Friends keep asking me about registering domain names, setting up hosting and generally running website stuff, and this post collects the links together so I don’t have to keep telling them 
h3. Domain names
I use “123-Reg”:http://www.123-reg.co.uk/affiliate.cgi?id=AF77350 for UK domain names. It has brilliant features in the domain name control panel and a very low price.
For .com/.org/.net registration I use Gandi.net. Originally one of the more eccentric domain registrars (being translated from French to English didn’t help) their site has just been redesigned and now looks fabulous. They aren’t the cheapest domain registration but come under the stricter EU privacy laws, which is why I prefer them to a US registrar.
If you want something distinctive you can get a “.tv domain”:http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1707693-10356519. One of my clients did this because it was the only way they could purchase the domain they wanted.
h3. Hosting
You pays your money, you takes your pick. I’m not going to give an all-out recommendation (if I did now doubt the hosting company’s servers would collapse and my briends would become ex-friends 
I currently host most sites with “DreamHost”:http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?116334. Feature for feature I don’t believe there is any other provider that offers them for such a low price. I can host unlimited domains, they provide over 20GB of disk space and basically “unlimited bandwidth”:http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?116334 - which is very useful for photo galleries! They don’t lack control either - I can install my own PHP binary and most other programs I want (e.g. SVN, Rails, Django). It’s like the freedom of a dedicated server without the cost!
h3. Conclusion
I think that should answer most questions that I’ve been asked so far!
Page Revised 1 August 2006.
4 comments ↓
As far as domains go, I’m generally happy with Joker.
Hosting, johncompanies.com are _excellent_. I’ve never had such good tech support. However, they provide a jail-based system that you have root on, rather than provide any particular services, which means you can compile Apache the way you want, etc.
Not for everybody, but an extremely sweet spot inbetween having your own hardware and having a run-of-the-mill hosting account.
Is it easy to change hosting? what is the cost?
Basil: it’s really easy to change hosting companies. All you have to do is sign up for a new hosting account, move your websites across and then change your DNS settings to point to the new host (usually by changing the nameservers to those supplied by the new host eg Dreamhost).
Best of all, there’s no cost involved, apart from your time spent moving the sites!
You should always separate registrar and hosting provider. Make sure you have direct access to domain settings at your registrar (research which is best for you), then change name servers to point at your hosting provider. This way whatever happens you have controll over your domain!
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