Dreamhost Review
Categories: Uncategorized
Ok, so heres my mini review of Dreamhost.
Dreamhost is definitely not as easy to use as my previous host, alot of features that were provided automatically with hostm.com have to ‘manually’ configured. For instance, hostm.com had a 1-click install feature for blogs and forums. Now dreamhost claims to have a one click install, but it really isn’t one click, dreamhost simply sets up the mySQL database and automatically fills out the database config file, Hostm did everything for you.
However, dreamhost provides alot of power with their hosting. Since you have SSH access to the server you can compile custom versions of PHP, or any other command line application you need. I compiled CSS Optimizer on dreamhost without any problems. Additionally, you can add cron-jobs, set your preferred command line editor, look an man pages; anything you could do on a linux box sitting right next to you. Sweetness.
Dreamhost also provides alot of bandwidth, diskspace, email; all that good stuff you look for in a host. The best part is that each month they increase the bandwidth and diskspace. Along the same lines they have a suggestions section where you can vote for features to be added to your hosting account. Dreamhost asks the customers what they want instead of guessing; I wonder why more companies don’t do this, it makes so much sense.
One of my favorite ‘features’ is dreamhost’s incredible knowledge base and wiki set that contains useful information about the ins and outs of their hosting service. This is very cool, instead of having to email their support team most of the time you can find answers to most of your questions through either the k-base or the wiki, an awesome time saver.
Referrals are another great thing about dreamhost. You get $100 for everybody who signs up with dreamhost using your user id, I dont think many hosts have a good as referral program as that. (if your going to sign up for dreamhost I would very much appreciate it if you signed up using my user id, iloveitaly, as the refferal id)
Overall dreamhost is an awesome host, its lived up the reputation that it has on the web. But, there were a few things I didn’t really like about their hosting:
- If you access your email with an email client (which most computer users do) you have to this cryptic login name.
- Each mysql database must have its own hostname. This is very annoying, if you have 5 mysql databases you must have 5 different hostnames listed in your connection list for your favorite mysql database editor (mine being YourSQL).
- One-click installs aren’t really one-click installs
So, thats my mini review of dreamhost. Hopefully someone who is contemplating using dreamhost will find it useful.
I thought this was a good company. I was with them for a year, under their ‘dream’ deal. When I tried to transfer my domain, it wouldn’t go through. For days I emailed them back in forth (expect to wait a day or more for a response) telling me various incorrect procedures I had to go through, none worked. After for days of this (resulting in the cancelation of the transfer) they came up with a random excuse of a fee I had to pay before they would transfer… so I am stuck – in the meantime my site is down – a total nightmare!
I’ve just signed up with Dreamhost using one of the $97 promo codes, and whilst I can hardly complain at the price I agree absolutely with everything you say. The control panel is horrible and very slow (cPanel is number one for a good reason!) and the MySQL gotcha is plain absurd. It’s a real nuisance to me, as I was planning to host multiple Mediawiki sites with a shared user database, a feature which requires all of the databases to be on the same server! Not only that, as currently configured I’d need to open a stack of phpMyAdmin tabs instead of just one. Crazy.
Yes, mySQL isn’t a pleasure to work with on their server.
However, I believe they are working on fixing this; each month they have improved the service and I believe eventually they will fix this problem.
It is advisable to sign up for the site with one of the many available coupons, which allows you to save money on your first bill. Without doing this, the prices won’t be nearly as attractive. You could for example use the code GIGA777 when signing up to remove the setup fee for all monthly plans, and get 80$ off your first bill for yearly plans.
$30 a year for hosting and a free domain registration (use Promo code ’30AYEAR’) just can’t be beat. Unfortunately they don’t offer Cpanel but their control panel isn’t so bad once you get used to it. They do offer TONS of storage and bandwidth and for such a low price it’s hard to complain.
As far as support I have very quick responses from them and have not noticed any downtime. My site was actaully using too much CPU resources but they were very helpful in moving me to another server, while my previous host just had disabled my account.
They also give a full 97 day guarantee which is a nice comfort even if you are only shelling out $30.
It’s a total nightmare at DH!!! Cheap is nothing compared to the zero uptime I got for my host plan, the servers are always down!!! My mistake to host at DH!!!
I used SUMMEROF87 for a summer deal of $87 off. The uptime has sucked recently and just today the servers crawled to a halt. However, you get what you pay for and these prices can’t be beat, IMHO.