- Rackshack is soon offering 200GB of bandwidth with each raq dedicated package.

Thats a pretty nice 50GB upgrade ;p

Now the news I have to bash rackshack about....

Rackshack just recently offered "NEW" customers a chance to do a onetime 256mb upgrade for $40 and no monthly additional fees.

So us clients who have stuck with rackshack (me for 6 months now aprox) are not allowed to have this deal.. well this means I have paid them over 200$ so far and I still don't get the chance to cut my monthly bill by $40 like the new customers get....

new customers - $99 for raq4i with 256
old customer - 135$ aprox for raq4i with256mb +setup

does this somehow seem "SCREWED" up?

this company definetly does not have priorities straight... or believe in equality

to top it off, they didn't send the email with this information to all its clients, just the ones who recently signed up with raq4i with 128mb of ram

really wish 4webspace.com would get their act together and find a distributor to fit their excess needs...

Aloha
Chris where did you hear about this ???

ya mean they will not let you have it ??
when did ya sign up with them

Dirty jerks...that's a way to keep your customers loyal, uh huh. I bet the 200GB limit will be for ALL customers, not just the old or new ones.

This really pissed me off. I ordered a memory upgrade just a couple of weeks ago. Even specifically went on their chat room to talk about their rediculously high prices. She said there basically wasn't a thing she could do about it.

Don't be so quick to judge RackShack.

They just announce cuts in all prices!

the only reason is because I bitch so much ;p

im serious, i phone management the day before and bitched about this, and now there doing what i said...

Yep, I just chatted with tech support because I buddy of mine just order a server from RS. The support guy said that everyone with 128 meg of memory will be upgraded to 256. You just have to reply to the e-mail (not that I saw that anywhere in the e-mail).

Frank

hello,

I agree the original deal did not seem fair to the old customers. But you have to give Rackshack credit. They listened to feedback and made changes accordingly. That is a lot more than you can say about many companies.

later

David

Aloha

I am amazed I wonder if they have someone new in there ???
or why the change ???

I second that...wish 4webspace.com would bring the cost for a RaQ4i down to at least $120 a month..

Chris,

You can have a sigh of relief now. I received an email stating that current users will recieve a price break on their servers if they already have 256 mb of ram

so, your $135 a month server will now cost just $99 a month.

It seems that the complaints and concerns of others and yourself must have rubbed off some.. :D

Good day,
Nick

im happy they chose to reward us who have been with them longer.

too bad i have to wait for september before the price cuts kick in ;p but atleast we will get it.

still wish that Steve and 4webspace would get their act together so that we can have some competition, comparing Rackshack and 4webspace, 4webspace blows rackshack out of the water in support and price.

Come on Steve...wheres the raqs

you got that backwards... rackshack blows 4webspace over when it comes to price.

Originally posted by Superman
comparing Rackshack and 4webspace, 4webspace blows rackshack out of the water in support and price.

You have got to be kidding me right?

What you get with Rackshack for $99 ... $250 setup
Raq4i, 256megs of ram
175 gigs transfer (soon to be 200gigs)

What you get with 4webspace for $99 ... $0 setup
Raq3 with 32megs of ram $389 to get up to 256 megs of ram
100 gigs transfer

there is zero comparison with price and features. rackshack wins

Now lets discuss other issues

4webspace
- badd connectivity issues: I have heard varios people complain about tera-bytes-4webspace connectivity issuess ... not sure if that if fixed now ... but that was one of the reasons I did not go with them ... also they did not have any raqs in store (biggie)

rackshack
-bad support issues. I am with rackspace and have zero issues so I cannot confirm those problems. But several people in this forum have had support issues i.e. dns interface not working, some incompetent (supposedly) tech people. But rackshack are hiring a "raq expert" to provide extra training for their staff ... so they are making a +ve move in the right direction.

sooo.
-In terms of features you get for price rackshack wins hands down
-Support 4webspace is in the lead there
-connectivity rackshack is in the lead

(disclaimer: all information above based on personal opinion and research in the wht forum!)

Rackshack is definitly a better deal. Cannot really see why anyone would go with 4webspace

later

David

hire better tech's rackshack and you win all competition.

Yes, I too am glad they announced the deal for all existing customers. Surprised, but glad non-the-less!

And the fact that they'll be offering 200gb per month with the network upgrade..WOW.

true

but all the features in the world is not enough if their support lets you down when you need them the most.

but it does seem like they are moving in the right direction ie by training their existing staff

time will tell

David

Ok I just found out, this deal is only for exisiting customers. Not for new customers.

Does anyone know? I'm probably going to fix myself up with a server in the 48hrs.

However, I don't want to buy into something that I can beat by waiting.

Rackshak told me that a purchase now would not qualify.

I told them they had good marketing but just couldn't close the sale ;-). Weel they can't!!

They can't afford to hire better tech staff, they don't charge enough to maintain a functional business. Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth Chris, they are selling their servers below cost, I wouldn't complain too loudly, unless of course you wouldn't mind paying more on your monthly invoice to hire better staff.

A customer of mine has a cobalt over at Rackshack. Knowing nothing about *nix, and needing software installed, they had me do it for them.

So, I go ahead and install DB software, and perl modules, etc.. Things went fine at first, but with only 128MB of RAM, the server evenaully crashed - 7PM.

They have no remote reboot options, so someone must manually push the button on the box.

I opened a ticket for a server reboot - It sat unanswered for about an hour so I logged into their chat room. Got a tech right away who said there was nobody at the "colo" and nobody was scheduled to go out to the colo that night.

So, the techs obviously work at home - Not a big problem.. But could at least keep one person at the colo for problems such as these.

Server sat dead all night. Morning comes, I logged back into the chat room, and a tech said that they'd have someone out at the colo in an hour.

Three hours later, the server was rebooted.

im to lazy to reply about them under selling cause they are not

but i will say that they work out a office building, probly the same one used for ev1 business, and they have a seperate building at other end of town for the NOC, so every few hours or so they send a guy down their to do the work, and then he comes back, so you pretty much have to wait for that guy.... and sometimes its not ever few hours it could be like once a day.

they need to invest in a couple tech's, right now they are training the workers already their which means eventually they will be much much more skilled.

im to lazy to reply about them under selling cause they are not

I hope you actually see they are selling under cost, *way* under cost for your benifit. The numbers are easy.

700 new RAQ's for $1 million. That is $1428/RAQ. That means at $99/mo it will take them 14 months to cover the RAQ alone, not even counting bandwidth and support. Sure they probably make more then that per box, but the fact remains. They are doing this for one reason - Market share! Once they realize companies not making money is out, watch for the price increase.

Oh yeah, Rackshack has a big surprise coming. What do you do with 700 outdated server 'appliances'? Especially when 700 customers request the new RAQ whatever that comes out. Sure hope Sun releases the Cobalt OS like Solaris so we can update these machines.

I am not flaming them, I believe they have a business plan in place. But I can assure you it doesn't involve selling RAQ's for $99/mo forever.

Just my 2.

Ummm, Billy?

Just a quick question. What is your hosting company name? Just for future reference, cuz your profile is, shall we say, a little light.

Thanks.

Originally posted by Mike

So, I go ahead and install DB software, and perl modules, etc.. Things went fine at first, but with only 128MB of RAM, the server evenaully crashed - 7PM.

the above does not make sense to me. How does installing a db software (what db software?) and some perl modules crash a raq server ... or any server? There must have been something wrong with the installation process ... do not blame 128 megs of ram for a server crashing right after brand new installs. The crash is usually a sign that something was done wrong.

later

David

Just a quick question. What is your hosting company name? Just for future reference, cuz your profile is, shall we say, a little light.

Yeah, it is www.super-duper-warlordwizardkiller-webhosting.vd. Check us out. Our moto is "If you don't like us, we kill you in your sleep."

PS- thereismore? I noticed you posted in the Cobalt section. Do you host on RAQ's while being an Alabanza reseller? Or are you just mad about last night. :stickout

Now back to the topic of the post ......

Originally posted by UmBillyCord


I hope you actually see they are selling under cost, *way* under cost for your benifit. The numbers are easy.

700 new RAQ's for $1 million. That is $1428/RAQ. That means at $99/mo it will take them 14 months to cover the RAQ alone, not even counting bandwidth and support. Sure they probably make more then that per box, but the fact remains. They are doing this for one reason - Market share! Once they realize companies not making money is out, watch for the price increase.

Oh yeah, Rackshack has a big surprise coming. What do you do with 700 outdated server 'appliances'? Especially when 700 customers request the new RAQ whatever that comes out. Sure hope Sun releases the Cobalt OS like Solaris so we can update these machines.


I am assuming you have a real source that gave you the $1 million for 700 new RAQs? or did you simply make this up? I find it hard to believe that they would not get a better price for a raq when buying in quantities of 700.

You are also forgetting the setup for each raq4i is $250. Plus extra ram/ips etc. increases the monthly cost. Soo a percentage of initial costs are recouped.

I am sure they have a plan since they have been around for a while. You may even be right that they are trying to grab up market share. But you really have not presented any real facts or proof (other than pure opinion) that their business plan will not work.

later

David

I am assuming you have a real source that gave you the $1 million for 700 new RAQs? or did you simply make this up?

Write before you read? Let me help you -

From *their* web site -
On December 22, EV1 made the largest single purchase ever (by an independent North American ISP) from Cobalt. This order consisted of almost 700 Cobalt Raq servers (Totaling over US$ 1,000,000), was shipped complete 12/29/2000, and arrived in our facilities 1/8/2001. (Take a look at the pictures! The magnitude of the delivery was just incredible!)

they have been around for a while

"From it's beginning in December 1998", again from their web site. Do you call 2 1/2 years a lone time? I guess in this business it is.

But you really have not presented any real facts or proof (other than pure opinion) that their business plan will not work.

In case you didn't read my disclaimer ending pointing out it is opinion, let me display it -

Just my 2.

Facts can be derived from common sense too....hmmmmmm. Ex.... "See fire? Me touch fire me get burned" Fact: Fire burns.

Ex two... "Me sell cobalt RAQ for $99.00/mo ($250.00 set up), me make no money for while"

700 * $250 = $175,000

Now let's say 400 are 128MB at
$99

400 * $99 = $39,600

The rest are either 256 or 512 so lets give it aprox a price of $150 including extras.

300 * $150 = $45,000

Ok...

$1,000,000
- $175,000
= $825,000

$825,000 is there initial BILL for the 700 servers.
they make aprox $84,600 a month off the 700 servers.

$825,000/$84,600 = 9.75

almost 10 months to pay off those servers, those servers have been used for over 10 months now which means everything over and above is profit, not including the fat cash they make when they sell them off.

You also have to remember these servers will always be used... raq2's are still being used.

They will make money off these for the next 3 years, and they paid them off in less than 1

they do the same for raq3's and soon the raq5's or whatever they come out with

That is great Chris. You just did the math for the servers. You forgot about-
1) Bandwidth
2) Support cost
3) Employees
4) Etc....

Also, they have RAQ2's, but soon people will start requesting they upgrade to 4's. You can't really sell a RAQ for less the $99.00/mo. Why would someone want a RAQ2 for the same or a few dollars cheaper then a 4?

not including the fat cash they make when they sell them off

What is this fat cash? and where do we get it for RAQ2's? We have quite a few stacked up. We would like this "fat cash" for them.

those servers have been used for over 10 months

They got the shipment in December 2000. They inventoried them and sold them in late Dec/early January probably. That is 7 months.

Listen, this isn't a debate about whether they are doing things right or wrong. It was just my opinion. It is also common sense. If you have 700 lamps in inventory, they just sit there and waste space. Why not sell them cheap to get rid of them? You have to sell them quick too, because the new model comes out soon. These guys gain market share and add value to something that could be dead weight (minus depreciation). After all, would you rather have a $1400 server sitting in a pile making $0, or one making $99.00?

you forget this company is not just rackshack, they are ev1, they don't have to pay extra for a datacenter, the datacenter is the same one used for ev1 so that makes it cheaper first of all.

there staff is 1/2 the ev1 support, the same support used for DSL support etc... they just make them do both - some new ones part time for rackshack alone support, but not more than a couple, and they don't get paid a whole lot.

bandwidth once again they own there own NOC, they don't have big fees for that...

and yes big cash, you don't think 700 Raq4 2 years from now will go for 50-100k?

those raq4's will probly be used for individual sites, just like people use raq2's for now.

Service Rates: Subscriber acknowledges that the nature of the service furnished and the initial rates and charges have been communicated to Subscriber. Subscriber is aware that the Company may prospectively change the specified rates and charges from time to time. The promotional offer is contingent upon Company achieving and maintaining its cost of service goals including but not limited to rates charged to company by its suppliers.

Straight from their TOS. Looks like everyone is crossing their fingers that they "acheive and maintain its cost of service goals..."

I have been hesitant to sign up with them for some time based on this statement. I don't want to get setup, get the server configured and then have them raise their prices and have to move.

But what the heck...$99.00 for a RAQ4i and 256M...

Almost too good to pass up...

every company reserves the rights to do things like that, we reserve the right to do anything we feel is necessary the purpose is pretty simple... if a company is going to go bankrupt or if they need to do changes that is something to fall back on.

its nothing to be worried about, rackshack obviously isnt having problems if they are upping transfer and giving 256mb of ram for cheap and no monthly fees.

yes big cash, you don't think 700 Raq4 2 years from now will go for 50-100k?

If you call selling a $1400 box two years later for $71 big cash, then I would hate to be your accountant.

No offense, but once you start getting past your third month of hosting you will start to understand all the other cost involved in web hosting.


Purchasing one box from Rackshack doesn't give you any idea what it cost to add 700 servers to a datacenter. Do you understand the power/bandwidth/support/maintenance/insurance/building additions/cabinets/equipment/etc... cost that increased with the addition? Imagine a four bedroom house with three rooms occupied. You have cost to run it. You have a empty fourth room and you throw in a baby. Just because you had an empty room doesn't mean you have carte blanche to do what you will for the same cost as before. There are always cost involved.


webbcite, good point about the terms. :D . Also, if I wasn't not happy where we are, I am sure I wouldn't mind paying $99.00/mo while it last either.

every company reserves the rights to do things like that

Chris, please show me another compnaies TOS stating what Rackshack does. To me they are just covering their bases by warning *way* in advance. Look what happened to Alabanza when they raised their rates. People went nuts. At least Rackshack can say "We warned you months ago".

Also, this has gone way off topic. Sorry guys. Chris, if you have more to add, please PM me. Thanks.

Originally posted by Chris
its nothing to be worried about, rackshack obviously isnt having problems if they are upping transfer and giving 256mb of ram for cheap and no monthly fees.

Unless they are trying to reel customers in before changing the pricing...

I believe they had a big delay in opening and didn't actually start taking orders until February 2001. I remember waiting anxiously to see what they were going to offer. There was a big "to do" on the Cobalt mailing list regarding them before they opened their doors.

Aloha
another thought
they buy 700 raq for the price they said maybe that is a cost it would cost you or I like a car delaer price
also
if I had the network and cutomer base that can sustain my company (there dialup) and I went to cobalt with a proven field of selling x amount of servers
maybe they said OK we will give you what you want for number of servers and you can pay us on time for them on one condition you train your people with one of our tech trainers as we know your support needs help
I would say this is more the case
they got a deal and are paying on time so there upfront costs ar nill the setup fees can go into good investing for futurre payments and capital.

a very good biz plan
besides me griping abot htere service
I hope they make it as the connect is good and price is outstanding
as others hope they can keep it alive

diyoha,

Didn't do anything wrong. I should have specified.. The DB was MySQL, and it was isntalled for Vbulletin - The BB is very popular, and the usage of the BB is what actually crashed the machine.

But, thanks for the useless post.

Originally posted by Mike
diyoha,

Didn't do anything wrong. I should have specified.. The DB was MySQL, and it was isntalled for Vbulletin - The BB is very popular, and the usage of the BB is what actually crashed the machine.

yes you should have specified. Now your post makes a little more sense. The fact remains that because it was mysql and vbulletin, that does not mean *YOU* installed it correctly :)
(Admittedly it does not require too much brain power to install either ... but mistakes can be made)
Also maybe you should specify what the usage was. I user or 100 simultaneous users ... those little details are very important when describing a problem and assigning blame.

later

David

Originally posted by UmBillyCord


Write before you read? Let me help you -

From *their* web site -

Maybe you should read *YOUR* original post. You did not mention that. I guess we are all supposed to know what your source of information is? ;)


"From it's beginning in December 1998", again from their web site. Do you call 2 1/2 years a lone time? I guess in this business it is.

I agree not a very long time ...


In case you didn't read my disclaimer ending pointing out it is opinion, let me display it -
Just my 2.

hmmm so I guess when anyone says "just my 2" means that the opinions and stated facts are worthless and should not be given any consideration? You made some points and I made some counter points ... thats how conversations and discussions work ... no need to throw in disclaimers for no reason ... we are not in court :D


"Me sell cobalt RAQ for $99.00/mo ($250.00 set up), me make no money for while"
I never said this was not true ... my point was the picture you painted is not as bleak as you were describing ... you keep forgeting (or intentionally not mentioning) the other sources of income i.e. the setup and also the extra monthly fees for ram and other services. So while your point true in spirit, rackshack is not completely insane. :)

later

David

Maybe you should read *YOUR* original post. You did not mention that. I guess we are all supposed to know what your source of information is?

My mistake. I just figured you would know a little more about what you were posting since it is on their web site in a few places. Most people post to topics they know about before the get there panties in a bunch and vent emotion. I apologize.

hmmm so I guess when anyone says "just my 2" means that the opinions and stated facts are worthless and should not be given any consideration?

No, it just acts like a smile can (Ex, 'big grin' you are joking so try not to take offense). I used it to help reiterate the opinions were opinions. I stated "I believe" in that post I made.

Back to RS, like an earlier post you made in this thread - "time will tell" ;)

Adieu.

Man!!! Rackshack is offering 256MB to new customers now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not faire. I want more memory and bandwidth too!!!!!!

You think thats bad, one of my servers are at uk2.net and we only get 10gb transfer PER MONTH, you get more transfter then we do in a year.
Also we who have RAQs at uk2.net are stuck with a 3 year contract. :\

Today there was 2+ RAQ turned off, because port sentry blocked there servers after they got scanned by them. They got a email saying they bloke the T&C and thats it. There is alot of unhapy people.

I do not recomend uk2.net. Any sugestions for getting them to rase the bandwith ?

Luke

PS. If i get a raq at Rackshack, can i run a ircd, and bnc's etc? maby a game server from time to time ?

Have a good one

Originally posted by UmBillyCord

My mistake. I just figured you would know a little more about what you were posting since it is on their web site in a few places. Most people post to topics they know about before the get there panties in a bunch and vent emotion. I apologize.

Yup your mistake. You did not post that personally to me ... it was a post to the group ... so your above point is very flawed. Why would you think everyone in the group know anything about rackshack? Also you mistake me disagreeing with you as "venting emotion" which is incorrect, I didn't get mad, I wasn't upset ... I simply did not agree with you. And of course your appology is accepted.


No, it just acts like a smile can (Ex, 'big grin' you are joking so try not to take offense). I used it to help reiterate the opinions were opinions. I stated "I believe" in that post I made.

Actually I do not use the "big grin" or "smiley" to mean joking. To me it means do not take to heart ... no offense intended, stay cool or simply a smile.


Back to RS, like an earlier post you made in this thread - "time will tell" ;)

yup ... time will tell ... I hope it tells that they stay in business since I am depending on them for my hosting :)

later

David

Originally posted by Lantins

PS. If i get a raq at Rackshack, can i run a ircd, and bnc's etc? maby a game server from time to time ?

Have a good one
you can always ask them at their web site. They have a sales/support chatroom.

the reason we have opinions is because we are customers unlike alot who post opinions.

Yea, I'm a new RS customer and recently got the chance to upgrade on RAM and bandwidth. They told us to reply to the email in order to get the free RAM and Bandwidth upgrade. Well, I replied and Sunday morning I got a bill for $42 for them installing the RAM. Now, apparently they didn't charge for the RAM upgrade, but they charged around 39$ for installing it (plus I had to pay Texas tax). So, does this sound right to everyone? Is this just a one time fee? Do they charge for bandwidth too? Thanks. As for my RS, no problems yet..besides a minor DNS screwup on their part.

- no monthly charges
- no charge for the increase in bandwith
-one time cost

YEa, I had to re-read that email I got earlier. I wonder why they made it so confusing:) Anyways, I guess it's still a better deal than most. Thanks dihoya.

Is the upgrade fee a one-time fee, or a monthly fee???

Can anyone post that email sent out by rackshack to existing customers??? My mail server has been down for weeks and I couldn't receive any emails from rackshack. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings from the Head Surfer!

Recently, I announced a one-time offer for existing Rackshack customers to increase their memory configuration from 128MB to 256MB for a special price as well as an increase in the bandwidth allocation for all Raqs to 175 GB of transfer per month per Raq.

Now, I am proud to announce further rate cuts to existing customers as follows:

Value Package OLD: 169.00 NEW: 139.00

256 MB Raq Configuration OLD: 129.00 NEW: 99.00

128 MB Memory Upgrade to 256 MB OLD: 29.00 NEW: 0.00 (Existing upgrade customers only)

NOTE: These prices will be effective for your first bill after September 1,2001 . Existing rates will remain in force until this date.

If you requested the memory upgrade from the recent email, we will contact you in the next two weeks to notify you when your memory upgrade will be processed. While I had expected as many as 50 responses to the memory upgrade offer, we have received hundreds with more coming in every day. Please bear with us as we work through the extra response.

If you have one of the above packages, you need to do nothing. Your price will automatically be updated with your first billing cycle after September 1, 2001. As a reminder, all Raqs now feature a bandwidth allocation of 175 GB per month. After our OC-3 upgrades, that will likely increase to 200 GB of included bandwidth.

Thanks again for your continued business,

Robert Marsh
Head Surfer

According to RackShack.net About Us, they have someone at the NOC 24/7, so why would they need to send a guy over?

"Our support center runs 24/7 with live operator support. Our NOC is manned 24/7, not just monitored 24/7. We have a live human being (if techs are human) manning this center at all times. While many Internet companies monitor their systems 24/7 through computers and pagers, we have a live human being ready to respond immediately."

good question!

did you followup and ask them via email or their chat room?

David

Simple, they like to lie. We had to get a raq restored one time.. no problem they pulled it down took 4 hours.. the next one that they had to restoore took 24 hours? Why? because someone was lazy and didn't want to get the raq along with how many others.. Why couldn't they of just went to the raq, and reset the admin/root passwords.. that is still a unknown factory.. Sure they can pull the racks and charge 200 to restore but they can't just walk up to it and hit a button on the front. Other then their stupid mistakes they have been fast and decent.

They don't have anyone in the NOC ever, they send a man down there aprox ONCE per day to do a quick server plugin/server take.

Good deals, great when everything works. But if something goes wrong - GOOD LUCK.

Almost had my server completely nuked without backup because their support staff were a little trigger happy.

Read the debacle that I went through:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=124339

The price may be right, but I just can't recommend Rack Shack - not when your business or livelihood is on the line.

Leonard