any comments about cobaltrack.com? There so cheap it makes me wonder! 100 bucks for a dedicated server!!

I sent them a e-mail and got one back in 15min!! They said there cheap because they buy alot of them or something but they look like s samll company so i dont know why they would need to buy alot of them?

maybe they are resellers!

I have a RaQ, and talk to a few people who run them as well. I have seen only one post about Cobaltracks and it wasn't good. I talk to someone else who leases one there and he can't wait for the contract to expire so he can move. He complains of very slow support, so I don't think I'd go by that 15 minute reply.

where did you get your raq Chicken?

I actually bought it, through tera-byte, where it is colo'd. I priced them and found the best deal I could and they matched it. I don't think buying it is the best thing, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I think you can find decent lease deals which are close, if not better, than buying it. Though Cobaltrack was one of those better deals, and I don't think I would have been NEARLY as happy there. Glad I saw it after I did what I did :)

*cough**hack*Advertising forum please!*hack**cough*

Thank you for your co-operation.

Originally posted by atjeu
although we cant do them for $100/month, that is unrealistic for a cobalt

Although I agree with the suggestion of the advertising forum, I also think this statement might be helpful.

Very true chicken,
Cobalt Racks arent cheap anyone offering them for 99.00 is not going to have to skimp somewhere.

Im having trouble trying to figure out why were still promoting raq's when from my opinion plesk is just as good if not better.

I would be int. to hear everyones opinion on why or why not they would go with a raq over plesk.

It is possible to do those cobalt raq's for that price, however it is a base model your not going to be doing a whole lot on any server with just 32 megs of ram. <shameless plug>ill also be offering those low end raq's starting next week, although my pricing and support will be the best there is </shameless plug> im sure with the right leasing company (or deep pockets) just about any host can make a similar offer, the problem becomes what happens when there are 4 or 5000 units in a location can they still handle your support needs. thast where the dialtones albanza's and digital nations have the advantage they have the numbers how do they do on support? as far as cobalt raq's themselves go, if you dont push them to the limit they work well, you overload them and your going to have problems.

Steve
Tera-byte

True, true... side note: steve, I fixed the problem with the logs splitting. I think all is well now. After today, I'll be sure.

I would NOT recommend them

I signed up with them a few months back and requested a RAQ 3 with 512 RAM and 20 gig hard drive

They setup the server 2 days later, i worked 3 days installing updates etc, new software and bang i hit the info and find out the server only has

64 MB RAM and 8 gig Hard drive

It took 4 days for them to get back to me on this, and finally talking to someone, he said "we dont get much requests for the bigger servers" etc etc...he said it would be another week before they could install my server. i said forget it, canceled my account and went to Catalog.com

They got a RAQ3 512 MB RAM, 20 gig hard drive and 100 gigs of bandwidth for only $379 ($29 bucks more and 50 gig bandwidth!)

They setup it up within 24 hours and its been great since!

PS: cobaltrack also puts you on a bandwidth throttle which i noticed..unless they just have a very bad backbone

This was the post I was talking about (by the way). If you are still considering them, I'd gladly see if my buddy who currently has one there would contact you. He'd be able to give you a second opinion. But, as I said, I have talked to him, and he wants out ASAP.

Hello,
My name is Sam Moats I am a network engineer for Cobalt Racks. If anyone has any questions they would like to ask of me or our company please let me know. In the meantime I will dispell some myths....
1. Cobalt racks DOES NOT throttle bandwith in any way.
2. We had some problems early on with 512Meg cobalt signups, that was when we were only takeing 2 a day. It is normal now to setup sevral 512Meg cobalts in a day. All available servers WILL be active in 1 hour or less.
3. We are presently connected to Cable and Wireless via 6 independant circuts and two 11Mbit microwave links. Next month we will be adding a DS3 from UU.NET.
4. We purchase over $250,000 in cobalts a month at that rate the price is punched down to sub $1000 in most cases. As a result we can offer such wonderful prices.
5. We have 24X7 emergancy support available via phone and 24X7 full service support via email
6. We add between 4-30 cobalts per day and we ONLY host cobalts.

Pardon my raveing I just wanted to clear up some mis-conceptions.

Sam Moats
Visual Link
Cobalt Racks

I agree with Sam

Since the time i tired to signup over 4 months ago, things were bad, but i've given them a 2nd chance and they straighted up their act

Every company has it's bad moments. Many take care of the problem, because if they didn't, they'd loose their customers.

IF you like average ping times of 160+ and support that will not respond to emails but do pick up the phone if you call them but all you will get from them is email support just to get nothing back then cobaltracks is the place for you.

Sam you upgraded last month what happend?
Well let me tell you what happend Nothing happend if anything the connections got slower.

I have bugged cobaltracks support so much they wont even respond to me anymore.

And to tell you the truth im glad they dont all it was doing was making me more madd.

I was not going to post on this but seeing what chicken said about the guy he knows thats sick of cobaltracks.com Well thats me he is speeking of.

This my last email to Sam Moats with ping times>

Hello
Sam has the upgrades been done?
If so here are my ping times and things seem to be getting worse.

Traceroute to 208.155.64.177, Wed Sep 20 14:54:57 PDT 2000
% /usr/local/bin/traceroute 208.155.64.177
traceroute to 208.155.64.177 (208.155.64.177): 1-30 hops, 38 byte packets
1 border-gw2.pa-x.dec.com (204.123.2.242) 1.95 ms (ttl=64!) 0.977 ms
(ttl=64!) 0.0 ms (ttl=64!)
2 core-gw6.pa-x.dec.com (204.123.1.6) 3.90 ms (ttl=63!) 0.0 ms (ttl=63!)
0.0 ms (ttl=63!)
3 f0-1-0.paix.bbnplanet.net (4.0.2.113) 0.976 ms 0.976 ms 0.977 ms
4 p3-0.paix-bi1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.173) 1.95 ms 0.976 ms 1.95 ms
5 p1-0.xpaix-mci.bbnplanet.net (4.0.2.106) 0.977 ms (ttl=250!) 0.976 ms
(ttl=250!) 1.95 ms (ttl=250!)
6 acr1-loopback.SanFranciscosfd.cw.net (206.24.210.61) 2.92 ms 2.92 ms
2.93 ms
7 corerouter1.SanFrancisco.cw.net (204.70.9.131) 8.78 ms 7.81 ms 2.93
ms
8 corerouter1.WashingtonEast.cw.net (204.70.9.133) 68.3 ms (ttl=247!)
69.3 ms (ttl=247!) 68.3 ms (ttl=247!)
9 acr1-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net (206.24.226.61) 68.3 ms (ttl=246!)
68.3 ms (ttl=246!) 68.3 ms (ttl=246!)
10 bar3-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net (206.24.226.8) 68.3 ms (ttl=245!)
68.3 ms (ttl=245!) 69.3 ms (ttl=245!)
11 visual-link-internet.Washingtondck.cw.net (208.173.0.122) 158 ms
(ttl=244!) 127 ms (ttl=244!) 192 ms (ttl=244!)
12 208.155.64.177 (208.155.64.177) 169 ms (ttl=243!) 164 ms (ttl=243!)
209 ms (ttl


Traceroute to 208.155.64.177, Wed Sep 20 14:57:12 PDT 2000
% /usr/local/bin/traceroute 208.155.64.177
traceroute to 208.155.64.177 (208.155.64.177): 1-30 hops, 38 byte packets
1 border-gw2.pa-x.dec.com (204.123.2.242) 0.976 ms (ttl=64!) 0.976 ms
(ttl=64!) 0.977 ms (ttl=64!)
2 core-gw6.pa-x.dec.com (204.123.1.6) 0.977 ms (ttl=63!) 0.0 ms
(ttl=63!) 1.95 ms (ttl=63!)
3 f0-1-0.paix.bbnplanet.net (4.0.2.113) 1.95 ms 1.95 ms 0.977 ms
4 p3-0.paix-bi1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.173) 1.95 ms 0.977 ms 0.977 ms
5 p1-0.xpaix-mci.bbnplanet.net (4.0.2.106) 0.976 ms (ttl=250!) 1.95 ms
(ttl=250!) 0.977 ms (ttl=250!)
6 acr1-loopback.SanFranciscosfd.cw.net (206.24.210.61) 8.78 ms 7.81 ms
10.7 ms
7 corerouter1.SanFrancisco.cw.net (204.70.9.131) 6.83 ms 9.76 ms 13.6
ms
8 corerouter1.WashingtonEast.cw.net (204.70.9.133) 70.3 ms (ttl=247!)
69.3 ms (ttl=247!) 70.3 ms (ttl=247!)
9 acr1-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net (206.24.226.61) 68.3 ms (ttl=246!)
70.3 ms (ttl=246!) 71.2 ms (ttl=246!)
10 bar3-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net (206.24.226.8) 68.3 ms (ttl=245!)
67.3 ms (ttl=245!) 68.3 ms (ttl=245!)
11 visual-link-internet.Washingtondck.cw.net (208.173.0.122) 395 ms
(ttl=244!) 347 ms (ttl=244!) 400 ms (ttl=244!)
12 208.155.64.177 (208.155.64.177) 471 ms (ttl=243!) 458 ms (ttl=243!)
315 ms (ttl=243!)



----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Moats" <support@cobaltracks.com>
To: <smoats@visuallink.com>
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 7:37 PM
Subject: Network Upgrades


> Hello,
> This is a message from cobalt racks to inform you that we will be
> upgradeing our network infastructure between 10am and 4pm tommorow. We
will
> make every attempt to do this upgrade live however you may see momentary
> downtime. Also we would like any comments about network preformance before
> and after the upgrade. Also I suggest checking the cobalt website for
> security and upgrade patches.
>
> Sam Moats
> Visual Link
> Cobalt Racks
>

I jumped the gun on this company. I ordered another RAQ4 from them today, and bang, i try getting on it, and its sllllooowww as mollass.

Until this company gets their act together, i recommend NOT getting a server from them. Want proof? I am on a cable modem thats prob as fast as a T1, and my avg pings to my new server is over 1700ms. My servers with Catalog.com are avg 100ms to 140ms

Now tell me thats not a big problem?

From the looks of it, their big connection from UUNet hasnt happened yet, i doubt it will. And Sam Moats, if you read this message, i already sent you a email :-)

Target Name: N/A
IP: 208.155.68.101

1 13 ms inetgw.anchorageak.net [24.237.0.1]
2 14 ms [208.138.129.31]
3 27 ms [208.155.87.122]
4 55 ms sea7507.admin.gci.net [206.96.62.1]
5 68 ms bordercore1-serial1-0-0.Seattle.cw.net [166.48.205.253]
6 83 ms ngcore1.Seattle.cw.net [204.70.9.129]
7 96 ms corerouter1.WashingtonEast.cw.net [204.70.9.133]
8 124 ms acr1-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net [206.24.226.61]
9 1565 ms bar3-loopback.Washingtondck.cw.net [206.24.226.8]
10 1923 ms visual-link-internet.Washingtondck.cw.net [208.173.0.114]
11 1703 ms [208.155.68.101]

Glad I am not the only one with that problem. You say you have servers with catalog.com also and the ping times are avg 100ms to 140ms with catalog? I would contact them about that also I have a server with catalog and my ping times are in the 20 to 30 range.

Yes, thats right

Well, you prob have less hops with them, i on the other hand and hopping all the way from Alaska :)

Target Name: www-hosting.net
IP: 209.217.49.16

1 27 ms inetgw.anchorageak.net [24.237.0.1]
2 14 ms [208.138.129.31]
3 41 ms [208.155.87.122]
4 42 ms [206.96.48.227]
5 55 ms POS1-3.GW8.SEA1.ALTER.NET [157.130.182.5]
6 55 ms 109.ATM2-0.XR1.SEA1.ALTER.NET [152.63.105.218]
7 55 ms 195.at-2-0-0.TR1.POR3.ALTER.NET [152.63.105.2]
8 68 ms 130.at-1-1-0.TR3.SCL1.ALTER.NET [146.188.140.122]
9 83 ms 399.ATM7-0.XR1.SJC1.ALTER.NET [152.63.48.189]
10 82 ms 193.ATM5-0.BR2.SJC1.ALTER.NET [152.63.51.173]
11 83 ms [137.39.91.62]
12 82 ms [24.7.65.166]
13 110 ms [24.7.65.177]
14 110 ms [24.7.65.182]
15 124 ms c1-pos2-0.okcyok1.home.net [24.7.64.106]
16 110 ms bb1-pos3-0-0.rdc1.ok.home.net [24.7.72.134]
17 110 ms [10.0.164.2]
18 137 ms [10.252.64.6]
19 124 ms ATHM-64-232-xxx-2.home.net [64.232.160.2]
20 137 ms aux-209-217-49-16.oklahoma.net [209.217.49.16]

true this is the ping time I get for you

Ping 1 209.217.49.16 47ms
Ping 2 209.217.49.16 32ms
Ping 3 209.217.49.16 31ms
Ping 4 209.217.49.16 31ms
Ping 5 209.217.49.16 31ms
Ping 6 209.217.49.16 31ms
Ping 7 209.217.49.16 32ms
Ping 8 209.217.49.16 32ms
Ping 9 209.217.49.16 32ms
Ping 10 209.217.49.16 32ms


Average ping time:33.1ms.

thats not to bad

Thats pretty good! U must be in Texas ;-)

I just wish there was another company out there with the prices like Cobalt Racks

Forget Dialtone, since they charge you a arm and leg with bandwidth..

I am close to Texas I am in Colorado, the price at cobaltracks is good but I guess you get what you pay for the next best I found was catalog and I am very happy with them.

Sam Moats:

I am a fairly new cobaltracks.com customer

My IP is 208.155.68.153

The server went down 2 days after I signed up....it took you 2 days to fix it. I was told problem is with MCI circuits

Server went down again a week later: I was told because of a bad HP switch

3 days later, yet another outage...explanation: "we can ping it but something isn't right...we'll have the network admin reboot the raq and see if that works"

Server is down AGAIN as I write this :(

You DO NOT have 24 support

your website doesn't even list an email address for support(email address for sales, however is on every page)

You barely answer your phones during normal business hours

The only person that seems to respond to my email and phone queries is Tom Surmiak and he has DENIED all my requests for credits for the outages.

I have been unable to find out how exactly your company is organized so I may escalate my concern.

I am looking for a new hosting company.

-Kapil Sachdev
kapil@kapilville.com

Wecome Kapil, and hopefully things will be looking up for you in the future...

Thanks Chicken! I'm glad to be here too!!

...and update to my previous post....my RaQ is back up!!! I don't know if it recovered on its own or someone at cobaltrack.com did something to it ( no one has contacted me from cobaltrack yet)