5 Years with Interland – A Detailed Review
Written: Jul 03 '05
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Pros: variety of plans, many help options, Linux or Windows servers, Web Trends statistical reports
Cons: Windows servers not as stable as Linux servers
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line wants its own domain name so that it can display every bottom line ever written.
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| dlstewart's Full Review: Interland |
Five years ago, a wonderful friend gave me a gift. She knew my picture book for children was due for publication, and she decided that I needed my own domain. Since she was using Interland, my friend bought me a domain name and a year’s hosting with Interland. Talk about generous!
What Is Interland?
For those who are unfamiliar with the ways of the internet ... Interland is a website hosting provider. They cater to individuals as well as to small- and medium-sized businesses. They have been in business since 1995.
Interland is not like AOL, Yahoo, or MSN. They don’t offer communities or content such as news services or message boards. Instead, Interland provides space to host a website. To use Interland, one needs a domain name, such as dlstewart.com. A domain name can be purchased through Interland or another source. Consider Interland as an apartment building, and the domain name as an apartment in that building. You pay “rent” to Interland to lease space for your apartment.
Interland Services
Here is a basic list of the services that Interland provides:
* Shared Hosting – multiple websites are hosted on a server; you are sharing server space with others
* Virtual Private Server Hosting – protects your website from others and acts as a dedicated server
* Dedicated Hosting – provides your own dedicated server so that you don’t share space with others
* E-Commerce – Interland offers a package so that you can create a storefront to sell goods on the internet
* Website Services – Interland provides a design team to create your website (or use their do-it-yourself kit) and also provides tools for marketing and promotion of the website
* Become an Interland Partner – Refer people to Interland or become an Interland Reseller to earn money
My Beginnings
I started designing websites before having my own domain name. My first website was hosted on AOL ... a long time ago. I used a simple template-driven program to create it. It wasn’t long before I decided I wanted a unique look.
My next website was created using FrontPage. When my friend gave me my own domain name, she enabled my Interland service to include FrontPage extensions. Having those FrontPage extensions allowed me to simply transfer my existing website to Interland’s server.
During this time, I had become fascinated with creating websites. I learned HTML and delved into other programs such as DreamWeaver, PhotoShop and WS_FTP. I redesigned my entire website, enlarging it as I went along. I switched from FrontPage and no longer needed the FrontPage extensions.
My Years with Interland
My friend who gave me my website space on Interland was, at that time, reselling Interland’s services. That meant she received a discount for using Interland and was able to resell Interland’s services, charging her own fees. Anyone she resold Interland’s services to was required to go through her for troubleshooting ... it was as if she were a company. Interland provided the space and tools, while my friend acted as the technical expertise. (I am not an Interland reseller and do not participate in their referral program.)
She provided me with server space of 150mb, 10gb of monthly transfer and 30 mailboxes. She configured the site so that I could use FrontPage, ODBC (databases) and ASP (Active Server Pages). Some of this was overkill at the time since I had no need for 150mb of storage or 30 e-mail addresses and did not have databases or ASP. However, all of the above was included in the package.
I love having my own domain! It looks more professional to type http://dlstewart.com rather than a long website address beginning with http://hometown/aol.com/username. With all the added website space that Interland offered, I could expand my website from six pages to my current website of 48 pages. My website is loaded with images, too, since I have pages devoted to my quilting and the quilt block clipart images that I create and post.
After my friend’s year of free hosting expired, I paid Interland through her since she was the reseller. Then my friend’s life took other directions, and she stopped reselling website space.
I visited Interland’s website (http://www.interland.com) and explored the various packages available. My friend had initially signed me up for a Windows-based interface, which is necessary if you are using applications that rely on Windows to operate. However, I did not have a database or interactive chat rooms, so I did not need a Windows server. Signing up for a Windows server is more expensive, too. So I phoned Interland and spoke with a service representative regarding the options I found on their website. Using a Linux-based server is not only less expensive, but Linux is a more stable system. So I switched from the Windows server to a Linux server. The plan offered 250mb storage, 10gb monthly transfer and 30 mailboxes as well as other bells ans whistles my previous plan did not include.
A year later, I was exploring the Interland website and saw that prices had dropped. At the time I was paying $16.95 a month for Linux service. Now the price being offered was $11.95 a month. So I phoned Interland and spoke with a representative. He switched my account to the lower-cost plan which included, 500mb storage, 20gb monthly transfer and 30 mailboxes. Switching services required a $29.95 set-up fee, which I negotiated. The service rep said he had to charge the set-up fee, but he would give me two free months as a promotional bonus. I was delighted!
Is There Downtime?
When I first started hosting with Interland, there was a lot of downtime. I would visit my website only to find that lovely blank page with the page-cannot-be-displayed message. At one point I was ready to start ripping out a few head hairs.
I admit that it was cumbersome working through a reseller, even if she was my friend. I always felt like I was impinging on her time by bringing up Interland problems. I would phone or e-mail her, she would then have to contact Interland ... it was a constant back and forth with a lot of waiting for issues to be resolved. There were times I wanted to wade into the situation and speak with Interland myself, even though I knew my friend was handling the problem.
After I switched from a Windows-based server to a Linux server ... I noticed a huge difference in website stability. If I had to choose a percentage, I would say that my website is up about 99% of the time. I have had no complaints from visitors over not being able to access information since the web pages are consistently up and working.
What About Customer Support?
I have spoken with Interland representatives quite a few times regarding either service, technical questions or renegotiating my plan fees. They have always proven knowledgeable and helpful. As a rule, they are prompt in returning my phone calls if I have to leave a message. I’ve been fortunate, though, in being able to reach real people when I need help.
I contacted Interland for help regarding not only my own accounts but for my website design customers. For instance, several of my clients purchased their domain name through Interland and then bought hosting space elsewhere. That meant I needed to contact Interland and have them “point” the domain name toward the host. Interland always quickly performed this service.
Interland’s website offers a variety of ways to contact customer support, too. They have an online Answer Center that provides links to click where one can read about the various services offered by Interland, including troubleshooting solutions. They also have a Demo/Tutorial site with an abundance of how-to information shown in short slide-show clips. There are User Guides to explain how to use the Interland site (you have to be a member and create a password and log-in identity). Interland also offers interactive customer support chat as well as e-mail and a toll-free support phone number.
The Various Plans
I am using the Shared Hosting plan on a Linux server and am paying $11.95 a month. I committed to at least two year’s service, though no contracts were signed. Some of the features include: 500mb storage space, 20gb monthly transfer, dedicated IP address, 30 e-mail mailboxes, 300 aliases, 30 auto-responders, forwarding, browser-based e-mail, POP3 e-mail client capability, virus & spam protection, Microsoft FrontPage server extensions, CGI-BIN directory, form mailer, Perl, PHP 4, Python, Support for VeriSign Payflow SDK v3, tracer-route and ping tools, customizable error messages, MySQL, web control panel, website statistics using Web Trends, FTP access and password protection. There are also a few other bells and whistles.
The plan I signed up for has three tiers of payment depending upon the options selected. For instance, paying monthly would cost $14.95, committing to a year’s service reduces the cost to $13.45 a month, and committing to two years costs $11.95 a month. I pay monthly via credit card. Interland accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. As further protection of your credit card information, they require the three-digit number on the back of the card.
I won’t go into detail on the hosting plans since they frequently change. Even the hosting plan I am currently using has since changed features. Once you sign up for a hosting plan, though, even if the features/benefits change, you retain the features you signed up for. That’s why it’s a good idea to periodically check Interland for their latest pricing/features to see if there is a better deal than the one you may currently have.
Shared Hosting
Cost: $7.95 - $25.45 a month
Consists of either the Value Plan, Business Plan or Advanced Plan. The Value Plan is not intended for E-Commerce or database use.
Virtual Private Server
Cost: $49.95 - $69.96 a month
The choice is either the Standard Plan or the Root Plan. Using the Root Plan gives root access. Neither plan is available with Windows O/S.
Dedicated Hosting
Cost: $299.95 - $1000.00 or more
There are currently five different plans available.
If you don’t know which plan is best for you, Interland provides an online tool for comparing the different plans. It helps to see the features listed side-by-side.
E-mail and Sub Directories
My Interland account allows me the possibility of creating up to 30 e-mail addresses. Interland provides an Administrative Panel to add, edit and delete e-mail addresses and their permissions. For instance, you can specify a space limit for how much mail each address can receive. I don’t use Interland’s e-mail area to access my e-mail. Instead, I set the various e-mail addresses I use so that they forward to Outlook Express. I like the way Outlook works better than Interland’s e-mail interface.
Another feature is that Interland allows me the ability to create subdirectories on my domain. For example, I belong to a non-profit organization that needed a web presence. They did not want a domain name of their own. So I volunteered to design a website and created a subdirectory off of my domain name. The URL of a subdirectory would read as follows (this is not a working link): http://www.domainname.com/subdirectoryname.
Uploading
I use the WS_FTP program to upload website content to Interland. Uploading is easy and fast. Rarely have I had a problem uploading. Since I switched to the Linux server, I have never had uploading difficulty.
After signing up for an Interland account, they send a detailed e-mail regarding your new account information. Included in that e-mail is information regarding E-mail access, FTP access, as well as your FTP username, password, IP address and FTP address. The e-mail also includes the Interland Nameservers (my e-mail included a Primary, Secondary and Tertiary address).
Web Trends – Tracking Website Statistics
One of my favorite features is Web Trends. I have a report e-mailed to me once a week to track the activity on my website. It’s amazing how much information one can glean from this service. The report can be viewed a variety of ways, too (vertical bar graph, stacked graph or pie chart). It includes such information as: successful hits for the entire site, average hits per day, top visitors and top referrers, top geographic regions, top search engines as well as keywords and phrases used in searching, top browsers and spiders that visit the website. This is only a bit of the information this handy tool provides.
Web Trends also helps me keep track of not only website statistics but also unusual activity. For example, I create clipart images for free download. It’s something I enjoy doing, and I have a brief instruction area on each web page explaining how one can save the clipart to their computer hard drive. Still, some people link directly to the images on my website, which uses my bandwidth (the gigabytes I’m allowed to transfer each month as part of my Interland agreement). Web Trends lets me pinpoint unusually heavy activity of visitors. The report does not identify visitors by name, but it does give me the URLs that people visit from. I can play detective and visit those URLs to determine if people are linking directly to the images on my website. If I find enough activity that is draining my bandwidth, I change the name of the graphics people are linking to ... cutting them off, so to speak.
Are There Any Glitches?
As with any server, the answer is yes. In my experience, no server is going to be operational 100% of the time. When I first started with Interland, there was a lot of downtime caused by server problems and who-knows-what. Since I switched to the Linux server, I have encountered much less downtime.
Sometimes the Web Trends report becomes delinquent. The “system” may skip a week or two and then start delivering the reports again. I have always found this a strange situation.
A friend told me that if I opted to use Cold Fusion on an Interland hosted site, that I would most likely run into problems. I have not tried Cold Fusion on Interland so I’m not sure how valid a claim this is ... but I’m passing on the information in case it is important to you.
Over the years, I have read online comments about how terrible Interland customer service is. Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones, but I have had no trouble. Their customer representatives have always proven helpful.
Summary
I hope I have helped you understand Interland a bit more than when you started out. There is much more information on Interland’s website about their plans and services. I hope that my experiences have provided some insight.
During my years with Interland, I have seen their service improve. I plan on staying with them as long as they continue to provide good web hosting. I’m a happy customer!
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Additional Information
Interland Headquarters
303 Peachtree Center Ave., Suite 500
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-260-2477
Tollfree Phone: 877-467-8464
Website: http://www.interland.com
Please read my other reviews:
Toshiba Satellite Notebook Computer
Gateway 500X Desktop Computer
Sony MicroVault 512mb USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Dazzle 6-in-1 Card Reader
Belkin Emergency Battery Backup UPS – 650-SER
Belkin Emergency Battery Backup UPS – 550-AVR
Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical Mouse
Ott True Color Flex-Arm Plus Lamp
LiteOn LVW-5005 DVD Player/Recorder
Concord Eye-Q Digital Camera
Canon PowerShot A400 Digital Camera
Copyright 2005 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
Monthly fees (US$): $11.95
Platform used: Linux
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