So what do you guys think about this.

RAM is so cheap these days and I guess every dedicated server deserves at least 512MB (1GB if you ask me) for that price. But why is it that I don't see any hosting provider lower their RAM prices? They are still as high as ever.

And what about those hosting providers that don't upgrade your RAM for one price but want to have a monthly fee for that? This is soooooo stupid.

Come on guys an play fair! I want to upgrade our leased servers and double the RAM but not for those prices. I feel like being ripped off :bawling:

At this point I have seen 256MB for $33 :angry:
Any comments on this?

Domenico

You may want to look into a colocated server. Each host has the option of charging what they feel is necessary.

There is also labor involved in the upgrade (although memory upgrading is not a highly labor intensive operation). This means bringing the server down, unmounting it from the rack, installing it, testing, rerack, and completing.

Yes, memory is pretty low these days, but aren't hosts allowed to make a profit? Using your rationale, hosts should only be charging enough to cover their costs on servers (CPU prices are down as well as hard drives, memory, motherboards, etc.).

it may be that these companies dont make much profit of your intiail server contract and make more money off you when you upgrade the server.. then again maybe not

Aloha I feel the same way
tha tis why I am just going to buy my machines and colo so I can do what I want to em

Hi Michael,

Sure hosting companies must make a profit too. We have some servers (dedicated servers for shared hosting) on a few deifferent places. Some in the Netherlands and some in the states so i know about that.
But once in a while you have to upgrade what you are offering. You can't offer the same system for the same amount of money next year. Really, you just can't. the hosting companies that do this are in it for the money only. Stay away from those companies.

I don't expect to get a RAM upgrade for the same money it will cost me in the shop but why do you have to pay each month for a RAM upgrade? Why should the setup cost and monthly fee be higher for a 256MB RAM upgrade then for a 128MB RAM upgrade? What is the difference here ??? Sure, I will pay more but not ten times as much in a year. Don't you all think this is really stupid?

And think about this also;
A server with more RAM will likely run more stable and smoother so hosters pay attention.
What do you get when a server runs smoother and is more stable? Happy customers!
What more can happy customers bring you?
Right, less stress for the support people and probably more NEW customers because of the praise about it to other people and forums like this one.

Think about that for a change...

Of course, it depends on the pricing, but there is a reasonable rationale for charging a small monthly fee for hardware upgrades.

1. The cost of the hardware is a one time charge; the cost of running that hardware is not. Any component you install uses electricity and adds heat to the system. This is a monthly cost the host pays. This is small, but it still is there.
2. Since dedicated server companies are responsible for the hardware, not only do they have to pay for the intial installation, but they have to pay to replace it when it goes bad. Remember, even if the hardware is under warranty, the provider must pay a tech to work on it.

Remember, when you buy a dedicated server, you're paying for a degree of management you don't get with colocation. Expect to pay extra for it.

If you don't want to pay extra for it, then try colocation -- remember, you _can_ lease servers from companies like Dell, IBM, etc, and then colocate them. Just realize that most colocation hosts will charge you to replace faulty hardware, and will place limits on your electrical consumption.

Tarin, that you said 'it all depends on the pricing' saves you from a big laugh. I will not even comment your first point.
Your second is valid in general, but nevertheless some hosts charge a leg and an arm for installing 256 MB RAM. Don't expect customers to be happy with that. As you said, it all depends on pricing.

I agree that some hosts charge way to much for a hardware upgrade. And as a customer, I really do not enjoy paying monthly for extra RAM (specially now that they are so cheap). But from my experience, I would say that you could bargain with most hosts. They want you to be happy, so I'm sure they will agree to lower the prices a little.

ug what kinda ram you guys getting 128 for me is still damn expensive

Aloha

Electricity use for adding RAM ??? ummm how much more electricity and mngmnt does 512 megs of ram use ??? $25-50 a month I do not think so ???
(not pointing this at anyoe particular just saying this to those that charge a lot)
kinda like saying I got a trick for you tie your shoes but don't bend your knees while doing it
the same hosts use ide hd to cut costs this I can see as the hardware is a lot less and that is a fair price cutting method

my feeling on the ram thing is that hosts Know you need more ram and when yousay my server is running slow they tell you you need more ram
its a scam in my eyes scam scam scam and bad biz good for short term
most peoples biz will fail this is a fact
those that use the get the money by trickery will almost for sure fail.
but most of all have these hosts or people no moral fiber and hope they well I wont go there ;)

hosting vs buying a car

OH you would like a passsenger seat we can do that for $25 a month
yes a hood would be nice but we have those also for $$
yes we can make sure your tires have air before ya leave we have a one time install fee for that after that you will have to learn how to manage your own air and fuel

Walter -- on the first point, I wasn't referring just to the power draw and heat generation of RAM. I was referring to any component, really. Hard drives, CPUs, etc. Perhaps I should have made that clear. And all of that stuff adds up; it's not just the monthly electrical bill, but also having to install extra electricity and air conditioning.

As far as pricing goes, I wasn't arguing whether pricing was fair or not -- I'm sure in some host's cases it is, and in others, it's not. I was simply arguing on whether there's a reasonable explination for the monthly fee. There is. It's not a fixed cost item like people want to believe. There is a continuing burden carried by a dedicated server provider for each item in a server, both in real costs (electricity and heat) and in soft costs, such as replacing the item if it goes bad, or is even suspected of having gone bad.

Electricity costs do add up, in march my electric bill surpassed my rent, its currently sitting at about 8k a month just for the power to run the servers i host, now this may not seem like a huge amount (it certainly isnt compaired to bandwidth) but it does add to the total cost of running the servers, when i first made up my plans i didnt pay more than a couple hundred bucks for power so it was never a consideration. now however it is a pretty significant bill, and does take away from the bottom line.
also my water bill (to run the air conditioners) is now close to 1000.00 a month to keep everything cool, again something i didnt have to consider when my facility was smaller.


Steve

Well, i'm satisfied, my dedicated host is,

inexpensive,
quality,


and great!

:D