How we provide our Free cPanel Web Hosting

[Gigalicous]

I just posted this on our blog, I thought there might be some usefull information that others here on FWS could use..

People have asked me many times how we are able to offer the free cpanel web hosting service and stay reliable.

Well I will try to explain as best I can!

Funding the Service.

Lets start with funding the hosting service, To start with I paid for the server myself for almost a year “maybe longer”, As time progressed the service and the website came more popular meaning we started to attract advertisers which helped towards the running cost`s.

As the years pass we attract even more advertisers, Now its reached the stage where stonerocket has become self-sufficient, I no longer have to put any money towards the running cost`s. The site earn`s enough to pay for the server we hire, maintain all scripts/licenses/domains we use and some left over to treat our members with regular domain give aways.

We only pay for what we need, so there is no point having the most expensive and powerfull servers if they will not be used to their capacity and resource levels. (I have seen many other hosting providers go down because they hire more than what is needed and they cannot afford)

Why do you have to post?

Posting on a forum to get free hosting may put a lot of people off from using the service, simply because they do not want to post or like posting. Well heres the reason we do ask you all to make an initial “one time” 10 post`s before you qualify to request free web hosting.

If we had instant activation accounts we would be over run with spammer and warez sites/files using our service which in turn will certainly affect the reliability and performance of the free hosting service. Causing regular downtimes and slowing down the server. Then a lot of users would be complaining, which in turn we would have more support request`s to deal with.

Package Size

We regularly get asked about the package features! Yes we know other providers may offer huge hosting packages running into many GB`s of web space. In 2006 we used to offer 1gb of webspace/10gb Bandwidth, We found that it was not viable and meant massive overselling our service plus it was attracting the wrong types of users “uploading massive illegal files”

So for the last couple of years we now only offer 150mb of webspace which is more than enough for 99% of our users. “If you need lots of space then I would suggest you seek out paid web hosting” As for account features such as mysql we have to limit each account because lots of users setup mysql powered scripts and never actually use them, In basic just wasting resources. And as for limiting parked/addon domains well my question is to you, if you have so many domains why can`t you pay for hosting?

Forum based Support

Another question I have been asked a few times is regarding support! “Why only forum support what about ticket`s and live chat?” My answer to that is: We are a free service, all our staff our volunteers. We cannot be online ourselves 24/7 to answer to tickets, we also have personal lives to lead. most support request`s can be solved quite easily and with forum based support you also have the option off the community helping you out if they know the answer to issues.

I hope you are a little more enlightened on how we provide our free hoting service, thank you for reading. DJB

[pugboy]

Very nice post

There is some good info in there.

[TSO]

Indeed, a good post. Should be stickied, so that those interested in starting a free host can see some of what is involved. It may also be of interest to free hosting users who want to know a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes.

[jutplus]

I am doing the very same thing. In running my free web hosting service, had been also a pain in the pocket. I have explain to the users also very well on why we had a system like this, and fortunately,they understood what we meant.

[myPhpGirl]

this article help me a lot, I am very aprreciated for it. thank you very much.
____________________________________________________________ ________________________
I want to sell my beauty toyota corolla and mercedes benz beacause of serious diabetes, and I lose weight. if you want to buy my beauty toyota corolla and mercedes benz, pls contact me by kaiyure@gmail.com.

[Vincenzo]

Hi,
Thanks for posting your guidline info
Interesting to see that you have disabled sendmail for free accounts - does this have to be server-wide setting??

Best wishes,

- Vince

[Razerst]

Bookmarked.
Thanks for the good post.

[dbbrock1]

This is good post in regards to the point of view from a free hosting provider.

Nowadays everyone wants things for free. Some people get put off by post for hosting but what do you expect? The free hosting provider isnt in the business to get JOY out of being nice by providing a free service

[TSO]

^^ I know some folks who are, actually. They may never grow very large, but they really do care and work hard to provide a quality service - without having to make any money from it.

[[JSH]John]

Nice article. It'll definately be useful for those that are in the free hosting industry.

[david432111]

This is great, mind if I use this on my site? My users are always asking stuff like this.

[Gigalicous]

This is great, mind if I use this on my site? My users are always asking stuff like this.

No problem, feel free to use.

[crosswinds]

Excellent post. As a fellow free host owner I see many of the same issues we face that you run into.

It's amazing that people looking for free hosting always seem to believe that you don't "give enough away" and always want more. Then they'll exploit your services leaving you to foot the bill.

We approach the same issues in a different way (script and heuristics developed over 11 years) but the problems are the same.

Cheers to you!