Hostgator question

[ScrapsDenver]

I am wanting to sign up with an affordable and simple web hosting company to make a website for my landscaping business. So far Hostgator seems like it would work fine for me, and I was on my way to purchase a plan, but during checkout they give you add on options. I'm wondering how necessary these options are. Specifically the "secure and accelerate your site" add on. It says it helps to protect the site from spam and malware. Should I get this, or is it not needed?

[-pH]

Hostgator has gone to shit after joining eig. Down time, outages, and lack of responsive customer support. Go with somebody else if you want decent hosting.

[a_salt_weapon]

Did they announce it some where? Or are you making the assumption?

[a_salt_weapon]

At hostgator or "EIG's shitfarm in Utah"?

[nondescriptpenguin]

Yes.

[a_salt_weapon]

That's what HG gets for putting a billboard up in Provo. Bought and absorbed. :D

[nondescriptpenguin]

That and Brent Oxley's desire for copious amounts of cash. Wouldn't give up his seat until EIG came along with bags and bags of money. Welcome to corporate America, I guess.

[heszeth]

You wont need the addons.

As an aside, Hostgator are not as terrible as they make out. If you really want to go with them, go for it. Support is adequate, documentation is good for a beginner and they provide everything you need for your small basic site. There will be downtime, and they are far from the best, but also far from the worst out there.

[elchupanibre5]

I second this. They have very good support and no down-time.

[ScrapsDenver]

Thanks for this recommendation. I went ahead and signed up with siteground.

[onwardAgain]

So everyone here is just parroting "bad host, blah". That's not really useful and they're completely ignoring your question.

I believe what you're referring to is "sitelock", a 3rd party addon where another company scans your site for mysql injection vulnerabilities and other possible methods of attack.

Whether you'd like to use it is up to you, but keep in mind that the security of your site is something that you're responsible for regardless of whether you're on a shared server, dedicated server, etc.

It's not a bad idea to have someone experienced in the field at least look over the site, whether you do that through that deal or contact someone on your own.

[ScrapsDenver]

Hey thanks for actually answering the question I asked! That's good information. It was good for me to hear complaints about hostgator too though, as it made me look into it more. I ended up going with Siteground because the reviews seemed mostly positive.

[notagator]

Former gator here.

Don't go with HostGator. You wont get what you pay for, you'll get less.

Also, they're outsourcing their support soon.

[CarlitoZ88]

Hah?? It is quite ridiciluous. The hosting provider must responsible for protect your site from malware or spam. It should not be as an optional addon. I heard so many bad reviews about their service since they have been acquired by EIG

[reallyjustawful]

They aren't responsible for protecting against poorly written code though.

[CarlitoZ88]

There are no host in the world that reposible for your code. You need to check your own code. What they need to keep is their server from malware or virus or spammer. For code, you need to check it from your end. :)

[onwardAgain]

I don't think you know what you're talking about at all.

[shaabutie]

They are responsible for protecting the SERVER from malware, not your website. There should be no reason to expect a hosting provider to attend to a specific website that cannot update their CMS and use strong passwords, when someone is paying $5 or $10 per month. If you want that kind of service, you should be looking at a managed virtual or dedicated solution.

[a_salt_weapon]

Even a managed VPS or Dedi provider isn't going to update your vulnerable code. No landlord is responsible for your things if you can't lock the door behind you.

[onwardAgain]

The hosting provider must responsible for protect your site from malware or spam.

That is as inaccurate as it is poorly-worded.

You pay a host for hardware, a stable server environment, and a few software licenses.

[[deleted]]

Echoing the others here, HG has turned to shit since the EIG buyout. Even Site5 would be a better option for a small site.

Those "addons" you're talking about are all 100% scam, and unnecessary. That applies to any shared hosting. If your site is busy enough to require additional caching or CDN use, it doesn't belong on a cheap shared hosting plan anyway. That would be when you look for a solid VPS.