PSA: Just say NO to GoDaddy | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

I would like to think that most of us know better than to host with GoDaddy, but I thought I'd throw this out there.

In the last three weeks, I feel like all I've done is remove malware from GoDaddy sites. In most cases the cleanup has been pretty straightforward, but not always.

With two particular sites, I could trace the vulnerability to GoDaddy directly – a file had been uploaded into the /.logs/ directory (which isn't normally writeable). The file was redirecting the sites to a known malware distributor, then directing back to GoDaddy. So even though it looked like everything was fine on the front end, the site owners couldn't get Google to clear the malware warning. Yet I was unable to open the directory to clear the infected files because GoDaddy doesn't allow access to it.

I just off the phone with GoDaddy a little while ago. Their solution? Basically, if those individuals want the malware gone, they'll have to pay to upgrade to GoDaddy's malware protection plan. Otherwise they will not allow me to access the infected directory and they will not take any action to protect the servers in question from hackers. I'm in the process of moving both those people to my hosting service so we can take care of this.

I'm not posting this as an advertisement for my hosting – there are a number of reputable hosts out there. But for the love of Pete, don't waste your time with GoDaddy! They throttle site speeds like crazy (to get you to upgrade to a more expensive hosting account) and now they're refusing to help customers whose sites are infected because of a vulnerability on the server side that the customers can't control. This is customer service at its absolute worst.

Jacob – A LOT of people register domains with them; after all, they were a domain registrar before anything else. Problems I've seen include delays in transferring domains away from them (they usually make you wait the full 7 days where other registrars will push transfers through sooner) and just general confusion re: the DNS management interface. Overall, though, if you like cheap domains, there aren't many places that compete with GD.

I actually use their domain auction service from time to time, but I transfer the domains away as soon as possible just because I don't like giving them any business unless I have to.

For VPS? RocketVPS, Knownhost (still RocketVPS but for people who need managed), and PowerVPS have the best uptime of any providers out there. I have a couple of clients with dedicated servers through RocketVPS and their customer service is the best I've ever seen (not to mention their pricing, which is awesome).

Hostgator has the same problem with VPS that they have with shared – they cram way more accounts onto one physical machine than they should. Which is fine until multiple VPS on the same rack have CPU load spikes at the same time. And don't get me started on the outrageous pricing. But hey, if HG meets your needs, that's the important thing.