Overview
DreamHost was originally founded in 1997 as the New Dream Network while its founders were still undergraduates at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. Here's a picture of Josh, Sage, Michael, and Dallas on graduation day.
Since then, the company name has changed to DreamHost and currently hosts over a million websites from all over the world.
DreamHost currently offers a variety of services to host your website, including:
- Website hosting
- WordPress dedicated hosting
- Email hosting
- Domain registration
- Cloud services
This article is a quick overview of these services and includes additional links to help you obtain a quick understanding of what DreamHost has to offer. If you’d like to skip this overview and get started right away, then view the following article:
Website hosting
DreamHost offers four types of web servers that you can use to host your website.
- Shared servers – Shared Hosting
- Virtual Private Servers – VPS
- Dedicated servers – Dedicated
- DreamPress – Dedicated WordPress hosting
You can find a detailed explanation of each on the following pages:
WordPress-managed Hosting (DreamPress)
DreamHost also offers upgraded and managed hosting plans for WordPress sites called DreamPress. This premium WordPress package includes the following features:
- Each DreamPress instance is set up on DreamHost's cloud computing service called DreamCompute
- Memory is automatically scaled
- Uses a built-in cache on the server
- Simple pricing options
Visit the DreamPress article for further details.
Email hosting
Email hosting is included for free with most hosting plans.
It is also available as an add-on at a low cost to a domain registration-only or Shared Starter plan.
You can also create an email-only account without a website hosting plan.
The email add-on plan includes free Webmail service as well.
List services
DreamHost also offers two types of list services (these services do not require a hosting plan):
For further information about email at DreamHost, please visit the following pages:
Domain registrations
DreamHost offers the ability to purchase a domain registration from within the panel. Purchasing a domain registration does not require you to also have a hosting plan with DreamHost – once the domain is registered, you can host it anywhere you like. However, it’s easier to keep everything in the same place.
Additionally, if you purchase a Shared Hosting plan, you get a free registration for the first year of hosting. View the following article for a list of domains this applies to:
In order to qualify for one free domain registration credit for the first full year, you must sign up for a 1-year or 3-year annual plan on a Shared Starter, Shared Unlimited, or any annual DreamPress plan (monthly Shared or monthly DreamPress plans do not apply). This free credit is NOT available under any other hosting plan. Please visit the following pages to view more details:
To view a list of new TLDs DreamHost recently began offering along with a tool to see if the registration is available, visit the following page:
DreamHost also offers a free WHOIS privacy service:
Most registrars force you to pay an extra fee to keep your personal information hidden, but DreamHost includes this service for you for free with your domain registration. However, please note that not all registrations support privacy. View the following article for a list of domains that do not offer privacy at DreamHost:
Cloud services
DreamHost currently offers two cloud services:
DreamObjects
DreamObjects is a cloud storage service, which you can use to backup any data you like. Visit the following pages for further information:
DreamCompute
DreamCompute allows you to control your own personal cloud server with scalable resources, which is especially useful for developers and startups. Visit the following pages for more information about this service:
