I think something is wrong with my hosting (my email or website isn't working right), what should I do

First visit: status.ithought.org to see if any known issues are listed. If everything listed there is in GOOD status and you are still having trouble. Please send me an e-mail!

Why should I host with you?

I have a "real" job in a related industry and work with web application servers all day every day, and my specific job involves keeping things running perfectly 100% of the time and I use these skills and experience to manage my hosting setup. Also, my day job pays me enough so that every single cent I make from hosting things on my own goes back into my hosting setup. Nowhere else will your website be running on the kinds of hardware I have for the price you pay! Most recently, a high performance 8 core xenon web server was added, and as soon as I have the funds for it, a multi-terrabyte storage system is up next.

Most importantly, I do not overcommit. If I don't have the space or CPU for your site to work properly, I will buy more hardware or I won't take you up as a customer. Period!

What services are available?

I provide hosting service on a paid basis. The following services are available:

• Web hosting
  • Apache 2 (weekly offsite file backups)
  • MySQL 5 (nightly on site backups, weekly offsite, highly-available failover)
  • PHP 5 (secured using a per-account fastcgi daemon and APC based caching) I fully support GoPHP5.org.
  • SFTP and SSH access as needed
• Mail Hosting
  • SSL encrypted sending and receiving of email
  • POP3 and IMAP for checking mail
  • Alternate ports for sending mail that work around ISP limitations (AOL, Earthlink, others)
  • Backup mail spool locally for all domains, per-case backup spool in Norway
  • Webmail
  • Spam and Virus filtering

How do I sign up for service?

If you are interested in purchasing services, plese send me an email at ckdake@ckdake.com. Starting rate is $100 a year for web+mail, and this covers most peoples needs. I can handle your domain names for a little bit more, and can work with you for a dedicated server solution if that is something that you need.

How can I pay for my hosting?

You can mail me a check (email me for the address if you need it) or you can use Google Checkout. If you are not on one of the standard plans, email me and I will send you an invoice but the button below should be enough for just about everyone:

What if i miss my hosting payment deadline?

Circumstances vary so if you think you might miss your deadline, please contact me. Payments 1-30 days late will receive no interruption of service buy may carry a 10% late fee. If payment is not received by 30 days after it was due, your website, e-mail, and access may be disabled, and you may be charged a 25% late fee. If payment is not received within 60 days of it's due date, your access may be disabled and all of your information may be removed from our servers at our discretion.

Do I get a discount for referring new customers?

YES! For each yearly hosting customer you refer to me, you receive $10 off your hosting cost for the duration of their account existence. Refer 10 people and your hosting is free! (if you are using the standard hosting plan) If you refer more than that, it just assure that your hosting will be free even if someone decides to cancel their account.

How do I configure my email client?

The name of the server for both sending and receiving is "pudge.ithought.org". You must authenticate to both send and receive using your full email address as your username. Also, check the box to "enable encryption" or "use SSL" in your mail client. If you cannot send email, try using 587 as the port for outgoing email instead of port 25. Many ISPs (including AOL and Earthlink) block outgoing email on port 25 to try and reduce spam.

How can I check my email with a web browser?

Webmail is currently available at https://pudge.ithought.org/roundcubemail/. This should change in the near future, check back here for updates.

How can I change my email password?

For now this is at https://pudge.ithought.org/changeemailpassword.php. This should change in the near future, check back here for updates.

How do I set up my files?

In you home folder on the server are folders for each of your domain names. Inside of them are "htdocs" folders which is the root level folder for that domain name. Any files that you want to be on your website should be inside this folder. All directories should have their permissions be set to 550 and all files should have their's set to 440. If for any reason you have a PHP program that should be able to write to a directory, that directory's permissions should be 750 and any writeable files should be set to 640. (Technical description of what's going on: Apache is running as the apache user which is in your group, so it can access things as your group. However, PHP runs as your user, so anything PHP does will be bound by the permissions of the files as related to you. This adds a bit of security, and if you make sure that none of your files are world or group writeable, if a website on the same server as you is hacked there is no easy way for the hackers to damage your website!) Note: .htaccess files must be readable by your group or your site will not work!