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DreamHost Newsletter – October 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:05:39 +0000

System-wide Upgrades
DreamHost will be transitioning all customers to new servers over the course of the next year.

The new set up should be:
- more stable (the shared file servers are being phased out – they have caused to many troubles over the last two years)
- higher performing (the new servers will be on average 4x more powerfull, but have less than 4 timer the number of customers)
- cheaper to run (less data center and maintenance costs)
Read the blog post for a few tips about how to ensure a smooth transition.
Volunteer to Get Upgrades First
Not afraid of breaking your applications, or like living on the cutting edge? If you volunteer to be one of the first to be moved to the new system you will be “upgraded” to unlimited disk and bandwidth, forever.
Quarantined Mail via IMAP
You can now access your junkmail quarantine folder via your IMAP client in case you use the junkmail filter. You need to enable the option in your webmail setting. Click “junkmail” on the left, then “settings”, then input a folder name for your spam.
Webmail Upgraded to 1.4.15
Squirrelmail has been upgraded to 1.4.15. No big changes.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Tonya R. Moore

DreamHost Newsletter – September 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:51:58 +0000

50 GB Free Personal Backups
As previously written about, your web space is only intended for your websites and not for personal backups. Now every customer is offered 50 GB of storage for backups. The only caveat is, it will be hosted on a separate server, under a separate user account and DreamHost will not backup your backups. If 50 GB is not enough for you, extra space is only $0.10/month per GB.
First week of DreamHost PS free
When you sign up for DreamHost’s VPS solution DreamHost PS, you set your own memory limit and pay accordingly. Since it is nearly impossible to predict how much memory you will need when you start out, DreamHost now offers you the first week at maximum memory possible for free. After a week the memory will automatically be adjusted to the right level for you, unless you already have adjusted it manually.
Control Panel Demo
If you’re yet to sign up for hosting at DreamHost, you can now try out DreamHost’s own in-house developed control panel before you sign up at https://demo.dreamhost.com/.
Getting SSL certificates is easier
It’s now possible to order GeoTrust SSL certificates directly from the Control Panel. Previously you had to email the certificate to DreamHost, so the new integration is going to be a lot easier. The price for a SSL certificate is $90.96 a year + $47.40/year for the unique IP (but you can save up to 30% on the certificate by prepaying for multiple years).
mod_fcgid and xcache for PHP
DreamHost PS users can now choose to enable PHP xcache for great performance boosts. Check your DreamHost PS settings.
DHSOTHM
DreamHost Site of the Month: chrisstreeter.com

DreamHost Newsletter – July 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:21:14 +0000

New Easy One-Click: Media Wiki
DreamHost introduces Media Wiki (the software behind sites as Wikipedia) as an Easy One-Click install. The software has long existed as a One-Click install, but in easy mode both installation, upgrades and maintenance is 100% handled by DreamHost at the cost of fewer customization options (you can only use the preinstalled themes, plugins and languages).
One Click Account Backup

This new feature lets you download a zipped backup of your entire account, including all users, mailboxes and databases. While the snapshot backup service continues, this is a great way to maintain your own local off-line backup.
DreamHost PS All Caught Up
DreamHost has got all the way through the waiting list for their VPS service (DreamHost PS) and new customers should be able to get a server relative quickly.
Furthermore from next Tuesday, PS users will be able to tweak a few VPS settings to save resources including:
- Use mod_php version 5.2
- Turn on php caching for a super-performance boost
- Turn off the ability to talk to aim/icq/msn on jabber
- Turn off FTP access to your DreamHost PS entirely
DHSOTHM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Sand Pixel

DreamHost Newsletter – May 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:58:09 +0000

New One-Click Install: phpBB Forum

phpBB is now available as a One-Click Install. DreamHost offers phpBB both in an easy-mode and advanced-mode. In easy-mode DreamHost will handle all upgrades, but you won’t be able to customize your theme or add plug-ins.
New One-Click Install: OpenX Ad Server

OpenX is an open source ad server used by more than 30,000 web publishers and on more than 100,000 sites. Formerly called OpenAds and phpadsnew prior to that.
Merge all you your MYSQLs onto the same server
If you’ve been customer for a few years, you might have you databases spread out on several servers (since you could only have one database per hostname). Now it’s possible to move all your databases onto one server (so you can manage them all from one hostname with the same username).
We are now Blu (and still Green)
DreamHost is one of the Most Democratic Workplaces 2008.
New Charities
This month DreamHost will match charities to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles and Communities In Schools.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Daniel Pitner

DreamHost Newsletter – March 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:39:00 +0000

A very short newsletter this time:

Easy zenphoto One-Click

DreamHost now offers zenphoto as a hosted application. When you install zenphoto as a hosted application, you don’t have to worry about upgrading the software, bandwidth usage, disk usage, etc., since it all runs from DreamHost’s server (vs. your own shared server). The downside is that you won’t be able to install your own plugins or themes and you won’t be able to customize the application.
Get SSL Certs from DreamHost
Previously you were only able to buy a SSL cert if you ordered it at sign up. Now existing customers can order it straight from the control panel.
Add-on Callback Phone Support
Now you can also order Callback Phone Support from the control panel. The price for 3 callbacks a month is $9.95/month extra.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Scarlett Vision Media

DreamHost Newsletter – February 2008

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:14:35 +0000

This month’s newsletter in condensed form:

Sorry About the Billing
I guess all of you have heard about DreamHost’s billing error 3 weeks ago? Otherwise see Um, Whoops, The Aftermath and The Final Update.
Easy WordPress One-Click
DreamHost now offers an “easy mode” for WordPress (probably based on WordPress MU), where DreamHost will take of all updates and maintenance. The blog comes with a selection of 50+ themes, but the downside is that you won’t be able to customize your theme, install new themes or install extra plugins.
Mongrel for Ruby on Rails
DreamHost PS users can now deploy their Ruby on Rails applications on the Mongrel ruby application server. More info in the wiki.
Delete Unused Promo Codes
Now you can delete unused promo codes from your panel, but only if they never have been used.
New charities
Kidd’s Kids and MIND Research Institute
Remember, DreamHost will match all donations given by their customers.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Freeminders (Free WordPress Themes)

DreamHost Newsletter – December 2007

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:00:00 +0000

Another newsletter translated from Josh’s gibberish.

Spacey Moved
The “spacey” cluster was successfully moved to a new datacenter. More server moves are planned over the next few months – watch the status blog for updates.
DreamHost PS Update
DreamHost is making progress on the waitlist for DreamHost PS (Private Server) and MySQL PS. If you sign up now, you will most likely be able to get your server before Christmas.
Promo Code Change
Big promo code change effective next Tuesday. No DreamHost promo code can any longer give a discount greater than $50. All new and existing codes will be capped at this amount off. You still get $97 (minus the discount given) for somebody using your promo code, but now that discount can’t be more than $50.
This will probably result in fewer uses of people’s promo codes, but on the plus side, the minimum you as a referrer will make from a promo code will go from $0 to $47.
Help us Screen Suggestions
The Suggestions area has been revamped and you’re now able to see pending suggestions. Pending suggestions are the suggestions which haven’t made it to the voting procedure yet, but now you can help decide, which suggestions should be put to a vote.
For each pending suggestions you can choose “Reject it!” (for duplicate or nonsensical suggestions), “Just do it, DreamHost!” (for really easy suggestions or system bugs) or “Let us vote on it!”.
There is currently 600 active suggestions to vote on and 572 pending suggestions for consideration.
Two Silly Features
You can now show and hide your subdomains in the Manage Domains area:

You can now restore your accidentally deleted MySQL databases up to five days after they have been deleted.
Charity Addition
New charity: Union Rescue Mission. DreamHost match all donations received, another donor is matching their donations, so basically your donation is being quadrupled!
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Squawk

DreamHost Newsletter – July 2007

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:34:25 +0000

Time for another newsletter in condensed form:

Winners of the iPhone Contest

nyquil.org won the iPhone contest. The 2nd and 3rd prizes can be found on the official blog.
iTunes Backup for Mac
DreamHost customers can now get a free year of Bandwagon (Mac software to back up your iTunes library to your DreamHost account).
Support Attachments
It’s now possible to include attachments to your support messages. Great if you want to upload screenshots, log files, etc. to your support request.
FTP Hack Explanation
Latest info about the compromised FTP passwords in the blog. Apparently the main problem was users using FTP (which is an unencrypted protocol) instead of the more secure SFTP protocol. I strongly recommend to take a look at my 3 Tips for Secure Communication.
New Charities
Public Counsel and Apraxia-KIDS
Vote On Us
DreamHost is nominated for two Blogger’s Choice Awards in the Best Blogging Host category and the Best Corporate Blog category.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: HorseGirlTV

DreamHost Newsletter – June 2007

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 23:35:38 +0000

The newest DreamHost Newsletter in condensed form:

Your Own DreamHostStatus Feed
Personalized RSS feed with news from dreamhoststatus.com. The feed only contains news about events regarding your Web, Email or MySQL server. You’ll find the link to your RSS feed in your Account Status.
Power Switcheroo
Redundant power to 12 more racks.
Tiny Panel Changes
New login page, faster load times and “Access Privileges” moved to “Users”-tab.
Ruby on Rails Upgraded
RoR upgraded to 1.2.3 as previously reported.
Vote on Us
DreamHost nominated to a Bloggers Choice Award.
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: Hybercombofinish.

DreamHost Newsletter – May 2007

Unofficial DreamHost Blog — Fri, 04 May 2007 21:11:54 +0000

Manage your cron jobs
Running cron jobs (automated tasks) has never been easier. They can now be managed in a simple interface as part of the web panel.
Green your web site
DreamHost goes green! By buying certified Renewable Energy Credits they can now call themself a carbon-neutral company.
The news was a front page story on Digg.
Moving picture our wiki
The wiki has been upgraded to a more up-to-date version, which, among other things, supports embedded videos.
Monitor your unique IPs
The Manage Account page now lists unique IPs (if you have any).
DHSOTM
DreamHost Site of the Month: PalaDream Studios