A customer of mine recently hired me to secure a server located at Sagonet. I've really never given them a second thought since the negative press about buying out Unitedcolo.com. That changed yesterday.

This customer has a Dual Xeon 3.06GHz box with 2GB of ram and dual 73GB SCSI drives. I've put it through the paces and this box has quality hardware. Sagonet's network doesn't seem too bad either, no SSH latency and I've had it up to the full 100mbit a few times.

I guess my question is, how is the other side of their business? Support, billing, sales etcetera?

Thanks for the information. :)

Who are their Bandwith providers btw?

According to their website http://www.unitedcolo.com/network.htm , they are using Global Crossing as their bandwidth provider. Does look like they only have a single pipe.

as i hear sagonet is a good provider and way improved than unitedcolo.

i might give them a try :)

Originally posted by Bashar
as i hear sagonet is a good provider and way improved than unitedcolo.

i might give them a try :)

Yeah they take PayPal :D

they got level3 now as well, support is usually quite fast < 30 mins.

i traced them from several locations it seems they only got level3

Originally posted by Bashar
i traced them from several locations it seems they only got level3

Hmm, *wonders if it's a GigE*

I'm sure it's at least one. They're running a very large operation there. UCG occupies 16 racks alone. From what I understand, they do have connections to other isps, and their pipes to GC are still lit, but they only would use em if level3 had issues. I think they also have some backup lines to twt maybe? I'm not sure exactly what they have, but while they seem to only route in/out with level3, i'm positive they have fibers in there to other isps that are on.

Oh, and their support is very very good, however, their billing is sadly, not up to par. They're in the midst of a migration, so perhaps that's part of the cause, but they still should be running a tighter ship. Their network, support and prices definitely offset any billing issues, because ultimately, billing issues aren't mission critical and usually fairly easy to fix. I would recommend them. As for them and UCG, they do all of the provisioning, billing and support for UCG, so I'm guessing that your experience will be roughly the same with both companies.

stayed 6months with sagonet, never had a problem.

Said it before and always have to reiterate when a Sago thread like this comes along. We've been there since the efreeservers move (going on 2 years now). There were some issues at first (although the move itself was smooth) but since then it's been smooth sailing. We haven't had any billing issues to speak of. They've gone through multiple bandwidth providers since we first got there, and most recently they have started a big level 3 push. I can't say I notice the speed difference but then again it's always been pretty fast :).

Chris

Sago is a great way to go. I have nothing but compliments for them. Great network, great support, good prices, superior datacenter, superior hardware, superior service. (Note: All information obtained from current customers, I am not a customer of them, YET.).

They will start offering cpanel soon, and this will boost their popularity.

This is what I was told about their network:
Level(3), Global Crossing, TeleGlobe, TimeWarner, UUNET, ATT (L3 is primary, all other b/w providers running bgp4 as well)
I only see Level3 though in BGP queries. If anybody has a server inside of Sagonet, can you please post an outgoing traceroute to any of those providers, that does not go over Level3?

- Matt

*Bites fingers to prevent from typing things I want to; but will regret*
It has already been stated that they mostly use Level3. I am 99% sure that they just use the other fiber for if Level3 is down.

Originally posted by z280 Hosting
*Bites fingers to prevent from typing things I want to; but will regret*
It has already been stated that they mostly use Level3. I am 99% sure that they just use the other fiber for if Level3 is down.
I understand that they "mostly" use Level3. I've been told that they have Level3 & the others in a BGP mix configuration, not a failover though. I have a feeling that somebody is lying here, since incoming BGP tables only have advertised routes to Level3.

- Matt

Just talked to Sago via AIM:
*Hidden Screen Name*: we DO use BGP4 using all of our b/w providers...but our main pipe is level 3

Originally posted by z280 Hosting
Just talked to Sago via AIM:
*Hidden Screen Name*: we DO use BGP4 using all of our b/w providers...but our main pipe is level 3
I understand that is what they say (I talked with Jason about it, that's the same info that he relayed to me from the engineers), but here's what BGP tables say:

66.118.128.0/18 *[BGP/170] 2w2d 07:47:52, MED 10, localpref 100, from 209.249.254.207
AS path: 3356 21840 I
to 64.125.30.246 via so-2/0/0.0
> to 64.125.30.250 via so-5/0/0.0
[BGP/170] 3w1d 23:27:07, MED 10, localpref 100, from 209.249.254.205
AS path: 3356 21840 I
> to 64.125.28.210 via so-0/0/0.0
[BGP/170] 3w1d 23:27:07, MED 10, localpref 100, from 209.249.254.213
AS path: 3356 21840 I
to 64.125.29.45 via so-2/2/0.0
to 64.125.29.49 via so-2/3/0.0
to 64.125.29.53 via so-3/2/0.0
> to 64.125.29.57 via so-3/3/0.0
[BGP/170] 1w2d 08:02:14, MED 10, localpref 100, from 209.249.254.8
AS path: 3356 21840 I
> to 64.125.28.210 via so-0/0/0.0
[BGP/170] 1w2d 08:04:39, MED 10, localpref 100, from 207.126.96.50
AS path: 3356 21840 I
> to 64.125.28.210 via so-0/0/0.0
[BGP/170] 3w1d 23:26:40, MED 10, localpref 100, from 216.200.254.192
AS path: 3356 21840 I
> to 64.125.28.210 via so-0/0/0.0
[BGP/170] 1w5d 16:45:10, MED 10, localpref 100, from 216.200.254.193
AS path: 3356 21840 I
> to 64.125.28.210 via so-0/0/0.0


AS3356 = Level(3)
AS21840 = SagoNet

http://www.fixedorbit.com/AS/21/AS21840.htm also shows Level3 as the only BGP announcement.

- Matt

Why does it matter to you in the long run? What are your intentions?

Originally posted by z280 Hosting
Why does it matter to you in the long run? What are your intentions?
Well, if you really want to know, I've been talking with Jason Brozena over at Sagonet for the past week or so about working with them on possible reseller deals. We're trying to expand our product offerings, and are in talks with a few different providers. Feel free to email Jason & ask if you want to verify that.

They claim to have connectivity to ATT, but here's what ATT's route server shows for all of its routers included in that:

7018 3356 21840, (received & used)

7018 = ATT, 3356 = Level3, 21840 = Sagonet.

- Matt

I have talked with Jason B. before. Jason is nice and all, but if you want better more technical answers talk to someone from the NOC.

I been with sagonet for a while now and they have proven to be one of the most reliable provider's I have used, as far as I know they will just use level 3 and have kept something else unused in the event of a level3 failure.

Originally posted by z280 Hosting
I have talked with Jason B. before. Jason is nice and all, but if you want better more technical answers talk to someone from the NOC.
Jason is great, I've talked with him while he worked at another provider in FL as well. He forwarded me the network information from Adam, who I believe is upper management at Sagonet. I've never heard about downtime at Sagonet, but I'd obviously like to know the ins & outs of a provider before I decide whether or not to work with them.

- Matt

You have heard about downtime at sagonet??? Or do you mean lack-thereof.
Adam works directly in the NOC, If you have no life you can sit around watching their Live NOC Security cam and see him.

He said "I've never heard about downtime" z280, and I 2nd him. Not that it never happens, but it's seldom and short.

Chris

Originally posted by z280 Hosting
You have heard about downtime at sagonet??? Or do you mean lack-thereof.
Adam works directly in the NOC, If you have no life you can sit around watching their Live NOC Security cam and see him.
Chris is correct, I said that I have never heard of any service affecting issues or downtime at Sagonet (at least from WHT), that's why we're looking into using them. Unfortunately, I do have a life and can't sit here waiting for Adam to appear on the security cam :D

- Matt

Sorry... My misunderstanding. I havent heard of downtime either.

Ive had a server with UnitedColo and the whole time I have had to deal through Sago.... I had called and left a message questioning about somthen on my account.. No big deal. Anyway my cell phone was sitting on the table and it rang. My mom was here and awnsered it.. My mom said that I wasnt here atm could she take a message. She said just tell him ...... Got all technical with my mom and my mom is the nicest person in the world and told her that she doesnt understand. The lady blew up and cussed her out. Might I add I left the message around 2 weeks before I got the call. After that I canceled the server in the middle of the month through phone and email over 3 times to make sure it gets canceled. End of the month roles around and 10 days after that the servers still up and they charged me for the server. I got pissed and called and got crazy and they said I never sent the email blah blah.. They are some organized punks.. I would reccomend dealing with any girls there. They think they know everything but cant tell a fork from a spoon

Akane

Akane,

I don't think your experience is typical and I know from my experience that all of the staff (especially the women on staff) are *very* customer service oriented. I would hardly categorize them as "organized punks". You didn't mention what happened after the server cancel? Did they cancel it? Did you have to pay for the "extra" month?

Last I heard there they use sporks so this may clear up the confusion ;).

Chris

I had to pay for it.. I showed them proof and they basically said to bad. It was 2 months ago. They might have changed in 2 months but that is fast from how big of crap they were.

There are so many UnitedColo unsatysfied customers. I would suggest only taking true 100% sagonet customers are real experiences.

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to post to clarify the bandwidth questions. Our carriers have not changed recently, other than:

1.) A dramatic expansion of Level(3) bandwidth due to a new contract.
2.) The consolodation/elimination of the old Genuity AS on the Genuity node we were connected to in favor of the Level(3) AS. We can't speak of, nor are we told, how seperate these two networks are since Level(3) began consolidating Genuity's old network.

According to fixed orbit, you will always see us advertising Level(3) right now. We are still connected to Global Crossing, but have moved ALL of our Global Crossing GigE's to the protect side of our network and moved all of the Level(3) GigE's to the work side. This was due to some pretty massive issues Global Crossing had such as internal unresolved routing loops, equipment failures, and fiber cuts. While the overall performance of Global Crossing was outstanding, we felt these problems, which are mostly undetectable by BGP (BGP can't see latency 5 hops from our network), were not meeting the demands of our customers. As a result, our network engineers decided to move all of our Global traffic to protect, meaning that we would stop using GBLX for transit on a primary basis. In the event of a failure, those links are still there and are still controlled by our internal BGP.

Just like all of the readers of this forum, we find ourselves continously battling our upstream providers to get the service OUR customers demand. Sometimes this involves making choices like this one. Should GBLX traffic improve, they will be added to our primary (work side) mix again. Again, right now, they are still serving as a backup link.

TimeWarner is still in play as a hot standby and routing some TWT bound peer traffic.

We have one other carrier in beta test, and still have not made a decision as to a long term relationship with that carrier, but they are part of our outbound network when we are testing.

We have always gone to great lengths (and expense) to ensure our network is robust and reliable as possible. That principle will never change.

We will also be making some exciting announcements relating to huge upgrades to our network. One user asked if we do, in fact, have a full GigE. To answer that question, we do, and have several of them.

Thanks for the clarification, things look good :)

- Matt

Just ordered one. Let see how that works out :)