Free webspace?

[Squintz]

I want a some free space so that i can host alot of pictures. Who should i go with? There are so many of them out there now days that i get lost. Basically i want to be able to FTP my files over to the space. I want the free space to have PHP support so that i can run Electrons script which will organize all the images for me.

Electron what is that link again... :huh: I know i have asked you atleast 3 times already but everytime i plan to set this up i get side tracked.

 

[smee]

A while back, I was looking for space as well. I ended up deciding that I was willing to pay for it.

I registered a domain through www.godaddy.com so that I could point people to my own domain and associate email addresses with it, etc. I think that cost $8 for one year.

I looked around for a provider for space for a little while but I got tired of looking. I ended up going with www.hostpc.com. It was $16 for one year. This gives you 300MB of space, 3G of bandwidth (per month), and 25 pop mail accounts (among other things). I think the price for this has gone up to $25 a year.

The combination of my own domain and paying for hosting means I can claim my own identity (it doesn't look like someone elses site) and I don't need to worry about ads or anything similar on the site. The cost per year definitely seems worth it. The worst part was trying to come up with a domain name. I finally gave up and picked anything.

Of course, I still haven't set anything up there. I also requested Electron's PHP script but haven't worked with it yet.

By having my own domain, I can now do things like reference images (www.schworld.com/images/blinds-1.jpg) without needing to point to someone elses page (i.e., either a domain that isn't mine or hiding my page in a frame on someone elses site).

 

[smee]

An update on www.hostpc.com pricing. Apparently, they are having a sale right now:
thread on www.anandtech.com

100MB disk space for $9 a year.
1GB/month bandwidth
5 pop email accounts

The way their pricing works, they claim this price will never go up (you always pay what you paid the first year). So, next year you can renew for the same price (ad infinitum).

 

[JohnBullard]

Most all of the free webhosting disappeared during the dot com bust around 2001 and 2002. I lost a lot of stuff back then when they pulled the plugs on their servers overnight without any notice.

I also pay for my web hosting now.

I now have six domain names, they are cheap!

 

[JohnBullard]

Here's some sites I found that offer free web hosting. I haven't used any of them, so can't offer any advice

http://100free.com

http://fateback.com

http://freesiteforlife.com

http://grasffiti.net

http://100megsfree.com


maybe one of these might serve your needs

 

[Treetop]

Your ISP may offer freespace as well. That's what I've been using to host small files and images. Every ISP is different, so you will have to check with them about how much space, and if PHP is doable.

 

[WayneW]

An update on www.hostpc.com pricing. Apparently, they are having a sale right now:
thread on www.anandtech.com

100MB disk space for $9 a year.
1GB/month bandwidth
5 pop email accounts

Isn't hostpc.com the company that hosts this site? Electron, after the episode that happened a few months ago, do you still endorse them? The search engine didn't get any hits for "hostpc" if it was discussed here previously.

 

[electron]

They indeed host cocoontech.com and many of my other sites. The problem was a bug in the control panel software/billing software, so eventho it wasn't their fault technically, they are responsible for it. The only reason I haven't moved is because I can't find a better deal with the same speeds, I just changed my backup strategy to prevent this kind of problem in the feature. For personal sites I can't see why not to go with them.

 

[smee]

Your ISP may offer freespace as well. That's what I've been using to host small files and images. Every ISP is different, so you will have to check with them about how much space, and if PHP is doable.

My ISP also gives me free space (I think it's 100GB - I know it was much more than most others offered). I decided to go the other route for a number of reasons. Partly, with my own domain and hosting that's not tied to my ISP, I can be pretty flexible about keeping things running even if I change ISPs. One of the appeals of the domain is being able to create new email addresses - and these email addresses will never change (unless I stop paying for the domain and a pop server). And using a host that will allow me to create multiple real pop accounts (instead of just forwarded addresses [1]) is a bonus (ok, technically my ISP will give me 5 and I'm using 2 of those).

[1] As far as forwarded addresses goes, I like the ability to create random email addresses and have them all go to a single "catch-all" account. Then, if I want to they can be sorted into different folders (based on the "to" address) in my mail reader (Thunderbird). This allows me to give "real" addresses to sites that I would normally give yahoo or hotmail addresses to (and I can forget about those webmail accounts).