Update, 4/26/07: I can’t, in good conscience, recommend Sustainable Websites, even with its claim to green. Here’s why.
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If you run a green blog, you’re likely to want a green web host! I made the switch to a green host back in November 2006, and totally forgot to write about it, but the Worsted Witch’s recent trouble with trying to switch hosts reminded me –
green LA girl is proudly hosted by Sustainable Websites, thanks to Ivan, who helped me move everything over and gave me a nice discount to boot. Since the switch, things’ve been running quite smoothly –
That said, the initial transfer was rather stressful — not due to mistakes on Sustainable Websites’ part, but because I wasn’t prepared for what to expect. Because Bluehost, my old host, made it so easy to get things up and running by bundling all the processes together, I wasn’t prepared for the more difficult task of switching hosts. Here’s the 3-day story of the switch:
It started easy. On the morning of Nov. 20, I signed up for Sustainable Websites online, then gave Ivan access to my Bluehost stuff so he could transfer the site over. That process took over a day — during which Ivan kindly sent me email updates, like “we ran into a small glitch because of some special configuration that bluehost has on their cpanel but should be able to resolve it soon.” Fair ’nuff.
Once the transfer was done on Nov. 21, Ivan asked me to tell Bluehost to switch the nameservers over to my new host. I had no idea what nameservers are, but after an email to Bluehost, I figured out how to change ‘em over. Cool.
But what I didn’t know was the fact that switching nameservers doesn’t happen instantaneously. In fact, it seemed that no one — except maybe Bluehost — had much control over this part. And I was REALLY unprepared for this news and instruction: “Please hold off on blogging until the nameservers have changed over, sorry. This should happen pretty soon, assuming bluehost can make the changes ASAP.”
During this waiting time, Ivan helped me transfer my domain name away from Bluehost. A necessary task, but again, one I didn’t know I’d need to do separately, because Bluehost had bundled everything together for me. The nameservers finally changed over around 4 pm on Nov. 22, so I could start blogging again.
My guess is that transferring to any other host would’ve been about as stressful — which is why staying with one’s old host is always very tempting, since all you have to do is hit renew. However, if I had known at the getgo the steps involved and the time it would take, I would not have thought of this as a stressful procedure.
If I were a host, I would let the would-be-hostee know at the beginning of the process that there’ll be 3 steps: 1) transferring the site, 2) switching nameservers, and 3) transferring the domain name, which usually takes around 3 (or whatever is typical) days to complete, during which time the site cannot be updated. Given that info, I would’ve simply put up a post telling readers that the switch is happening, then relaxed for a couple days.
I think the switch is v. much worth making — I just want readers to know what to expect from the process. Post-switch, I’m v. happy. My web hosting’s cabon neutral, and green LA girl’s has less downtime than it had with Bluehost.
Want to make the switch yourself? Sign up here, and use the coupon code greenlagirl, which’ll give you a 10% off one time discount.
Update, 4/26/07: I can’t, in good conscience, recommend Sustainable Websites, even with its claim to green. Here’s why.
I was grievously dissatisfied with Thinkhost’s data migration process, which took far longer than the prescribed 72 hours originally quoted. If they had been more organized, transparent, and _clear_, I would have had more confidence in the process and no reason to complain or remove my business.
The challenges involved in monitoring the transfer, staying abreast of its progress, and understanding when everything was all clear was so time-consuming that the change became unworthwhile. On top of that, many images were not in working order.
I won’t go as far as to say Thinkhost sucks, but I think hosts need not to assume that their customers understand what’s involved with data migration or domain transfers (and how long it takes) because if we did, we could have done it ourselves.
Comment by Jasmin — February 27, 2007 @ 6:44 am
If I had known the hassle involved I would not have tried to switch web hosting either. My site has been down almost a month and I’m requesting to go back to original host just to get the site back online. :(
Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s frustrated. I was starting to feel like a computer idiot and my full time job is providing online support for a website.
Comment by Kristen — February 27, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Siel, how did you choose SustainableWebsites? I’ve been thinking about switching to a new host for a long time, but had never seen one of the green hosting services even come close to the package I currently have (I use some extended geek features for generating dynamic pages and such, also need multiple domains because I have multiple sites) for the price I currently pay. Though now that I look at sustainablewebsites and thinkhost, it seems that their offerings have gotten much more competitive. I guess I’m curious how you picked one over the other? And as far as Jasmine having problems, was it simply that thinkhost was bad in general, or just that their support was subpar. I’m curious because I’m wondering if my being a computer geek would help me avoid those problems, or if it’s just that they’re not ready for prime time.
Comment by Russ — February 27, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
It looks like from sustainablewebsites that they purchase energy offsets, and there’s nothing especially green about their hardware or installation. That being the case, it seems that one could just as easily go that route without the green hosting option.
Comment by don hosek — February 27, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
Russ, I was just kind of floundering…not sure what was going on. If you’re a major geek, you might be able to cope better :)
Comment by Jasmin — February 28, 2007 @ 1:32 pm
Our company, AISO (http://www.aiso.net) is solar powered, both our servers and data center are powered by onsite solar panels. And we also have a partnership with Co-Op America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Green Building Council. Plus, we are doing more then just making sure our electricity is green. Our data center and office is green too by using environmentally friendly, low energy air conditioners, solar tubes to bring in natural light, a propane powered generator instead of diesel, VMWare virtualization to reduce our server electricity usage, 6 watt energy saving desktops computers for our employees, and soon to be LEED certified as a green data center, the only public one in North America. I would recommend if you have a green based site or any web site to try us out and you will never switch again.
Comment by AISO — March 29, 2007 @ 9:50 am