DreamHost
(Back to Home, Host Table) (Visit DreamHost)Server Type(s): FastCGI
Average Rating: 4 / 5 with 2 reviews (Read Reviews - Add Review)
They are great for rails hosting. Dreamhost offers:
- Unlimited domains
- Unlimited Subversion repositories
- Unlimited mySQL databases
- Lots of space and transfer
They also offer Subversion repositories, which are really useful. You can create unlimited repositories.
Everything is relatively easy to use, and there is pretty good documentation via a wiki.
As for the Ruby on Rails part of their hosting - it is decent, but probably not the best for a large production app. They use Apache w/FastCGI. Sometimes the dispatch processes will die, which means your users will get 500 errors or pages will run slow. I haven't noticed this much personally, but others have.
Setting up a Rails app is pretty easy. I was able to get one up and running the first time in about an hour subsequent apps took only 10 minutes or so once I learned some of the tricks.
Overall, I highly recommend DreamHost for smaller-to-medium sized Rails apps.
Note that they charge a setup fee of $50 if you don't pay for at least a year at a time. Using the coupon RAILSSTARTER, you can save $40 off this fee. You can use the same coupon to save even more off a long-term plan as well.
Hosting Coupons/Specials
Code: RAILSHOSTING
Link: http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?320686
Code: SAVEHOSTING50
Link: http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?320686
Hosting Plans
Start plan that will suit most needs. Use RAILSSTARTER to save $40 off the setup fee to make it only $10 setup.
Features:
Plan Type: Shared
Server Type: FastCGI
Storage: 146GB
Transfer: 1460GB /month
Domains: Unlimited
Setup Fee: $49.95
Monthly Fee: $9.95
This plan only really offers more space and transfer - the cheapest plan is usually sufficient. Use RAILSSTARTER to save $40 off the setup fee to make it only $10 setup.
Features:
Plan Type: Shared
Server Type: FastCGI
Storage: 218GB
Transfer: 2180GB /month
Domains: Unlimited
Setup Fee: $49.95
Monthly Fee: $19.95
This plan only really offers more space and transfer - the cheapest plan is usually sufficient. Use RAILSSTARTER to save $40 off the setup fee to make it only $10 setup. $19.95 is the promo price - normal price is $39.95/month.
Features:
Plan Type: Shared
Server Type: FastCGI
Storage: 291GB
Transfer: 2910GB /month
Domains: Unlimited
Setup Fee: $49.95
Monthly Fee: $19.95
Adds VPN access and a unique IP. Use RAILSSTARTER to save $40 off the setup fee to make it only $10 setup.
Features:
Plan Type: Shared
Server Type: FastCGI
Storage: 364GB
Transfer: 3640GB /month
Domains: Unlimited
Setup Fee: $49.95
Monthly Fee: $79.95
Reviews
DreamHost is an awesome all-around host, but probably just a mediocre Rails host. They offer pretty good support (although a few of us have waited days to get accounts setup), lots of cool tools (like SVN), and good prices.
The downside for Rails hosting is the speed. I've been seeing problems with slowness (and others have mentioned it as well) related to fcgi processes dying or being slow to start up.
I think DreamHost is a great development host, but for sites that are to be commercially viable, you are probably better off on a VPS.
The rails hosting is pretty good, the only problems I have had is things I messed up with my code. I chose it because I found this code: DREAMBOOK. It gave me one year of hosting for only $22.40. Which is a great deal. I recommend it to new sites, because you get a free domain name, and a year to decide if your site will sink or float. At the end of the year you can move on.
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