Drupal 101: Selecting your host

Before you can even install Drupal, you have to have a place to put it.  If you have a server already then you're set but many who are new to Drupal are new to web sites and specifically, web hosting.  Unlike a host that can handle your basic HTML pages, Drupal requires a few more resources and that's going to narrow the field a bit.  And then there's always the issue of selecting a good host and not a dud that will leave you high and dry one day or just bad service.  In general, here are some good things to look for in a Drupal host.

• PHP support (obviously)
• MySQL support (duh)
• cron job support
• GD image support
• Loads of bandwidth and space

That's the basics.  The more options, the better.  In terms of an actual company, if you're looking for shared webhosting I really like Host Gator and Blue Host.  Both support Drupal (and have one-click installs to save some time for you) and both are reputable in the web hosting sphere.  And of course, both are nice and cheap.  If you have more money to play with and want total control with a dedicated server, it's hard to look past Serverbeach for unmanaged servers and Rackspace for managed servers.

I have to also mention who you don't want to be hosting your sites, and that's GoDaddy or Yahoo.  They are huge and terrible and have even worse user reviews.  Just stay away from them.

With any host, there are a few ways you can test them out before ever signing up.  Send their tech support an email and see how long it takes for them to get back to you. Ask for a few sites that are hosted with them and see how fast they load.  If they have phone support, give them a call and ask questions and see if you're dealing with someone reading off of a sheet or someone who really knows their stuff.  Finally, if you think you've found one, search the net for reviews of them and see what others are saying.