Low cost long term web hosting

I've got a website with my work experience. Kind of a resume - a few pages with pictures and words. It doesn't get much traffic and it is static. I update maybe once per year. I got an intro deal with hostgator for around four bucks per month. But after three years it jumps to $30/month. That happens at the end of this month  

Edit: I was wrong on pricing. first 3 years was $99. Renewal is $250 or SEVEN per month. I'm a dope. 
 

I'd like to find an inexpensive host that I can "set and forget" and not pay that much. Does anyone have a host company  that you like or can recommend?

Inmotion for managed hosting, used them at the place I used to work in the before-times and they also host my mom's business website. The $3/mo plan sounds like it should be enough for what you want: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/

FYI, most hosting companies have a intro price that jumps after the initial term.  I bet if you contacted them, they could give you a better rate to keep you.  It's all about long term customers. 

-Rob

I use Bluehost. They're pretty affordable. 

If it's really low traffic, you can put together your own web server out of something like a Pi and park it on your home network.

I've used Netfirms for close to 20 years. 

Keith Tanner said:

I use Bluehost. They're pretty affordable. 

If it's really low traffic, you can put together your own web server out of something like a Pi and park it on your home network.

I'm intrigued by this. Do you have to pay somebody for a static IP address. Hmmmm

Has anybody here actually done this?

I have :) Your IP address will be pretty consistent unless you're rebooting the modem, but iirc you can often pay for a static one if you don't want to handle the maintenance of the domain. Then it's just a matter of setting up the domain and following a guide to turn the Pi into a web server. It's pretty basic, especially if you're just serving up pictures and html. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Is there a guide that you used that you recommend?

Hmm, let's see. How deep do you want this to go? What's your familiarity with things like Linux?

I usually set mine up "headless", which means you don't need a screen or keyboard but you do need a way to communicate with it via a terminal. Let me know if you'd rather use a monitor/keyboard/mouse (any screen with HDMI, like your TV, can be the monitor, the others should be USB) or if you want to go in via the command line. Also, what kind of compoooter you'll be using to talk to it in the second case - Linux, Mac or PC.

Is there a place to "park" a domain name for say 5 years for cheap ?

there is a website that is available , it was very popular 10 years ago and the guy got a real job , 

I want to "save" it and then offer  it to the guy for free  , or get the info from him and host it myself ,  

thanks

Lightsail on AWS is a cheap vps solution. Iirc, a minimally specced server, a domain name, and a static ip will total about $7.50 a month.

That is for a full Linux virtual server you can roll your own web server on. Wordpress is a common option. 

There is also an option on AWS that is free or nearly free to host static html/css. I don't remember the name of the service but I'll look it up and update here. That may be a perfectly viable option for you. 

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I could park it on my hosting if you want.  If it's not a lot of hosting.  Actually that might not matter much.  PM me and we can talk.

Stampie said:

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I could park it on my hosting if you want.  If it's not a lot of hosting.  Actually that might not matter much.  PM me and we can talk.

PM sent

Keith Tanner said:

Hmm, let's see. How deep do you want this to go? What's your familiarity with things like Linux?

I usually set mine up "headless", which means you don't need a screen or keyboard but you do need a way to communicate with it via a terminal. Let me know if you'd rather use a monitor/keyboard/mouse (any screen with HDMI, like your TV, can be the monitor, the others should be USB) or if you want to go in via the command line. Also, what kind of compoooter you'll be using to talk to it in the second case - Linux, Mac or PC.

Keith (See edit at bottom first) - My Linux experience begins and ends with nosing around the file shares on my remote "hosted" web server and creating sub folders. I have a MacBook, iPhone and Windows PC handy. Going in via command line might be fine if that leads to a GUI. 
 

My biggest concern is 1) not getting in trouble with my household ISP 2) security 3) having an easy interface to upload new photos and edited html files. 
 

Could I interest you in building me one? Happy to pay. 
 

edit- have also realized the current shared hosting service renewal is only about $7/month so it isn't near as bad as I thought. First three years was $99. Next three years $250. When you only look into this stuff once every three years during the holidays, you forget the tedium... this despite my interest in the geekery of a Pi web server project - I'm leaning toward maintaining status quo rather than starting in a science project.
 

I don't know if providers make this E36 M3 deliberately un-intuitive or maybe I'm just thick... but I'm kinda fearful of monkeying with settings if it means I could lose my branded email and stuff (not sure if email redirect is part of "domain" or "hosting"). 

OHSCrifle said:

I don't know if providers make this E36 M3 deliberately un-intuitive or maybe I'm just thick... but I'm kinda fearful of monkeying with settings if it means I could lose my branded email and stuff (not sure if email redirect is part of "domain" or "hosting"). 

For email there is a special DNS record (referred to as an 'MX record') which identifies the IP address(es) of servers to which email for a particular domain should be delivered.  You can host the DNS records and the email servers at different places if you want to, although most people combine them for simplicity.

I think rather than being intentionally non-intuitive, the hosting providers are trying to take a complex system that's built out of multiple protocols and technologies and distill it down to 3-5 options at different price points that they can put up on their main web page. 

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

OHSCrifle said:

I don't know if providers make this E36 M3 deliberately un-intuitive or maybe I'm just thick... but I'm kinda fearful of monkeying with settings if it means I could lose my branded email and stuff (not sure if email redirect is part of "domain" or "hosting"). 

For email there is a special DNS record (referred to as an 'MX record') which identifies the IP address(es) of servers to which email for a particular domain should be delivered.  You can host the DNS records and the email servers at different places if you want to, although most people combine them for simplicity.

I think rather than being intentionally non-intuitive, the hosting providers are trying to take a complex system that's built out of multiple protocols and technologies and distill it down to 3-5 options at different price points that they can put up on their main web page.

Agreed. It's not easy weaving a bunch of systems into a user interface that anyone with ten bucks will utilize.

And honestly it is familiar sounding from when I set it up several years ago. What I'm not sure about is whether the MX record is part of the "domain" settings or part of the "web hosting" settings since all I do is "forward" all the emails to my gmail account  

I just need to look into it from my laptop instead of my phone.

The domain record is like a phone book listing. A computer wants to reach you, it looks you up in the phone book (aka DNS) and gets the correct IP address. There's a record for MX (mail) that can point somewhere else besides your webserver.

Let me see if I can come up with a tutorial for you. If you're happy to pay $7/month, nothing wrong with that :) Then you have no responsibilities for maintenance, there's a lot of value to that.

Keith Tanner said:

The domain record is like a phone book listing. A computer wants to reach you, it looks you up in the phone book (aka DNS) and gets the correct IP address. There's a record for MX (mail) that can point somewhere else besides your webserver.

Let me see if I can come up with a tutorial for you. If you're happy to pay $7/month, nothing wrong with that :) Then you have no responsibilities for maintenance, there's a lot of value to that.

I've decided to pay the man for the three year renewal, however I am curious about a raspberry pi web server as a learning project. So I'd welcome tutorial recommendations.

I'm not certain I can even get an internet facing static IP address for seven bucks per month!!

Keith Tanner said:

I have :) Your IP address will be pretty consistent unless you're rebooting the modem, but iirc you can often pay for a static one if you don't want to handle the maintenance of the domain. Then it's just a matter of setting up the domain and following a guide to turn the Pi into a web server. It's pretty basic, especially if you're just serving up pictures and html. 

Apparently Google domains will do static IP (or dynamic dns) at no extra cost as well as the MX config for forwarding emails. I think I'm going to migrate that way when I next renew my domain in a couple years. 
 

https://domains.google/learn/why-domains/

Google isn't a bad option. Another option for static content is Amazon S3.