Very cheap hosts/shared server?

TheAlex · 21 Mar 2013 at 20:34

I read that it's possible to get decent hosting on a shared server for as little as $1 a month, but I haven't found anything.

I only need it to keep an old site online. It has no server side code other than a couple of include files, and I'd want to be able to 301 redirect some pages to my new website. I wouldn't require much bandwidth and it's probably less than 5Mb in total. So something basic is fine.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in anticipation.

Redrum · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:49

I'm not sure what search term you used when you didn't find anything, but try searching for shared hosting and there are at least 2 companies on the first page for me that have basic hosting packages for £1 a month (Planet Hippo and Host Surf UK). I'm not sure if they are any good though.

As it's purely static and you want it cheap, you might want to consider Amazon S3. It's free for the first year and if you're only hosting 5Mb and it's a low traffic site, it will probably only cost 2-3 pence a month after that. They support 301 redirects, but they don't support includes so you'd need to merge the files or use JavaScript includes.

TheAlex · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:11

Thanks, I'm not sure how I didn't see those either. :S It'd be good to hear from anyone who has used any of these cheap services.

I had briefly looked into Amazon S3 but it seemed like it might be complex/more geared towards businesses. I'll take another look.

Redrum · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:35

S3, like with most of the Amazon Web Services' products, is designed to be used for very small projects/personal websites all the way up to large corporations storing hundreds of terrabytes. It's simple, but a little bit confusing when you start because of the weird terminology they use.

But a traditional account on a shared server is probably more appropriate for your use. I only brought it up because it's free.

dmsims · 22 Mar 2013 at 01:35

Why not serve it from where the new site is hosted ?

TheAlex · 22 Mar 2013 at 19:49

Thanks Redrum - I'll probably give S3 a go with it being free to start with.

dmsims - Unfortunately my hosts don't allow more than one domain to be hosted with the same account (unless I pay for reseller), and other hosts I've looked at seem to have the same rule.

andy_mk3 · 22 Mar 2013 at 19:58

Check out Vidahost.

£17 a year plus 10% off with code JUSTASK

Ewaf · 22 Mar 2013 at 20:59

Lol, cheeky affiliate code Andy?

I would go with asmallorange.com, they are pretty good and cheap.

dmsims · 22 Mar 2013 at 21:11

Even the £14.99 a year package at TSOhost allows 2 websites

No cheesy codes from me!

TheAlex · 22 Mar 2013 at 22:42

TSOhost are pretty cheap. Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to transfer to them as I've already coded most of my new site in PHP/MySQL on an Apache server, with a few mods to the htaccess...learning all 3 things as I've gone along (and I'm not a great programmer so it's taken a lot of time). I have more options for the cheapo site now though and TSOhost or Vidahost looks good for the new domain purchase.

andy_mk3 · 22 Mar 2013 at 22:55

Ewaf said:
Lol, cheeky affiliate code Andy?

No. Where did you get that from?

Edit: If it makes you happy: https://www.vidahost.com/page/discount-codes

SkyTerran · 23 Mar 2013 at 21:56

There are many free options, e.g. http://aws.amazon.com/free/ , http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/aspnet/ .

m4rkw7 · 24 Mar 2013 at 16:06

Vidahost...

visibleman · 24 Mar 2013 at 17:50

TheAlex said:
TSOhost are pretty cheap. Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to transfer to them as I've already coded most of my new site in PHP/MySQL on an Apache server, with a few mods to the htaccess...learning all 3 things as I've gone along (and I'm not a great programmer so it's taken a lot of time). I have more options for the cheapo site now though and TSOhost or Vidahost looks good for the new domain purchase.

Although they're superb and cost effective on hosting, i wouldn't be using Tsohost or Vidahost for purchasing domains as they aren't particularly cheap in that area. You'd be better of with 123-reg, namecheap or 1&1 (awful control panel and CS but are one of the cheapest for UK TLDs).

Also, there's nothing stopping you moving your site to Tsohost or Vidahost if you're using a LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) stack.

m4rkw7 · 24 Mar 2013 at 17:52

.co.uks are cheap @ vidahost

dmsims · 24 Mar 2013 at 18:33

I just looked up a .co.uk that I am about to register

For 2 years TSOhost was cheaper than 123-reg

TheAlex · 24 Mar 2013 at 19:30

TSOhost were the cheapest for .com's when I checked. I'd never use 123-reg, I've had nothing but bad experiences with them. Are TSOhost and Vidahost easy to use and good customer service wise?

visibleman · 24 Mar 2013 at 19:43

You're right, over multiple years Tsohost/Vidahost aren't too bad, expensive for single years though and 1&1 are still marginally cheaper all round.

mtalk · 26 Mar 2013 at 09:04

You can even check out Webhost.UK.Net I have already got few small webdevelopment sites hosted on their shared hosting package .. service is really good and support is quick.

You can also take a look at Webhosting UK

jamesfreddie · 26 Mar 2013 at 15:59

I found hosting on ebay for £1 which was unlimited and i have been using it for about 4 months and it seems fine.

I bought my domain from crazydomains which was £2 for a .co.uk

So it works out at £3 a year which i don't think is bad?