[niyogi]

Golly, too many free web hosting companies out there! Especially when they are being run off of reseller accounts or tiny VPSes. My question is:

How do you make sure that the free web hosting company you use won't stab you in the back and close shop one day and take your content with you?

All that being said, there are ways for free hosting companies to operate correctly, be profitable, and provide good customer service all at the same time. However, with many players entering the "industry" with inadequate resources, it just paints a bad overall picture!

Roj

[ephekt]

It is true. Further, I have seen hosts use free hosting as traps to just generate customer information, which is unfortunate.

[sql4umitch]

I would say that you look over their site, find out how long they have been operating, and talk to some existing users about their experiences with the company.

[ephekt]

Yeah, I rely alot on the presentation and support. Those are the two most important features to me. Presentation being the availability of the service. Example: I would never host, even for free, on cogent bandwidth. It's just terrible bandwidth and has some peering issues. I would also expect to have phone support if i am spending money!

[Forumer]

i also think there are too many free hosting companies how are not as good as they say they are.

[icontact]

There are thousands of free hosting account available out there but I think as a serious free hosting provider you need to make sure you deliver exactly as your promise so that worthy clients can distinguish between dodgy providers and those that are serious about their services.

I for one set a very strict criteria when advertising our hosting services. No exceptions. I also dont offer to every tom dick and harry. In the end the benefits are reaped by everyone.

[gryffin]

Originally Posted by ephekt

Example: I would never host, even for free, on cogent bandwidth. It's just terrible bandwidth and has some peering issues.

common misconception, cogent bandwidth is decent for anything but gaming servers or high demand streaming etc.

[SoniqHost.com]

As long as money is going towards internet advertising you'll see a lot more free web hosting.

[talkhost]

Originally Posted by niyogi

Golly, too many free web hosting companies out there! Especially when they are being run off of reseller accounts or tiny VPSes. My question is:

How do you make sure that the free web hosting company you use won't stab you in the back and close shop one day and take your content with you?

All that being said, there are ways for free hosting companies to operate correctly, be profitable, and provide good customer service all at the same time. However, with many players entering the "industry" with inadequate resources, it just paints a bad overall picture!

Roj

Is this a fun post Roj?

You can't even run a paid hosting company properly!!!

varhosting.net springs to mind. A simple search on WHT for varhosting brings up some real interesting results....

[ThaFusion]

Originally Posted by talkhost

You can't even run a paid hosting company properly!!!

Tell me, why do you think running a paid hosting company is easier then running a free hosting company?

Imo it`s the other way around...