through another install

WebHost: HostGator

HostGator is so far the best value for cost hosting I have found so far, and the support is great! I wish it were cheaper, but at $7.95, you can’t complain! Keep reading for some HostGator coupons – You can get your first month for $0.01, or 20% off your initial order!

Pro’s:

• Cost-Efficient
• Instant Setup
• Unlimited Space/Bandwidth
• Host Unlimited Websites
• Unlimited MySQL Databases
• Live & Ticket Support System (will even respond at 2am EST)

Con’s:

• Limited SSH access
• It could cost less than $7.95
• They could offer Canadian pricing
• Support answers almost instantly, so I have to refresh my browser window
• Not much to complain about, which is a con itself

HostGator is my favourite “Unlimited Everything” web host so far. It was my first, before HostHi. HostGator is a very well run company. You definately get what you pay for.

Whenever I had a problem, I would either get it resolved right away with live support, or from the ticket system. Usually ticket systems take a day or so to respond, but HostGator seems to respond right away all hours of the night! I only had 1 problem though, and I can’t even remember what it was! I think it was more of a question.

How to get a discount:

To get 20% off: Go to the site, select a package & term, and go through the payment processor. It should automatically add in the coupon code when you go through the processor, but if not, the code is “SNOWMAN” – This is recommended on 12 month+ terms

or

To get your first month for 1 cent: Go to the site, select a package & term, and go through the payment processor. It should ask for a coupon code, and it might pre-populate that field. Decide whether the current offer saves you more or not. If not, then erase the code that is in that box and put in “hgc25″ – This is recommended on monthly terms

Visit: HostGator

WebHost: HostHi

HostHi is the cheapest “Unlimited Everything” webhost I have found. Although their monthly fee is very attractive, I have found that you pay for it elsewhere. HostHi is by far the WORST web host on the internet to date.

Pro’s:

• Cheap
• Free Domain
• Instant Setup
• Unlimited Space/Bandwidth
• Host Unlimited Websites
• Unlimited MySQL Databases
• Live & Ticket Support System (during business hours)

Con’s:

• Support is HORRIBLE (see review below)
• Takes at least 24 Hours to get a single reply with support ticket system
• Sites break multiple times in one month
• Server’s don’t seem to have 99.9% uptime
• I lost one client because they kept breaking their site

I am currently with HostHi for my web hosting. I have around 3 domains that I actually maintain, hosted on their servers. kthxbai2u.com is one of them.

From day one, I have had nothing but troubles. It all started out with my control panel showing a limit on bandwidth, space, and MySQL accounts. It took a day or so to finally resolve this.

After that problem, I found the servers going down frequently (once per week, for 1-7 days). I would create a ticket and it would take at least one day for them to finally fix it.

Then all of the sudden, one or more of my domains would start pointing to Google. This happened almost 10 times in one month. Each time taking at least a day to get a response from support. It sometimes took a week to fix, because of the slow responses, and them thinking it was my problem.

Another problem that happened several times, was that their name-servers would start pointing my websites to a default CPanel / WHM page – you know, the one that you see before setting up your site.

The service & support is so horrible, and child-like, it seems like their data center is in a basement with network cables laying across the floor. In fact it must be worse than that, because my home network has more up-time than their servers. It also seems like a crack pipe is standard issue for all support agents. Honestly, you ask them one thing and get a completely unrelated response.

The reason I lost my client was because their site was getting thousands of hits, and then all of the sudden their site was offline and/or pointing to google for a month or two. It went from thousands of hits to a dead 0 in a matter of seconds. The owner finally got sick of it and took their business elsewhere.

If you still however see HostHi as being attractive, you may give them a try… But when they fail you, I ask you come check out one of the other web-host reviews. Keep in mind they have an “Anytime Money Back Guarantee”.

Visit: HostHi