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DreamHost is notable for being unusually transparent about its business practices, with staff contributing to a popular blog.<ref></ref><ref> showing site ranking of DreamHost's blog</ref> A disastrous power outage incident<ref></ref> in August of 2006 led to a frank account of what happened by Josh Jones that set a particular tone for the future. It was followed by the creation of a status site dedicated to detailing server maintenance and outages.<ref></ref><ref></ref> DreamHost is notable for being unusually transparent about its business practices, with staff contributing to a popular blog.<ref></ref><ref> showing site ranking of DreamHost's blog</ref> A disastrous power outage incident<ref></ref> in August of 2006 led to a frank account of what happened by Josh Jones that set a particular tone for the future. It was followed by the creation of a status site dedicated to detailing server maintenance and outages.<ref></ref><ref></ref>



==Coverage of Support Woes in the Media==
On June 6, 2007 <ref></ref> ] reported on the diffficulties experienced by DreamHost customers in getting acceptable levels of service and customer support witnessed by many and firsthand by a colleague.


==2007 Security issue== ==2007 Security issue==

Revision as of 12:25, 28 August 2007

DreamHost
File:DreamHost Icon.png
Company typePrivate company
IndustryDomain Registrar, Web hosting service
FoundedClaremont, California 1996
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, USA
Key peopleDallas Bethune, Josh Jones, Michael Rodriguez, Sage Weil
ProductsWeb services
Websitehttp://www.dreamhost.com

DreamHost is a Los Angeles-based web hosting provider and domain name registrar. It is the web hosting branch of New Dream Network, LLC, founded in April 1996 by Dallas Bethune, Josh Jones, Michael Rodriguez and Sage Weil, undergraduate students at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California.


Web hosting

File:Dreamhost panel 2007.jpg
A screenshot of the post March 2007 DreamHost Control Panel

DreamHost hosts over half a million domain names on a network of mainly Debian GNU/Linux-based servers. The company has deployed a unique control panel, devised by their own programmers , that includes integrated billing and support ticket systems. The control panel used by DreamHost is markedly different from the popular cPanel software used by many commercial web hosting companies and this has resulted in some customers reporting transition difficulties as they get used to the unconventional system. The majority of hosted domains exist within a shared hosting environment, with a small percentage of customers on dedicated servers. All accounts can have shell access. Initially available by invitation only, DreamHost offers a virtual private server service using Linux-VServer. The company does not publish a telephone number for its customers to contact them, but does offer 24-hour email-based support with limited telephone support in the form of a varying number of "callbacks".

Domain registration

DreamHost is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar. The company previously operated the .la top-level domain, allocated to the country of Laos, which it marketed as a domain for the city of Los Angeles. It stopped operating it in April 2006 because it reportedly received only "one registration a day".

Transparency

DreamHost is notable for being unusually transparent about its business practices, with staff contributing to a popular blog. A disastrous power outage incident in August of 2006 led to a frank account of what happened by Josh Jones that set a particular tone for the future. It was followed by the creation of a status site dedicated to detailing server maintenance and outages.


2007 Security issue

According to the company, the control panel was thought to have been partly to blame for a June 2007 incident in which approximately 3,500 of the 500,000 (less than 1%) FTP account passwords were compromised. Customers were notified by email, and a few found their sites had been altered to deliver malware. Upon further investigation, new evidence came to light that cast doubt on the theory that the control panel was responsible.

References

  1. Webhosting.info World ranking as of August 3, 2007
  2. DreamHost's feature glossary
  3. Web-based account administration
  4. What a CON
  5. DreamHost Private Servers
  6. DreamHost's feature glossary
  7. List of ICANN-Accredited Registrars
  8. DreamHost Newsletter, February 2006
  9. Honesty, transparency can offset customer service disasters
  10. Netcraft site report showing site ranking of DreamHost's blog
  11. LA Hosting Providers Slowed by Power Problems
  12. Anatomy of an ongoing disaster
  13. DreamHost Status Blog
  14. Web Hosting Break-Ins, Security UpdateWeb Hosting Break-Ins, Security Update
  15. Hackers load malware onto Mercury music award site
  16. DreamHost Wiki: V9.06 June 2007

External links

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