DreamHost VPS Reviews 2019 – Entry Level Managed VPS Hosting
DreamHost is a leading VPS provider founded by four friends at Harvey Mudd College in 1997. DreamHost is the web hosting that WordPress recommends to WordPress users. Up to date, it hosts over 1.5 million websites, blogs and applications. It has a customer base of over 400,000 webmasters from more than 100 countries. More than 750,000 WordPress installations have been carried out on DreamHost. DreamHost is a member of the OpenStack Foundation Golf Member. It is the pioneer of Ceph storage, an open source software that is designed specifically for the cloud hosting.
Dreamhost only offer fully managed VPS plans. You can switch to DreamHost VPS hosting if your website has grown too big that it starts to loads slow on your shared hosting. The personalized DreamHost VPS hosting will be able to accommodate the growth of your online business because it offers more storage and bandwidth.
DreamHost VPS Reviews
Account Registration
You can sign up for a new hosting account at DreamHost within a few minutes. After you have signed up for the account, you will see a banner on top that tells you one of their customer representatives will contact you later. Usually, they will send you a welcome email within a few minutes!
Types of VPS Plans
DreamHost offers 4 types of VPS plans. DreamHost VPS plan starts from just $15 per month. The basic VPS plan offers 1 GB RAM and 30 GB SSD storage. The standard plan offers 2 GB RAM and 60 GB storage. The highest configuration offers 8GB RAM and 240 GB storage. All VPS plans feature unlimited bandwidth, domains, MySQL database and email accounts.
| Basic | Business | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEDICATED IP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| RAM | 1GB | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB |
| BANDWIDTH | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SSD STORAGE | 30GB | 60GB | 120GB | 240GB |
| PRICE | $15.00 | $30.00 | $40.00 | $80.00 |
| View this plan | View this plan | View this plan | View this plan |
The unlimited bandwidth is subjected to the terms and conditions in the unlimited policy. The unlimited bandwidth is not for websites that offers file uploading/sharing or free hosting. Customers will receive 1 dedicated IP address. DreamHost’s hosting is compatible with many scripts such as PHP5, Nginx, Perl, Xcache, Physion Passenger, Secure Shell (SSH), Python and CVS. Customers can get a free domain that comes with free WHOIS privacy. DreamHost hosting supports custom DNS.
PROS & CONS OF DREAMHOST VPS HOSTING
PROS:
- Easy to use control panel
- Ubuntu LTS Operating System
- Root Access
- Money Back Guarantee
- Green Hosting (It is all about saving the environment now)
CONS:
- Security Concerns
- Power Outages
- 100% Network uptime not guaranteed
Advantages of DreamHost VPS Hosting
Web Based Control Panel
DreamHost offers a web based control panel that is designed by their team. Its web based control panel has an easy to use interface that allows you to carry out site maintenance tasks. There is a menu on the left side that gives you access to features such as domains, and mail. You will be able to perform various tasks on the VPS server including manage CPU, reboot server, create admin accounts and create SSH keys. There is a Mobile Site Builder tool in the Domain menu that lets you create a mobile version of your website. DreamHost does not offer a Site Builder tool. The GUI slider allows you to make changes to the sever load and memory.
You can manage all your VPS accounts and easily upgrade to a better plan through the control panel. It allows you to add another VPS plan onto your hosting account in a few seconds. The one click installation application allows you to install various types of scripts such as WordPress, Joomla, and MediaWiki. The control panel has many basic features such as FTP, .htaccess, and SSL secure server.
DreamHost supports Node.js and Ruby Version Manager (RVM). The Ruby Version Manager (RVM) is a tool that you can use to add/remove Ruby programs on the server. The iPv6 can be added onto your hosting for free of charge.
Ubuntu LTS Operating System
All the plans are installed with Ubuntu 12.04LTS. Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support) guarantees to offer security updates for 5 years. The updates help to reduce the chances of downtime and protect your server from hackers.
Root Access
By default, you won’t have root access to the server. However, you can activate this feature in the control panel. The root access gives you the ability to install any application or make any configuration on the server. DreamHost VPS hosting offers a higher level of control over the server compared to a shared hosting account. You can write your own code to control the VPS server.
100% Uptime Guarantee
Dream Host offers an uptime of up to 100%. They promise to give you one day free hosting if you experience a downtime of one hour. They also guarantee that they will respond to your tickets within a few minutes. The server can load fast because it is equipped with a SSD storage hard disk. The SSD storage is faster by 20 times compared to SATA hard disk drives. The fast uptime makes DreamHost VPS suitable for hosting websites with high traffic, large online store and hosting multiple client websites. DreamHost VPS hosting can also be used to run and test your application.
Money Back Guarantee
DreamHost offers one of the longest money back guarantee for customers. Its VPS plans are covered with a 97 days money back guarantee with no question asked. You can simply shut down your account with a single click. However, there are several conditions you need to meet before you qualify for a refund. Only customers who pay the hosting fees with their credit cards can qualify for a refund. Customers who sign up with DreamHost VPS will get a free Adwords voucher that worth $75.
24/7 Customer Support
DreamHost offers unlimited 24/7 customer support for 365 days a year. Their customer support is available through live chat, tickets, telephone and Twitter. However, if you have an issue, you need to contact their customer support through the ticket system. The average time they take to respond to the ticket is 4 hours.
You need to pay an additional fee of $9.95/ month if you want to contact the customer support through other methods such as live chat and telephone. With this, customers are limited to make 3 phone calls or have 3 live chat sessions every month. This makes DreamHost customer support not as good as other reputable web hosting companies.
DreamHost never outsource its customer support. The customer support representative are local based and can speak English fluently. The customer support representatives are quite well versed with the VPS hosting plans. There is a discussion forum where you can post the problem you face and get a quick response from the customer support team. There is a knowledgebase that contains lots of documentations on various topics. DreamHost also run a status blog. Both the knowledgebase and status blog are maintained by professional staff.
State of the Art Data Centers
DreamHost operates its own data center so that customers can experience optimal uptime. They operate three data centers including Los Angeles (California), Irvine (California) and Ashburn (Virginia). Their headquarter is situated in Brea, California.
The data centers are equipped with all the amenities that are available in a world class data center. It offers automated backups of up to 50 GB. It has a complete redundant system that can prevent the server from experiencing down time in case of power failure. The data center is also equipped with powerful HVAC systems. DreamHost has shown significant improvement in terms of reliability and speed compared to the past time. It now offers faster loading through NGINX.
DreamHost VPS hosting features ceph based storage. With ceph based storage, your data is saved in a ceph storage cluster. Three replicas of your data will be created. If the server crash, the ceph cluster will come in handy to help you restore back all your files.
Green Hosting
DreamHost is a green web hosting company. They purchase renewable energy credits as part of their effort to help the environment. They use credits that meet the high standard of the industry to reduce energy consumption and neutralize the carbon emissions. They are a member of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce. Their servers are powered with AMD porcessors that save energy.
Drawbacks of DreamHost VPS Hosting
Security Concerns
DreamHost have security issues with its hosting. For example, about 700 websites and 3,500 FTP accounts were attacked in 2007. In 2012, they also attempt to reset all shell/ZFTP password because of a security breach. The good part is that their customer support team has been doing their best to fix the security threats. They continually keep customers updated until thre is no more security threats on the server.
Power Outages
DreamHost has experiences a number of power outages that cause the websites to go offline. There were two power outages in 2006, during which thousands of websites are affected. There are also several power outage incidents in 2013.
Billing
DreamHost accidentally bill its customers an extra one year of hosting services which total up to $2.1 millions in January 2008. The accidental billing is done by one of the staff.
Conclusion To DreamHost VPS Hosting Review
In conclusion, DreamHost is an ideal host for people who are looking for an affordable entry level VPS hosting. If you don’t mind not having access to the live chat and telephone support, you can choose DreamHost. It offers decent performance VPS hosting for small businesses. DreamHost hosting is cost efficient because you can choose to only pay for resources you use. Webmasters also have the ability to upgrade/downgrade the CPU/RAM according your needs.
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