This is the hosting setup I rely on to keep my websites, email, and services online, fast, and secure. When hosting fails, everything built on top of it fails – so I’m picky about what I use and who I trust.
This article is for my own reference (why I write articles like this), and for those who want my advice – there’s no more honest recommendation than what I actually use and pay for.
Since I’m publishing this online: these are my own experiences and opinions, based on what I’ve learned and tested. Nothing more, nothing less.
Articles in this series:
- My Hosting stack
Infrastructure – domain registration, DNS, website and email hosting. - My (backups) Storage stack
Storage – physical and cloud. - My OS & System Software stack
Computer-running – OS, drivers, security, diagnostics, and utilities. - My Application Software stack
Computer-using – writing, editing, playing media, and troubleshooting. - My Wordpress stack
Themes and plugins I use for making sites. - My Zettelkasten System (BikeGremlin Deathnotes)
Knowledge management system (“2nd brain”) - My PC Component Selection
Components I chose for my PC – and why
1. Emails (email hosting)
Goal:
Reliably receive and send emails (without them ending up in a spam bucket or blocked).
Using:
– MXroute-hosted domain email
– NameCrane’s CraneMail as an email hosting backup
– Free Proton email as a Gmail alternative – using Gmail only where I must.
Reliable and secure email is the foundation. I’ve covered why it matters in these articles:
I still need a Gmail account for services like YouTube (despite its cons) and similar, but I am switching away from it and using either my domain email or the free Proton mail.
This way I am not relying on a huge corporation like Google that can just remove/delete my account, without any explanation, reason or way to sort it out with a reasonable, competent human.
proton.me gives you a free account with 1 GB of storage space – not the most convenient to use in the free version (no auto-deleting trashed emails for example), but it works, for free. This is slightly better than Google IMO.
Domain emails are as close as it gets to owning something on the Internet (though in truth you can’t really own anything on the Internet, it is all corporate). I have been hosting my domain emails with MXroute since 2018 and am very happy with the service. The MXroute’s owner also works there, and answers support questions on a regular basis, so it is as good as it gets to having a normal, decent, human cooperation to everyone’s benefit (both the customers and the provider). MXroute is very, very tough on spamers, as every company should be, so that’s another big plus in my book.
In late 2025, I also added NameCrane’s CraneMail service as a backup email service.
Yes, you can use your web hosting server to receive, send, and store your emails, but there are some advantages of using a separate email service.
2. Domains (domain registration)
Goal:
Necessary in order to host my own stuff online (this website, my forum, my nextcloud instance etc.).
Using:
Unlimited.rs (for .rs domains – that’s my affiliate link), and Porkbun (for all the other domains).
Emails and domains are like the chicken-and-egg dilemma – each depends on the other. That is why I value reliable partners for domain registration. Sure, low prices are great, that also matters, but not at the cost of losing a domain because of a technical problem, security breach, or an accounting mistake.
Unlimited.rs and Porkbun have served me well and reliably since around 2020.
3. Web-hosting
Goal:
Serving my stuff online – websites, forum(s), my domain’s email etc.
Using:
MDDHosting and Veerotech – both reseller hosting accounts.
Hosting is for websites what the foundation is for houses. If it is good: you can still build crappy stuff. But if it’s bad: not even the best builders can help. It’s quite important to have good, reliable, safe, and stable web hosting with good support.
Both MDDHosting and Veerotech offer top-class support, with good performance, security and reliability. The orange links above lead to my in-detail reviews of their services.
My web hosting recommendations list.
4. DNS (and web firewall)
Goal:
Route traffic to my services, improve performance, and add an extra security layer.
Using:
Cloudflare, free account.
Yes, you can configure your DNS with your web hosting provider, but using a separate service can help with website migrations, performance, and even security – especially when using services like Cloudflare.
That does add some complexity and yes, Cloudflare is a big brother, but for now it still does a lot more good than harm – when that changes, I’ll have to find alternatives and probably spend a lot of money for that kind of service.
A noteworthy free alternative for DNS (only, no WAF included) is Hurricane Electric:
https://dns.he.net/
Conclusion
This article is for my own reference (why I write articles like this), and for those who want my advice – there’s no more honest recommendation than what I actually use and pay for.
Since I’m publishing this online: these are my own experiences and opinions, based on what I’ve learned and tested. Nothing more, nothing less.
Articles in this series:
- My Hosting stack
Infrastructure – domain registration, DNS, website and email hosting. - My (backups) Storage stack
Storage – physical and cloud. - My OS & System Software stack
Computer-running – OS, drivers, security, diagnostics, and utilities. - My Application Software stack
Computer-using – writing, editing, playing media, and troubleshooting. - My Wordpress stack
Themes and plugins I use for making sites. - My Zettelkasten System (BikeGremlin Deathnotes)
Knowledge management system (“2nd brain”) - My PC Component Selection
Components I chose for my PC – and why
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