Just ordered a root server III from 1and1.com last night around midnight. The order process was simple enough and within 10 minutes I got a call from their IVR asking for the PIN number they provided me at the end of my web order. I typed it in the phone and it was accepted. At 12:39AM last night I recieved an email with my customerid number and was able to login to the control panel. The server was ready yet but my account information was setup and ready to go. The email i recieved said it could take several days to get the server, based on other reviews I read it was within hours sometimes a day.

1PM today: No server yet, but it's really only been 4 or 5 business hours (EST)

lol, so is this bad?

They have an automated calling system? That's pretty cool :)

Keep us updated!

Quote from http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/ServerRoot: Please allow a couple of days to set up your Server II & III due to the current overwhelming demand for these products.Hope you're not too impatient...

When I ordered a Root III it was ready in a couple of hours. I have to say I am INCREDIBLY impressed with the services 1and1 have to offer. I haven't had a need to use their technical support. But their overall value is very good...

Same here. Was setup in no time. The automation was amazing and was very professional. I have used their support a couple times, great people to deal with.

Keep us updated on your status!

1:44AM: we're now at the 24 hour mark and no server insight. I'm patient, but i'm curious how long they would take based on what i've been reading about them. They aren't in the doghouse yet. :> I"m still optimistic and have no reason not to have complete faith in them.

Just read my previous post in this thread ;-).

4:12PM two days after ordering and still no server in site, control panel for my account looks great. Hope the server is as well if/when it comes. Rolling up on what i would consider several days now, but that's open to interpretation.

I would call them to be sure its in the queue.

Day3 and calling 1and1 tech support to find out lead times and possibly get an ETA.....on hold for 15 minutes .....gave up and sent them an email asking for status and an ETA.

I got one of those free accounts and I've been debating whether or not to put a site on it. Do they expire at some time?

Originally posted by memdy
Day3 and calling 1and1 tech support to find out lead times and possibly get an ETA.....on hold for 15 minutes .....gave up and sent them an email asking for status and an ETA.

E-mail takes forever, like days. Call them and stay on the phone and don't get off till you are all setup.

Low and behold Saturday 6/19 I got an email stating the server is ready. So they took approximately 3 to 4 days to turn the Root III server around. No problem so far except getting used to Plesk, i've been using Ensim so i'm going through a learning curve on v7 of Plesk. The manual is good at telling you what things do but I need something with real world examples that helps me apply the concepts to my real world business and integrate with 1and1's services.

I have already recieved my server and in a decent amount of time for the turn around. But I recieved an email today in response to my email per this thread on 6/18 as inquiry to the ETA of delivery of my order.

1and1's response was that there would be a delay in my order as they were waiting on hardware/servers to arrive from Germany.

Funny thing is, i already have my server and already provisioned a customer on it. Good for me, but I think it shows a disconnect in their process somewhere which concerns me a little bit about continuity and getting lost in the system if I ever do need some help or have a real problem.

Thanks for posting your experience with 1and1.com, if you wouldn't mind updating in a few days that would be great! I am looking to add a server and try them out in the next couple of weeks.

I have used Plesk for a couple of years and swithed to Ensim on an upgrade. Plesk is easier for the users, but less powerful than ensim. I found it was very stable though and easier to support than Ensim.

Question:

With many options available, why buy a server from a company that also competes so aggressively for your end-user hosting?

1and1 is working hard to be the WallMart of hosting. I would prefer to do business with a boutique shop that sells servers only and does not "burn the candle at both ends".

In some industries there is no choice - all suppliers are also competitors, but in the hosting biz there are enough hard-working folks doing only one thing (hosting, or colo, or leased servers) - why feed your competition?

Thanks for your input. I do appreciate what you are saying, but I am working from a different premise. I deliver the best service, tailored to my client's needs, that presents a good value to them. If they don't see the value in my services, they would never be a client in the first place.. I charge more.

I cannot and do not compete with a low price domain host with a lower service level, so the fact that 1 and 1 goes after the end user doesn't bother me, that type of competition is going to be there. If getting the end user business I wouldn't get anyway, allows a company to be more profitable and offer dedicated servers at the best price/value/service level for me, great!

Just my philosophy from doing this since 1996, but that is always subject to change!

I understand your perspective, but I question going with a low-ball/low-host server if your primary interest is good service to your clients.

In a related thread in the co-lo section, I mention that a generic leased server is not going to have the features best suited for a reliable system.

Specifically, features such as ECC dram memory versus plain vanilla generic memory and redundant drives/RAID hardware make a huge difference in reliability but you won't get that in a Walmart-style mass market server.

If you've ever had intermittent crashes, freezes, or other hard-to-track-down memory problems, you'll appreciate how many hours of frustration, unhappy customers, and your own time is saved by spending a bit more and having reliable memory subsystem.

Similarly, redundant drives make a big difference in uptime and recoverability. Drives are the biggest potential failure point in a server - precision electromechanical devices spinning at high speed with micro tolerances generating a lot of heat, etc.

Do you have an ip address (or network address if you don't want to provide ip) I could traceroute?

Just curious if routing to their $99 machines is as impressive as it is to their web site.

Colocation/end users aside, if you can get that kind of routing/connectivity for $99 color me impressed.

Tim

Originally posted by spiv
I understand your perspective, but I question going with a low-ball/low-host server if your primary interest is good service to your clients.

In a related thread in the co-lo section, I mention that a generic leased server is not going to have the features best suited for a reliable system.

Specifically, features such as ECC dram memory versus plain vanilla generic memory and redundant drives/RAID hardware make a huge difference in reliability but you won't get that in a Walmart-style mass market server.

If you've ever had intermittent crashes, freezes, or other hard-to-track-down memory problems, you'll appreciate how many hours of frustration, unhappy customers, and your own time is saved by spending a bit more and having reliable memory subsystem.

Similarly, redundant drives make a big difference in uptime and recoverability. Drives are the biggest potential failure point in a server - precision electromechanical devices spinning at high speed with micro tolerances generating a lot of heat, etc.
As for needing a more expensive host to have stable hardware, that is what most would expect but it never happens for me. 2 SM boxes, 2 valueweb boxes that were all the cheapest available and never had any hardware problems in past year whereas 1 TP TCS server and lots of hardware crashes...
Anyways, point is that expensive hosts can still get some pretty crappy hardware.

Originally posted by binarena
Do you have an ip address (or network address if you don't want to provide ip) I could traceroute?

Just curious if routing to their $99 machines is as impressive as it is to their web site.

Colocation/end users aside, if you can get that kind of routing/connectivity for $99 color me impressed.

Tim There's a dedicated server IP and some speed tests mentioned in this thread (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1843604#post1843604). Routing is the same as for 1and1.com.

Thanks, aldee.

Tim

So far so good, the learning curve from Ensim to Plesk is pretty large but I'm sloshing my through it. Once I can get one customer up and running on it then I'll have a better feel for how the entire setup is running.