As mentioned earlier, there are two script library available with Hostmonster services – Fantastico and SimpleScripts. While Fantastico is the better known automated script installer; SimpleScript turned out to be my favorite (just recently) as the installer works extremely simple and fast.

Details on Hostmonster SimpleScripts

As a followup post on my previous SimpleScript related entry, here’s the full list of scripts available in Hostmonster SimpleScripts Library.

With the help of SimpleScripts, installation of all these software is now ultra-easy and you can get it done within seconds!

The php.ini file is an important configuration file of your PHP server. The configuration file is normally not editable to people who open a shared hosting account. However, you can normally see its content with this simple code:

phpinfo();
?>

The settings in php.ini file are very crucial – many website hacks are done by digging loop holes in this file. In case you’re using a custom php.ini file, it’s advised to protect it from being accessed by public.

How you can hide your php.ini file?

To hide your files from the public, all you need to do is to add a simple line in your .htaccess file:

deny from all

Or alternatively, you can redirect the people who’re searching for your php.ini files to 404 error:

RedirectMatch 404 .*php\.ini

Feeling safer by now? You bet!

It’s been 6 months since my Hostmonster review project started. As mentioned before, I’m pretty happy with what I’m getting from Hostmonster except the over-sensitive scam alerts.

Thru out the 6 months, I’d been checking constantly on Hostmonster server uptime, tracking on the website load time as well the server loads. There were a lot of noise when Hostmonster offers unlimited bandwidth/disk storage at the beginning as web owners are worried by the nightmare of overselling.

Fortunately, I am not having any of these problems. The worries of this and that remained as just, well, worries. The server uptime had been respectable; the website load time is a little slow sometime (most probably because I am accessing it accross the globe from Asia) but nothing’s major; and their hosting plan remained top in the industry.

Is Hostmonster still good? The answer is yes, it’s still recommended.

Hostmonster reviews by other websites

Besides telling you my experience with Hostmonster, I would like to share some of the reviews I found from the Internet. One of the best reviews I got is from www.BestHostRating.com where it keep tracks of the Hostmonster’s server uptime 24/7.

For the ease to review, here’s the screen cap of Hostmonster’s uptime at BestHostRating. Notice that the uptime for Hostmonster achieve at least 99.5% thru out the months.

Awards won by Hostmonster

Another positive signs on Hostmonster hosting service is the outrages amount of awards won by Hostmonster.

It took me a while to search around the Internet and here’s the compiled list of Hostmonster’s awards:

• Best Web Hosting Award 2008: WebHostingClue.com
• Best Web Host Award 2008: AlreadyHosting.com
• Best Web Host Award 2008: Top-10-Web-Hosting.com
• Best Web Hosting Award 2006: Web-Hosting-Top.com
• Most Reliable Hosting 2006: Hosting-Review.com
• #2 Overall Best Web Host 2006: Top10WebHosting.com
• #2 Best Rated Web Host 2006: Top-5-Web-Hosting.com
• #2 Rated Best Web Host 2006: Hostcritique.com

Hostmonster: A recommended web hosting service

So again, is Hostmonster good? Hell yeah~ I am seeing good words on Hostmonster everywhere and I’m having good results in testing the web host first hand myself. In case you’re wondering about which host to go with, stop wondering and get Hostmonster now!

Ever heard about ‘Overselling’? Well if you haven’t, there’s a informative website that you should take a look at: No OverSelling Hosts (www.noshosts.com) .

www.noshosts.com is the few websites that are busting the ‘overselling activities’ in web hosting industry. You can learn how to catch an overselling hosting company as well as shop for no-oversell-certified hosting companies.

What’s overselling anyway?

Quoting Wikipedia’s definition ,

Overselling is a term used in the web hosting industry to describe a situation in which a company provides hosting plans that are unsustainable if every one of its customers uses the full extent of services advertised. The term is usually referred to the web space and bandwidth transfer allowance.

This practice usually incurs little ill-effect since most customers do not use any significant portion of their allocated share. If a customer has a small, low-traffic site serving static HTML pages, few resources will be used. If a customer wishes to run a high-traffic, professional, or business website an oversold hosting account can be detrimental. In these cases, a shared hosting provider that does not oversell, a virtual private server or dedicated server is a preferred option.

"Overselling" is always a huge concerns for web hosting shoppers. Overselling allows web hosting companies to operate more efficiently. When done properly, overselling is in fact benefiting the customers with lower hosting costs and extra hosting features.

Some readings around www.noshosts.com:

• All about overselling
• Overselling bandwidth
• List of non-overselling web hosts

Well, it’s not just me recommending Hostmonster. Check out this recent positive feedback by a Hostmonster customer named Jordan Ancel, owner of the TinkerStreet Creative Group, LLC from Los Angeles, CA.

Excellent Value, Excellent Service

"Over the last few years, I have tried a few of the top ten webhosting companies for various clients, and I have found that HOSTMONSTER has provided the best customer service, uptime and features overall. Now they offer unlimited domain hosting, and I have migrated all of my numerous accounts to Hostmonster. They are reliable and their customer service is top-notch. "

- Review made on Sep 26, 2008.

I hope this strengthen your faith with Hostmonster services. In case you haven’t check out their latest hosting promotion, it’s wise to do so quickly as the $150 marketing credit offer could be expiring any soon. To learn more about Hostmonster deal, click here.