Free domain servers?

[Jon Danniken]

Hi, I'm looking for an free domain server without ads to park my domain at.
I don't need any search results, and the site itself will be small and use
very little traffic.

Google of course brings up thousands of SEO pages with a variety of free
hosts.

Do you know of a free domain server that you might recommend?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[VanguardLH]

Hi, I'm looking for an free domain server without ads to park my domain at.
I don't need any search results, and the site itself will be small and use
very little traffic.

Google of course brings up thousands of SEO pages with a variety of free
hosts.

Do you know of a free domain server that you might recommend?

Thanks,

Jon

Okay, I'll bite (just a little). "Domain server". Does that mean you
are looking for a free DNS service provider (someone to provide a
nameserver so your web server host can be found with a FQDN instead of
having to use an IP address)? Or does that mean you are looking for
webhosting service (i.e., where your web site is hosted)? If the later,
I would think the webhoster would provide nameserver services with their
webhosting service (although they might charge an initial or setup fee
to update the DNS records to use your own domain name instead of their
own but then there shouldn't be any fees thereafter).

Do you already have a web host for your site?
- If so, are you looking for DNS services for that existing site?
- If not, are you looking for a webhost provider that includes DNS
services?

I can't see how a DNS provider is going to serve ads unless they first
direct visitors to their ad page before letting them get to your site
(that is, by setting their DNS record to point at their interstitial web
page which then navigates to your web server). So I'm guessing you're
really looking for a free webhosting provider and who lets you bring
your domain name to their service.

From just Googling around, I found, for example, a site that ranks
different free webhosting providers:

http://www.free-webhosts.com/webhosting-01.php

I just looked at the top rated one (http://0000free.com/). Besides free
webhosting services, they say "_Free domain hosting_ allows you to host
your own domain, use a free 0sites.net sub-domain; or select a free
domain from .CO.CC or .CZ.CC." with the linked string taking you to
http://0000free.com/free-domain-hosting.html and which says "Remember,
if you are using a free domain or your own domain, you need to point
your domain to use the DNS servers provided in your activation email."
Presumably you already have a registered domain. This means you tell
your registrar to point at this webhoster (the webhoster will give you
the details).

http://0000free.com/hosting.html shows their different plans. The basic
plan only gives you 10GB bandwidth per month. That's isn't much if
you're the type that employs lots of high-quality images splattered all
over your pages or embeds videos in your web pages (however, you might
be able to use Photobucket to offload photos and 10-minute max videos
from your site to their site).

Never heard of 0000free.com before now so I can't give you any info
regarding experience with their service. I had heard of (but never
used) X10hosting that's in this list, too. Since disk space and
bandwidth are unmetered, you might like this one better, especially
since you're not sure how much traffic you will draw and haven't
described the content you intend to deliver from your site. I couldn't
(and didn't waste time to) find info on bringing your own domain to
their free webhosting service. Maybe that's what they call "Addon
Domains" of which they say they'll support 2 of them. Their article at
http://x10hosting.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=28 wasn't clear on
whether or not they provide a nameserver and add a record for your site
that you have with them. X10 doesn't look too bad for free webhosting.
Again, to get your domain used with their service means you need to tell
your registrar to point their record at your webhoster's nameserver to
complete the lookup (unless the webhoster will do that process for you).
Their FAQ at http://x10hosting.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=75 means
they don't themselves provide DNS services and you have to go elsewhere,
like ZoneEdit, yet http://x10hosting.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=26
is the process that I was thinking of where you tell your domain
registrar to point their nameserver at the webhoster's nameserver to
complete the DNS lookup.

 

[Jon Danniken]

"Domain server". Does that mean you
are looking for a free DNS service provider (someone to provide a
nameserver so your web server host can be found with a FQDN instead of
having to use an IP address)? Or does that mean you are looking for
webhosting service (i.e., where your web site is hosted)?

Yes, sorry, I'm looking for a web host.

Jon

 

[SAZ]

Hi, I'm looking for an free domain server without ads to park my domain at.
I don't need any search results, and the site itself will be small and use
very little traffic.

Google of course brings up thousands of SEO pages with a variety of free
hosts.

Do you know of a free domain server that you might recommend?

Thanks,

Jon

Free hosting is free for a reason - ads, excessive downtime or no
support, take your pick.

There are many reputable hosting companies that offer bare bones hosting
for $5/month or less, I suggest you choose one of them.

 

[SAZ]

From just Googling around, I found, for example, a site that ranks
different free webhosting providers:

http://www.free-webhosts.com/webhosting-01.php

I just looked at the top rated one (http://0000free.com/). Besides free
webhosting services, they say "_Free domain hosting_ allows you to host
your own domain, use a free 0sites.net sub-domain; or select a free
domain from .CO.CC or .CZ.CC." with the linked string taking you to
http://0000free.com/free-domain-hosting.html and which says "Remember,
if you are using a free domain or your own domain, you need to point
your domain to use the DNS servers provided in your activation email."

Check out their rules:

http://0000free.com/rules.html

Most are standard, others are extremely limiting.

But like I said in a previous post, free is free for a reason.

 

[Jon Danniken]

Free hosting is free for a reason - ads, excessive downtime or no
support, take your pick.

There are many reputable hosting companies that offer bare bones
hosting for $5/month or less, I suggest you choose one of them.

Well, that's kind of the reason for my question. There are undoubtedly
_some_ free webhosts which are good, I'm just hoping someone might know of
one without me having to vet them until I find it.

Jon

 

[David Segall]

Hi, I'm looking for an free domain server without ads to park my domain at.
I don't need any search results, and the site itself will be small and use
very little traffic.

Google of course brings up thousands of SEO pages with a variety of free
hosts.

Do you know of a free domain server that you might recommend?

I use <http://000webhost.com>. You must make annual visits to your
account and regular (I use daily) access to the web site. If you don't
they will delete it. It is also noticeably slower than paid hosting.

 

[VanguardLH]

(e-mail address removed) says...


Check out their rules:

http://0000free.com/rules.html

None of which prohibit use of this webhoster based solely on the dearth
of requirements established by the OP. I didn't go guessing what other
needs the OP might have now that weren't delineated here or what the OP
might need later.

What I offered matched what the OP said they wanted. However, the OP
stated contrary requirements. First he says he wants to park his domain
and then he claims there will be little traffic to his site. You don't
get traffic to a parked domain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parked_domain
"Domain parking is the registration of an Internet domain name without
using it for services such as e-mail or a website".

Just because you register a domain doesn't mean you actually have to use
it. You can just park it until you later decide to use it somewhere.
This is very similar to squatting where you buy a domain, don't employ a
web site to use that domain, but are waiting to use it later (to sell it
to someone who wants it later).

Most are standard, others are extremely limiting.

But like I said in a previous post,

Which was 6 hours AFTER my post. I got here before you did.

free is free for a reason.

Yep, and why I gave a link showing what the free account doesn't have
that the paid ones do. I also use Avast Free, Paragon Backup & Recovery
2010, FileLocator Lite, and Albasani (and previously Eternal-September)
for Usenet all the while knowing that there are some features missing
from the paid version. I've paid for Office 2000/2002/2003 but that
didn't mean I wanted or needed to use every feature contained in that
software. It had way more than I needed.

Sometimes free stuff has less than I want but often (after doing some
research) I can find free stuff that does enough to satisfy my wants and
sometimes even my needs (since my wants could change and enlarge over
time). If the free stuff does all of what you need then why pay for
more stuff that you won't use? Would you feel smug in getting the
lowest airfare on the same flight and seating area as someone who paid
more, or would you be disappointed that you paid less than someone that
got the same stuff as you? I don't know and haven't met anyone that is
proud that they paid more for the same stuff for which you paid less.

 

[Jon Danniken]

I use <http://000webhost.com>. You must make annual visits to your
account and regular (I use daily) access to the web site. If you don't
they will delete it. It is also noticeably slower than paid hosting.

Hi David, thanks for your post, this is the kind of response I was hoping
for (actual personal experience).

I did drop by 000webhost in my wanderings, and I did notice, as you
mentioned, that they like you to log into the forum regularly to keep your
account active.

Slow I can handle, as my needs are simple; have you experienced much
downtime with your webpage?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Adrienne Boswell]

Hi David, thanks for your post, this is the kind of response I was
hoping for (actual personal experience).

I did drop by 000webhost in my wanderings, and I did notice, as you
mentioned, that they like you to log into the forum regularly to keep
your account active.

Slow I can handle, as my needs are simple; have you experienced much
downtime with your webpage?

Thanks,

Jon

I use 000webhost for beta versions of web sites, and a few low traffic
sites (my son's old preschool for example), and with the exception of a
server going down a few weeks ago, I really have no complaints.

That being said, I would not want to use them for a high traffic site, or
one that is important.

 

[Brian Cryer]

Hi, I'm looking for an free domain server without ads to park my domain
at. I don't need any search results, and the site itself will be small and
use very little traffic.

Google of course brings up thousands of SEO pages with a variety of free
hosts.

Do you know of a free domain server that you might recommend?

Have you looked at whether your ISP provides hosting? Some do, in which case
it is likely to be fairly basic (probably no scripting for instance), but
otherwise fine for most simple sites.

 

[David Segall]

Hi David, thanks for your post, this is the kind of response I was hoping
for (actual personal experience).

I did drop by 000webhost in my wanderings, and I did notice, as you
mentioned, that they like you to log into the forum regularly to keep your
account active.

Slow I can handle, as my needs are simple; have you experienced much
downtime with your webpage?

The short answer is "none" but it is hard to tell. I host three sites
there and monitor them with Montastic <http://montastic.com>. I get a
failure notice for one of them about once a week so you can expect
"downtime" for your site once every three weeks. I am reasonably
confident that the failure is due to a slow response rather than a
total failure of the server. Montastic invariably reports that the
server is OK the next time it checks. The slow response does affect an
FTP upload of a site and I have often had to repeat an upload because
of a timeout in my FTP client.

You are welcome to visit <http://profectus.asia> to check the response
times. There are some megabyte files at
<http://profectus.asia/albums/CHS Reunion 2009/index.html>.

 

[Jon Danniken]

I use 000webhost for beta versions of web sites, and a few low traffic
sites (my son's old preschool for example), and with the exception of
a server going down a few weeks ago, I really have no complaints.

That being said, I would not want to use them for a high traffic
site, or one that is important.

Thanks Adrienne, looks like I'll give them a shot. I also came across a
service called "cloudflare.com" which purports to help in keeping a page
active in the event of a server going down. They have a free account I
might sign up for once I get my page up and running.

Jon

 

[Jon Danniken]

The short answer is "none" but it is hard to tell. I host three sites
there and monitor them with Montastic <http://montastic.com>. I get a
failure notice for one of them about once a week so you can expect
"downtime" for your site once every three weeks. I am reasonably
confident that the failure is due to a slow response rather than a
total failure of the server. Montastic invariably reports that the
server is OK the next time it checks. The slow response does affect an
FTP upload of a site and I have often had to repeat an upload because
of a timeout in my FTP client.

You are welcome to visit <http://profectus.asia> to check the response
times. There are some megabyte files at
<http://profectus.asia/albums/CHS Reunion 2009/index.html>.

Excellent, thanks David. It looks like I'll be giving them a go once I get
my page built.

Jon

 

[Jon Danniken]

Have you looked at whether your ISP provides hosting? Some do, in
which case it is likely to be fairly basic (probably no scripting for
instance), but otherwise fine for most simple sites.

Hi Brian, my ISP does provide personal webpages, but I am looking for a
place to host the webpage for my domain (domain webhost?).

Jon

 

[David Segall]

Hi Brian, my ISP does provide personal webpages, but I am looking for a
place to host the webpage for my domain (domain webhost?).

You can do that by forwarding your domain to your personal page using
a domain name manager. ZoneEdit <http://www.zoneedit.com/> is free and
provides both web and email forwarding. Web forwarding has a
disadvantage in that you have to choose between revealing the real URL
at your ISP or showing the same forwarded URL on every page of your
site.

I have some notes about cheap web hosting at
<http://profectus.com.au/ee_cheapweb.html>.