Interserver 1Ghz P3 deal Vs Rackshack 1Ghz P3 deal.

Which deal would you choose?

My main concerns are:

1. Network Performance.
2. Network Stability.
3. Server Stability
4. Which machine has the best pre-installed software configuration.
5. Quality of Support.
6. Is Cogent better than Vdi.

I will be running 2 fairly big sites from the server, the sites both use mysql and php and consume around 40Gb of bandwidth per month.

Pete

Search at WHT, and you will find some detailed answers, but briefly:

1) VDI has probably the better network overall, but throughput on Cogent is pretty impressive.
2) Cogent has had 100% uptime, I believe, and VDI has suffered a little downtime.
3) Both should be pretty stable
4) Interserver comes with Cpanel, RackShack with Plesk - probably your personal preference as to which you choose.
5) Interserver seem to be having major support issues of late.
6) Search for "Cogent" to see people's opinions :)


Regards
Matt

My experience with Rack Shack was only with a Raq4i and the network performance was never an issue though I did have an extended outage because their sys-admins were in a different location then the Raq's and they were not 7X24. When my Raq crashed they had to remove my Raq and drive it to the sysadmins and wait overnight for the repair. It took over 18 hours to repair the password file. I was not happy with that arrangement so I left for Interserver. I believe with Rack Shack's new data center the onsite sysadmins should no longer be an issue (not sure about 7X24). If I were starting from scratch I would consider Rack Shack's new server option, specially since they are in the new data center.

I would recommend being very cautious of Interserver's ability to be responsive to support issues. I had a mid level server with Interserver in the past, the server and network performance was great. The support started off very good but it degraded over time. The level of support available does not seem to be consistent, sometimes it is very quick and sometimes it can be very slow but you just never know what you will get. If you can live with the possibility of extended response times to issues then it is worth the gamble because their server is a very good deal. Mike from Interserver did post a message a while back stating that they were going to add 5 support staff in December, if that is in fact the case things may be getting better but only time will tell.

The one thing that really put me over the edge and made me decide to leave Interserver was a VDI.net/Verizon network outage which isolated the VDI data center. I understood that VDI was connected to multiple ISP's only to find that they appear to be single treaded by a single Verizon access. If you have very sensitive customers then I would say look elsewhere.

For my final selection I needed to know that I would get support (good support) when I needed it so I ended up paying the extra money and going with pwebtech.com and it has been great!

There are a lot of good options out there, just remember you usually get what you pay for so ask your future provider a lot of questions and if you do not like the answers keep looking.

Sorry this was so long but you asked :)

Hi all-

Every time I look at interserver's "no set-up fee", I am tempted. Then, I see one of these threads and decide not to try them.

Are there any good dedicateds out there with no set-up fee?

Dedicated Servers really do cost money to setup, so a provider with no setup fee be rare. Cogent and RackShack seem to be having network issues still. My Raq seems to go down though the day corisponding to the drops to 0 Megabit of there Cogent line on the rackshack network page.

On the plus Rackshack allows IRC Servers, but because of the network problems, having clients drop 2-3 times a day isnt practical.

Originally posted by will5404
Dedicated Servers really do cost money to setup, so a provider with no setup fee be rare. Cogent and RackShack seem to be having network issues still. My Raq seems to go down though the day corisponding to the drops to 0 Megabit of there Cogent line on the rackshack network page.

On the plus Rackshack allows IRC Servers, but because of the network problems, having clients drop 2-3 times a day isnt practical.
eh? they don't allow IRC servers, that might be the reason it is going down...

Read the AUP again:
http://www.rackshack.net/aboutus/aup.asp

They allow IRC servers now.
also:
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1402&highlight=IRC

Example of the network downtime:
[8:19pm] *** [10054] Connection reset by peer
-
[8:19pm] *** Disconnected

-
[8:19pm] *** Connecting to ****.com (27017)
-
[8:20pm] *** Unable to connect (Connection timed out)
-
[8:20pm] *** Connect retry #1 ****.com (27017)
-
[8:21pm] *** Unable to connect (Connection timed out)
-
[8:21pm] *** Connect retry #2 ****.com (27017)
-
[8:21pm] *** Unable to connect (Connection timed out)
-
[8:21pm] *** Connect retry #3 ****.com (27017)
-
[8:22pm]-Welcome- psyBNC2.2.1
[8:22pm] --psyBNC- Your IRC Client did not support a password. Please type /QUOTE PASS yourpassword to connect.

It wasnt my internet connection as I was on other IRC nets and forums.

2 min? a whole lot of down time ( :rolleyes: ) especialy since their forums said the network was down last night due to a DOS attack...

Hmm didnt read the post about the DoS attack, however if it was a isolated 2 minutes of downtime I wouldnt mind. But having it happen a couple times a day is annoying.

We just got 2 servers with Interserver and there support is by far the worst i have ever seen. I mean super bad as in support tickets being open for 8 days and still no reply, talking to them on AIM or ICQ and then they just quit talking once you mention support, telling you that they will have a tech look at the ticket in the morning because it was to late but that was 3 days ago and still no responce from that tech. Go with Pwebtech they will work with you and they can get you a server without a setup fee.

To reply to question #6 if cogent is better than Vdi. Don't know about Vdi but Cogent bandwith is sssllloooowww. We run sites that utilize over 100 Mb a site and would never risk giving them Cogent bandwith.

Thank you all for your responses.

So it seems Interserver and Rackshack are not very good choices.

I see pwebtech has been mentioned, I have been to the pwebtech site a few times and always been put off by the broken and un-existent links, the last time I visited their site was a few months ago, and the links are still the same today. It doesn't really fill me with confidence about the quality of the firm if they cannot get a couple of WebPages online in a 3+ month period.

Another thing that puts me off is the power of the machines compared with the price. My sites need a decent amount of memory and processing power, 800Mhz P3/256 memory is just not enough, my minimum spec is at least 1000Mhz P3/512 memory. This means I would have to go for the top of the range duel 800Mhz machine.

Here in the UK a 256Mb stick of memory is just £25, and the difference in price between an 800Mhz P3 and a 1400Mhz P4 is only £25. It seems a shame to pay an extra $200 per month to get the extra power when £50 extra spent on components would achieve more than my ideal power range.

All I want is a half decent powered machine, ideally with 50Gb to 70Gb of bandwidth and a good solid/fast network connection, this can't be as good as is gets, or is it!!

Pwebtech is really a great company even if they are slow on fixing there site up. I think that you could get a server that would fit your needs for a very good price. Not a cheap as some but the support and uptime are remarkable.

I have seen the dedicateds in your range go for around 350 to 450 a month.
Dual PIII 866
40Gb Hard Drive
512 ram
CPanel
50Gb transfer

ps. I do not work for Pweb I just love their service.

I must mention rackshack has more than just cogent bandwidth. 4 or 5 other providers also. I also hear they are bringing in another gig-e from XO.

I have seen the dedicateds in your range go for around 350 to 450 a month.

Dual PIII 866
40Gb Hard Drive
512 ram
CPanel
50Gb transfer



If they did the following spec for around the $400 mark I would go for it.

Dual PIII 866
SCSI Hard Drive
512 ram
CPanel
50Gb transfer


Pete

I thought they aren't going to use Cogent because it crosses over with their Time Warner backbone or something...

We've been with Rackshack for just over 8 months now, and their support has improved dramatically over that period. They've also moved into a new data centre in December, which sorted out most of the on-site support issues.

They also seem to have a sound business model, which is comforting.

I agree with afriq, that Rackshack is a good company. Before I actually purchased my server, I spent a few months being skeptical on the idea of having a dedicated server at Rackshack because with all the posts that I have read about them failing at this and that, it put me off. So I purchase a server just to see how it was and it went very well, I had no problems (since I don't require support that is).

We don't seem to read many stories in these forums of good things about Rackshack which is a shame. Well this is certainly a thumbs up for them.

Alan