[-=m0n1k3r=-]

I've often considered buying a domain for a website, and I've also considered just setting up my own server and hosting websites myself.

What are my best options as a customer, and who would be the major competition for a web hosting company?

I know there are names that get thrown around a lot such as godaddy.com, but better advertising doesn't necessarily mean better choice. If you host websites or if there's a company you would recommend to me & other users please respond to this post. Or if you think running it myself would be the better choice, either way I just want to know what the majority of you have to say about it.

Ah... the joys of posting on a forum, you never have to make a decision again

[Lemur]

You still have to make decisions, that's rather ignorant to think otherwise. Google top web hosts and several top lists will come up. Personally I use HostMonster but it's up to you as to which one you use.

[-=m0n1k3r=-]

For clarification purposes, I wasn't literally meaning that I base all (or any) of my decisions on post replies.

[Skaggles]

I've been using Dreamhost for over a year now, and I haven't had any problems yet. They also support my Rails applications, so I'm happy.

[williamgeorgegardner]

I would have to say GoDaddy especially because the customer support is excellent and most of the time the will fix your problems whilst you are on the phone plus it is good value and services.

[anonymouscodder]

I heard good things about Media Temple.

[happycamper]

I use hostmonster.

I was scared off from godaddy and their advertising campaign frankly makes me not want to go with them.

[shootdatarget]

For webhosting i would to recommend sharkspace.com while for daomain name is name.com

[PsychoCoder]

I personally use ASPnix for my hosting, and have for over 3 years now and get great service from them. Unless you have a static IP and great knowledge of server configuration and security I suggest going with a host rather than trying to do it yourself (just my 2¢ there).

As for a domain name that is really something you should come up with, and think long and hard before buying it so you're not stuck with something you really dont want. GoDaddy is my registrar (and has been from the beginning), I currently have 9 domains through them (but dont use them for hosting).

Hope that gives you some ideas to get you down the right path

[girasquid]

I tend to use a mixture of Slicehost, Linode, and Rackspace Cloud Servers for hosting, and GoDaddy for all of my domain names.

They're all VPS based hosting options, and Slicehost and Cloud Servers are essentially the same (as Rackspace owns both of them) - but support is top-notch on all three, and being able to tweak my server to be just how I want it is great.

[Camy]

You should look for a web hosting company that offers programming environments like Java/PHP/Ruby/Phyton, having also web servers like Tomcat/ GlassFish/ JBoss. I would recommend you to try eApps Hosting

Some of the basic features are root level access over your VPS, friendly control panel to help you set-up and maintain sites/emails/applications and technical support on phone/chat/email 24/7