Domain Name Comparisons

steve-hosting36

Hi all,

I'm trying to put together a comparison chart of domain name sellers (among other things) in the Irish market.

So far, it's at http://www.irishhostreview.com/domains.htm

Anyone got anything to add/remove/edit/rant about?

Would such a site be useful as a response (1 line) the the recurring 'where to host' and 'where to register' threads?

All the best!
Stephen

amp

The only thing I'd raise about it, is impartiality.

seamus

That's not bad Steve - do you subsidise the cost of registering against the price of hosting? Either you've got a **** load of business or you've got a seriously good deal going with your telco.

nahdoic

hmm where did u get the prices for the other companies from?

I just clicked the first link I saw and you had it wrong

on cloch.ie they say they charge €49 per year for .ie, and €39 for .com

your site said they charged €69.00 for .ie and €49.00 for .com

nahdoic

what a terribly confusing site, they charge those cheaper prices when you go with their hosting plan. it is still charging $49 for a .ie though.

Can customers register at your site and use a different hosting solution?

dahamsta

What amp said. Will you be stating clearly on the website that you're in the business yourself? Aside from that, it sounds like a good way to start a price war.

Anyone wanna buy a gTLD domain name for €19.94?*

heh

adam

* Dis Offer Must End Soooon

steve-hosting36

Hi all,

Of course we are in the business, all I am doing is listing the prices, and other relevant information.

I am doing this any way as part of our ongoing competetive analysis, and just though it would be useful to put the data in the public domain. I am listing the prices for Domain Registration only, and all prices listed are correct as of yesterday. If they have changed, simply mail or pm me and I will update them.

I plan to list the same breakdown for hosting, colo, etc. I would be more than happy to hand over maintenance to independant third parties (like board members, organisations, etc).

There is no 'review' or judgement made, simply a collation of data,

Stephen

steve-hosting36

Ps:

Quoting from cloch.ie

Prices: .IE Domain registration: €69 per year
.COM, .NET, .ORG domains: €49 per year
all prices exclude VAT @ 21% where applicable

This is from http://www.cloch.ie/namecheck.php

steve-hosting36

Linux Shared Hosting - Done - see : http://www.irishhostreview.com/linux_hosting.htm

buddy

Are ACID Solutions not putting the other hosts to shame!

seating

https://www.register365.ie/whois/whois.cgi


i love your whois stephan :rolleyes:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#
# BW whois
#
# Copyright (c) 1999-2001 William E. Weinman
# [url]http://whois.bw.org/[/url]
#
# Designed to work with the new-mangled whois system introduced 1 Dec 1999.
#
# Under the new domain-name regime the whois system is now distributed 
# amongst the various domain-police^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H registrars, thereby 
# requiring that we make at least two separate requests (to two separate 
# servers) for each whois record. 
#
# This program will first go to the "root" whois server and ask for a record. 
# If found, the root server will tell us where to go get the actual record, and 
# then we go get it. 
#
# This program is free software. You may modify and distribute it under 
# the same terms as perl itself. 
#
# See HISTORY file. 
# Documentation in (man format) whois.1 and (plaintext format) whois.txt
#

use strict;
use IO::Socket;
use Getopt::Long;

my $VERSION = "2.9";

# the location (full path) of your html file for CGI mode
my $htmlfile = "/home/sites/site4/web/whois/whois.html";
my $tld_conf = "/home/sites/site4/web/whois/whois-2.9/tld.conf";

### no need to modify anything below here ### 

my $cgi = $ENV{SCRIPT_NAME} || '';
$cgi = '' if(grep { $_ eq '--nocgi' } @ARGV);

use constant TRUE      => 1;
use constant FALSE     => '';

use subs qw{ _print error message };

my $host = '';
my $quiet = '';
my $verbose = '';
my $help = '';
my $html = '';
my $jpokay = '';
my $_version = '';
my $stripheader = '';
my $makehtml = '';

my $version = $VERSION;
my $_c = $cgi ? '©' : 'Copyright';
my $copyright = "$_c 1999-2001 William E. Weinman";
my $progname = $cgi ? '<a href="http://whois.bw.org/">BW whois</a>' : 'BW whois' ;
my $byline = $cgi ? '<a href="http://whois.bw.org/">Bill Weinman</a>' : 'Bill Weinman ([url]http://whois.bw.org/[/url])';
my $banner = $cgi ? "$progname $version by $byline\n$copyright\n\n" 
  : "$progname $version by $byline\n$copyright\n";

my $RWHOIS_PORT = 4321;
my $WHOIS_PORT = 43;
my $ctype_sent = FALSE;

my $gtlds        = '(com|net|org)';
my $internic     = 'whois.internic.net';
my $default_host = $internic;               # starting point
my $netblk_host  = 'whois.arin.net';        # default host for netblocks
my $portname = FALSE;
my $protoname = 'tcp';
my $link_host = '';

# the text to test against for the end of a header with -s
my $headerstop = q{you agree to abide};

my $outstr = '';
my $q = '';
my $env = $ENV{BW_WHOIS};

++ $|;

BEGIN {
  $E::errno_okay = 0;
  if(eval "require Errno") {
    Errno->import();
    $E::errno_okay = 1;
    }
  }

if($env) {
  $env =~ /stripheader/ and $stripheader = TRUE;
  $env =~ /quiet/ and $quiet = TRUE;
  $env =~ /verbose/ and $verbose = TRUE;
  $env =~ /jpokay/ and $jpokay = TRUE;
  $env =~ /tld(:|=)([^\s,]*)/ and $tld_conf = $2;
  }

if($cgi) { 
  $q = getquery();
  do_cgi();
  exit 0;
  }

else {
  GetOptions(
   "host=s" => \$host, 
   "h=s" => \$host, 
   "port=s" => \$portname, 
   "tld=s" => \$tld_conf,
   "stripheader!" => \$stripheader, 
   "makehtml!" => \$makehtml, 
   "q|quiet!" => \$quiet,
   "v|verbose!" => \$verbose,
   "html!" => \$html,
   "help!" => \$help,
   "jpokay!" => \$jpokay,
   "version!" => \$_version,
   "cgi!" => \$cgi
   ) or usage();

  $cgi = FALSE if $cgi;
  do_commandline(@ARGV);
  exit 0;
  }

sub do_cgi
{
my $domain = $q->{domain} || '';
my $h = '';
my $_ct = 'text/html';

++$stripheader if $q->{stripheader};
++$quiet if $q->{quiet};
++$verbose if $q->{verbose};
++$jpokay if $q->{jpokay};

if($domain) { whois($domain) };

$outstr = $banner . $outstr; 

if($htmlfile and -f $htmlfile) {
  open(HF, "<$htmlfile") or error "cannot open $htmlfile: $!\n";
  while(<HF>) { $h .= $_ }
  close HF;
  }
else { $h = defaulthtml(); }

$h =~ s/\$SELF\$/$cgi/gs;
$h =~ s/\$DOMAIN\$/$domain/gs;
$h =~ s/\$RESULT\$/$outstr/gs;

ctype($_ct);
print $h;
}

sub do_commandline
{
usage() if $help;
version() if $_version;

if($makehtml) { 
  print defaulthtml();
  exit;
  }

usage() unless @_;

# signon
_print $banner unless $quiet;

while(my $domain = shift) { whois($domain) }
}

sub ctype
{
my $ct = shift;
my $nl = "\x0d\x0a";
print "Content-type: $ct$nl$nl" unless $ctype_sent;
$ctype_sent = TRUE;
}

my @rc = ();
my $subrec = '';

# do we need a different default server?
if(!$r_host and ($r_default_host ne $netblk_host) and (lc $domain) =~ /\.([a-z0-9\-]+)$/) {
  $tld = $1;
  if($tld !~ /$gtlds/) {
    my $tld_host = find_tld($domain);
    $r_default_host = $tld_host if $tld_host;
    } 
  }





<html>
<title> BW whois &middot; Online Query </title>

<body>

<h2> <a href="http://whois.bw.org/">BW whois</a> &middot; Online Query </h2>

<p>
<form action="$SELF$" method=post>
Enter a domain name: <br>
<input type=text name=domain value="$DOMAIN$">
<input type=hidden name=stripheader value=1> 
<input type=hidden name=quiet value=1> 
<input type=submit>
</form>

<p><pre>
$RESULT$
</pre></p>
</body>
</html>

<!-- end of example HTML file for BW whois -->
}
}

sub message
{
return if $quiet;
_print @_ if $verbose;
}

sub _print
{
my ($handle, $uri);
my $options = '';
$options .= '&stripheader=1' if $stripheader;
$options .= '&quiet=1' if $quiet;
$options .= '&verbose=1' if $verbose;

if($html or $cgi) {
  # RFC-954 whois servers (e.g. whois.networksolutions.com) require the "!" 
  # to look up handles, while other whois servers (e.g. RIPE) prohibit it. 
  # I search for the double-dash option as that is often used on those servers
  $handle = ($link_host =~ /whois.networksolutions.com/) ? '%21' : '';
  $uri = $cgi || $ENV{SCRIPT_NAME} || 'whois';

  while (@_) { 
    my $_outstr = shift;

    # make a link out of a domain
    $_outstr =~ s!
      \b(
      (?:
        [a-z0-9]
        [a-z0-9-]+
        \.
      )?
      ([a-z-]{2,}\.[a-z]{2}|com|net|org|edu|int|gov|mil)
      )(?=[^a-z-.])
      !<a href="$uri?domain=$1$options">$1</a>!gsxi
       if ($html or $cgi);

    # make a link out of a handle
    $_outstr =~ s|
      \((                    # a handle is in parens ...
        [A-Z]                # ... is all UPPERCASE and starts with a letter
        [A-Z0-9-_]{3,}?)\)   # ... may contain digits, dashes, and underscores
      |(<a href="$uri?domain=$handle$1%40$link_host$options">$1</a>)|gsx
       if ($html or $cgi);

    # make a link out of an IP address
    $_outstr =~ s|
      ([\d]{1,3}\.[\d]{1,3}\.[\d]{1,3}\.[\d+]{1,3})    # only for full ip addresses
      |<a href="$uri?domain=$1%40$netblk_host$options">$1</a>|gsx 
        if ($html or $cgi);

    $outstr .= $_outstr;
    print $_outstr unless $cgi;
    }
  }
else { print @_ }
}

sub error
{
if($cgi) {
  ctype('text/html');
  my $em = ''; while (@_) { $em .= shift }
  print qq{
    <body bgcolor=white><title> BW Whois Error </title>
    <h1> Error </h1> <p> <em> $em </em>
    };
  exit;
  }
else {
  die @_;
  }
}

sub usage
{
print $banner;
print <<USAGE;

usage: whois [options] (<request> | <request>@<host>) [ ... ]

options: 

  --help         Show this screen.

  --version      Show version information and exit. 

  --host <host>  Hostname of the whois server
  -h <host>      this is the same as the <request>@<host> form
                 if not specified will search $default_host
                 for a "Whois Server:" record.

  --port         Specify a different port than the normal whois(43).
  -p

  --quiet        Don't print any extraneous messages. 
  -q             (overrides --verbose)

  --verbose      Print extra messages.
  -v             (ignored if --quiet is used)

  --stripheader  Strip off that silly disclaimer from the 
  -s             whois.networksolutions.com server. You've 
                 read it a thousand times already, right?

  --tld <path>   Full path/file name for tld.conf file. Defaults 
                 to "/etc/tld.conf".

  --nocgi        Prevent CGI mode.

  --makehtml     Display example HTML file. Prints a small 
                 file to STDOUT with the example HTML in it. 
                 Use this to modify to your own taste for CGI 
                 mode. Change \$htmlfile variable as needed. 

Get the latest version of BW Whois here: [url]http://whois.bw.org/[/url]

USAGE
exit;
}

mneylon

I think that the initiative is a very positive one.
A lot of the hosts operating in the Irish market are charging ridiculously high prices and most of them don't even have their servers in Ireland.
Yes - as my sig shows - I've got a vested interest in hosting, but I think it's high time people stopped paying huge amounts of money for rubbishy service offerings.

Steve - the comparison table to date is fine, but server location would be a good thing too ie. is the server in Ireland or not - it ain't clear at the moment.

steve-hosting36

Hi Seating,The correct url is http://www.register365.ie/cgi-bin/whois.cgi

Can you email/pm where you found that link and I will correct it - many thanks - although I don't see the point in posting a free whois script to a board - in full!

Hi blacknight - thanks for the comments - if you scroll to the right, you will see the table includes network provider and server location,

About acid - yes, they do appear to have the lowest prices, but as we all know, price isn;t everything

Best regards,
Stephen

buddy

I was'nt just mentioning the fact that their the cheapest - they seem to offer the same of better on all the other options also - I do understand that they don't offer .ie registration but after that - how can the others possibly justify the hosting prices!

P.S. - I do not work for ACID, but I have used their hosting!

mneylon

There are a lot of factors that affect hosting prices. How many sites are on a server run by Acid?
What's the uptime like?
I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with their hosting, but do you have the answers to these questions?
Do they have full access to the server, or are they relying on somebody else for technical support?
Which version of PHP is installed?
Which version of Perl is running?
Will they install extra modules for you?

The fact that their server(s) aren't in Ireland is also important.

Admittedly beating their offering is hard, but it depends on what kind of sites you want to run.

misterq

Hi blacknight

Why do you consider having your servers inIreland important?

Ronan

mneylon

It has two advantages (from my experience):
1. The connection speed is slightly faster for Irish/European users
2. The timezone difference - if you need technical support and your server is in a different timezone it can be a real pain. I used to use servers in Canada, but when there were technical problems trying to get them fixed was next to impossible, as there were only a few hours in the day when we were in sync.

dahamsta

Hi blacknight,

1. The connection speed is slightly faster for Irish/European users

Usually measured in milliseconds though, if connectivity to the machines is good. I have two machines, one in the UK peered with LINX and one in the US connected directly to backbones through OC-48's. The one is the UK obviously gets better pings from here, but the difference when browsing is negligible. They often outperform Irish servers, because backbones in the UK and the US are far more redundant than in Ireland.

2. The timezone difference - if you need technical support and your server is in a different timezone it can be a real pain. I used to use servers in Canada, but when there were technical problems trying to get them fixed was next to impossible, as there were only a few hours in the day when we were in sync.

Again, this is arguable though, and dependant on the company. My server in the UK is with Host Europe (formerly WebFusion), but I actually get far better support from my host in the US. The last time my US machine when down, it was rebooted almost immediately, and it was a complex issue (bad kernel install). The last time my UK machines went down - a simply boot was required - it took a half hour.

I agree that it would sometimes be preferable to have a machine in, for example, EsatX, but Irish prices make it difficult to offer a fair price to customers, and the customers should always come first. For a small operator like me, who for the most part hosts webdev customers and doesn't wish to put support in the hands of a third-party, being able to host outside Ireland is a boon. The actual difference in speed and support has very little affect in my decision to be honest, cost is the primary factor.

Steve, the reason I suggest that you should make it clear who you are and what you do on the website is that you have a conflict of interest here, no matter how much you play it down. The site's name alone, "hostreview" implies impartiality. I have no problem with you putting this information in the public domain, but in the interests of transparency you should make it quite clear that you are an operator youself.

adam