Campaign Kickstart

These days you don’t need your own dedicated webserver since there are a bunch of companies that offer full service hosting for just a few dollars per month. Some of the features you can get for under $9.99 / month web hosting:

• SQL/MySQL
• PHP, Perl & CGI
• FTP
• Shell access
• Logfile access
• Frontpage extensions
• Web mail
• Custom error pages
• Subdomains
• Redirects
• Monthly data transfer up to 1 terabyte
• Movable Type license
• SSL key & certificates available
• Site stats
• IP Deny
• RoR (Ruby on Rails)

You WILL want to READ the Terms of Service for your liabilities. For example, some hosts charge as much as $500 to investigate a SPAM complaint from your domain. Protect yourself.

Of primary importance to me is the rate at which I can broadcast emails from my website. The industry standard seems to be about 400 emails-per-hour (E.P.H.), but your demands may surpass what’s allowed. I had been reasonably happy with www.1and1.com until I tried to run an email broadcast and exceeded my server usage. They will scan processes and shut them down if they pose too great a load. Unfortunately I never exceeded what they had put in writing as acceptable limits, so I ended up getting a refund for my webspace. I still like 1and1 and use them for DNS and my email accounts for only $5.95 a year.

Although I’ve attempted to verify the following information, to my surprise some companies don’t really offer all the services they say they do ( <—this host doesn’t really offer ssh, RoR, or 5,000 email accounts; hasn’t since 2004).

Here’s a list of hosting companies who offer SQL/MySQL databases at the very minimum

www.globat.com 3,000 Emails Per Hour (E.P.H.) with the “Bulk Email Agreement.” www.homestead.com 36,000 E.P.H. (MX Server from 9pm-4am PST, w/ advance notice)
www.aplus.net 1,000 E.P.H
www.apollohosting.com 400 E.P.H.
www.siteground.com 400 E.P.H.
www.hostmonster.com
www.dreamhost.com
www.ipowerweb.net
www.totalchoicehosting.com
www.aventurehost.com
www.enhancedhost.com
www.realwebhost.net
www.odsol.com
www.anhosting.com
www.midphase.com
www.bluehost.com
www.2mhost.com* See Note
www.micfo.com
www.glowhost.com
www.godaddy.com Owned by Bob Parsons google Bob Parsons

A BIG list of Hosts who provide Ruby on Rails

* 2mhost.com is one of a few who offer Movable Type licenses. I can’t recommend Movable Type as a blog engine, but if you have to migrate an existing Movable Type website you should know that 2mhost does not allow server-side mailer scripts like mailman, or phplist.