Hi,

I am thinking about purchasing the P2800 from ThePlanet, but they seem amazingly cheap for a Dual Xeon server with so much bandwidth. I haven't heard any bad things about ThePlanet yet though.

The plan is basically:

Dual Xeon 2.8 Ghz w/HT
1 GB RAM
2x80GB HDD
2 TB Transfer
100Mbps

$199 Monthly.

This is the cheapest deal I was able to find on Dual Xeon. Even managed.com is more expensive (by roughly $30) with only half the bandwidth but double the ram. I have read so much negative feedback about managed.com that I don't think I would choose them even though they have double the ram.

Can anyone share their experiences with ThePlanet or even suggest similar plans at other datacentres.

I want to start out selling shared hosting, I already have a small client base through reselling accounts.

Any help / suggestion highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Karthick

This is indeed the best Dual Xeon $200 can buy. Search the Dedicated Server Offers to see whether there is a running promo. You may get additional RAM or HDD space.

Originally posted by Imago
This is indeed the best Dual Xeon $200 can buy. Search the Dedicated Server Offers to see whether there is a running promo. You may get additional RAM or HDD space.

Hello Imago and thank you for your reply.

At the moment, it is the only providor I can find selling Dual Xeon at $200, so it is the only buy in that price range.

How about the datacenter? Is ThePlanet reliable? How are they able to provide such cheap Dual Xeon when some other providors, you can only get P4 for that price?

I guess the question is "Is there a catch?"

If you look in the dedicated server offers forum GNAX has dual opterons and xeons available at $199 and their network is superb.

I did not know about GNAX, Dual Opteron will do fine for me too.

Which datacenter is better, GNAX or ThePlanet?

From where I live I get 60ms more ping time on GNAX.

GNAX is the best one IMO

Most of the GNAX resellers are also excellent providers, but with ThePlanet you will get some extra stuff and golden management and support. At least they were such for me. :-)

Originally posted by Imago
Most of the GNAX resellers are also excellent providers, but with ThePlanet you will get some extra stuff and golden management and support. At least they were such for me. :-)

Agreed. Next to ServInt, The Planet is second to none.

Sirius

voxrox.com & dedicatednow.com

They both have pretty good units around $199... maybe not identical deals, but good as well.

Voxrox seems to use Proliant racks instead of ATX boxes…

I am considering 2 or 3 new boxes at this level and these 3 vendors are the shortlist.

theplanet.com
voxrox.com
dedicatednow.com

All seem to have pretty good reps on the forum (not counting DN's political issues)

Chili

I've been with a lot of dedicated companies over my years, and I can honestly say that The Planet's customer service, billing and tech support crews are top notch. The network can't be beat either. Since moving to them in December, all of my customers have finally put me back on their Christmas list this year :)

The thing about them dual xeons with hyperthreading, you really don't need it, and I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that was what kept my xeon crashing every couple of days. I downgraded my xeon last month to a smaller machine for that reason. There is a how-to here on WHT *I think* about turning that hyperthreading off on dual xeons, something to keep in mind.

Thanks everyone for your reply and suggestions.

Originally posted by e-creations
I've been with a lot of dedicated companies over my years, and I can honestly say that The Planet's customer service, billing and tech support crews are top notch. The network can't be beat either. Since moving to them in December, all of my customers have finally put me back on their Christmas list this year :)

The only negative feedback I read about ThePlanet is that there was 1 minute of downtime some time ago, thats about it. Not enough to drive me away from such a good deal.

Originally posted by e-creations
The thing about them dual xeons with hyperthreading, you really don't need it, and I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that was what kept my xeon crashing every couple of days. I downgraded my xeon last month to a smaller machine for that reason. There is a how-to here on WHT *I think* about turning that hyperthreading off on dual xeons, something to keep in mind.

What exactly is the point of HT? I initially thought it is there to spread out load.

The thing is, these Dual Xeons are similar in price to other providors P4's, so even if I am not using the power, I guess I would have satisfied customers.

I used to have a server from ThePlanet reseller a long while ago, and the uptime is good with low ping. the support is really crap, but only the reseller. Then i got a box direct from theplant which i am very impressed.

Highly recommended ...

Gnax is good stuff.

ThePlanet for me was HORRIBLE. I experienced some of the worst tech support from them... Even managed.com beat them out for tech support.

I would not recommend them unless you want to self-manage your box the whole time.

~Garrett

Originally posted by GMoore7
ThePlanet for me was HORRIBLE. I experienced some of the worst tech support from them... Even managed.com beat them out for tech support.

I would not recommend them unless you want to self-manage your box the whole time.

~Garrett

Can you please elaborate a little. What was the exact problem you were seeking support for in the first place? How long did it take for them to respond to you?

You should note some things:
1) The p2800 is not on the same network as servermatrix or colocation. (the TCS (total control server) network has better equipment)

2) GNAX calculates bandwidth as total split 50/50 only. eg: 1000GB transfer @ GNAX = 500gb up and 500gb down only. 501gb 499gb = 1 dollar in overage. TP is in+out=total, where in could be 1GB and out could be 999GB (technically impossible, but dont mind that)

3) TP is in texas, GNAX is in georgia

is the P2800 a Dell box or a custom build? It is the only one without a Dell logo.

Not that is really matters... but curious.

Chili

I'm currently with ServerMatrix (a division of ThePlanet) and I rate them VERY highly! Their support is great (very helpful people on the phone) and their network is FANTASTIC. I would recommend ThePlanet over most datecenters.

I've been with The Planet for a couple of months. They have been great. Great price, great product, and tech support has been prompt and courteous.

Originally posted by chili
is the P2800 a Dell box or a custom build? It is the only one without a Dell logo.

Not that is really matters... but curious.

Chili

No, it is not. Rather deceiving and misleading IMO, but the TP rep didn't seem to care about what I had to say about the matter. :rolleyes:

(This does not imply what I think or do not think about SM/TP in any way)

Server Matrix / The Planet was a complete nightmare for us. Awful customer support and bandwith over limits in excess of
$800 one month due to a hacker. They make Burstnet look good!

Originally posted by tkporcel
Server Matrix / The Planet was a complete nightmare for us. Awful customer support and bandwith over limits in excess of
$800 one month due to a hacker. They make Burstnet look good!

As they are unmanaged servers, I believe you are responsible for your security and the damages they have caused.

Originally posted by Karthick
Can you please elaborate a little. What was the exact problem you were seeking support for in the first place? How long did it take for them to respond to you?

Long story short, TP misconfigured my server and wanted to charge me $25 for their mistake... they absolutely REFUSED to waive the fee, so I filed a complaint with the BBB and canceled my server immediately.

I am still seeking a refund from them.

~Garrett

Just for kicks I went to Dell.com and priced out a server with the specs of thr p2800s that The Planet offers...
http://www.theplanet.com/control/pro/p2800s_details.html

$5347

Even if the Planet only pays half that, how can they make any money!?

Originally posted by missilemike
Just for kicks I went to Dell.com and priced out a server with the specs of thr p2800s that The Planet offers...
http://www.theplanet.com/control/pro/p2800s_details.html

$5347

Even if the Planet only pays half that, how can they make any money!?

They also lease their servers, just like you do from them. Because ThePlanet is a datacenter, and each of their orders probably consists of thousands of servers, Dell will give them a price cut (as with most things when you buy them bulk). As well, they advertise Dell on their website, so there is another cut.

SM is very bad, go away with them. their billing is also very bad, often calculate wrong.

Originally posted by james007
SM is very bad, go away with them. their billing is also very bad, often calculate wrong.

Expand on that :eek:.

Originally posted by missilemike
Just for kicks I went to Dell.com and priced out a server with the specs of thr p2800s that The Planet offers...
http://www.theplanet.com/control/pro/p2800s_details.html

$5347

Even if the Planet only pays half that, how can they make any money!?

Just eyeballing the specifications, I can guarantee you that you can, without too much difficulty, get that box for under $1500 from Dell. On a 2 year lease, that's about $60 bucks per month ;-)

That being said, someone here mentioned that the P2800S is _not_ a Dell machine.

[note: I am not commenting on ThePlanet, just answering your question. ]

Best Regards,

Raj Dutt

Originally posted by Andrej
As they are unmanaged servers, I believe you are responsible for your security and the damages they have caused.

You get the gold managing service for free with any of their servers:

http://theplanet.com/services/managed.html

Originally posted by nopzor
Just eyeballing the specifications, I can guarantee you that you can, without too much difficulty, get that box for under $1500 from Dell. On a 2 year lease, that's about $60 bucks per month ;-)

That being said, someone here mentioned that the P2800S is _not_ a Dell machine.

[note: I am not commenting on ThePlanet, just answering your question. ]

Best Regards,

Raj Dutt

Incorrect... The P2800S is a Dell.. You are thinking of the p2800- that's why I pasted the URL...

I think you could probably get that system for 2500, but 1500 seems too low for a Dell machine with dual scsi 73 gig drives, 2 gig ecc memory, and two xeon 2.8 processors...

That is still far from managed. I have their Silver package on my SM server and they never go in root. They wouldn't be aware of a hacker attack unless processes are getting knocked down.

I would not hold ThePlanet reliable if our server got hacked.

Originally posted by missilemike
Incorrect... The P2800S is a Dell.. You are thinking of the p2800- that's why I pasted the URL...

I think you could probably get that system for 2500, but 1500 seems too low for a Dell machine with dual scsi 73 gig drives, 2 gig ecc memory, and two xeon 2.8 processors...

Ahh, Ok, so it is a Dell.

That being said, I still am pretty sure you could get that system from Dell for about $1500 (and certainly no more than $1700).

-Raj Dutt

Originally posted by Andrej
That is still far from managed. I have their Silver package on my SM server and they never go in root. They wouldn't be aware of a hacker attack unless processes are getting knocked down.

I would not hold ThePlanet reliable if our server got hacked.

But if I had my own software firewall etc, wouldn't that be enough? They already got hardware firewall + this DDOS mitigation etc...

They also do OS updates + patches and Monitoring etc..

They make a profit on it, period.

If they didn't, I don't think they'd do it at such a price.

Please note this would be my first dedicated server, so what exactly is supposed to be "managed".

Originally posted by Karthick
Please note this would be my first dedicated server, so what exactly is supposed to be "managed".

Ouch. I highly recommend you get an admin or a team to take care of your server if you have no clue how to run one. Also, pick up a book on Linux (just to get to know things). Rack911.com have a very nice administration package for $105 per month. Very good deal!

Originally posted by Andrej
Ouch. I highly recommend you get an admin or a team to take care of your server if you have no clue how to run one. Also, pick up a book on Linux (just to get to know things). Rack911.com have a very nice administration package for $105 per month. Very good deal!

Sounds good. How are they able to offer unlimited admin hours for $105 per month? That price sounds like charge for one or max 2 hours of admin work.

Okay, just for the record!

I am not with The Planet and I am not hosting any servers in The Planet...

People seems to be a little confused about their P2800 server, so here is what I know and I know it because there was a time I wanted to buy that server!

P2800 is NOT a Dell server, it's an RLX box and you can find more information about it here http://www.rlx.com and to find the exact model The Planet offers, look here http://www.rlx.com/index.php/servers/1 - it's the one called P2800 and it's also from there The Planet have the idea to call the server P2800 on their site...!


Originally posted by SniperDevil
No, it is not. Rather deceiving and misleading IMO, but the TP rep didn't seem to care about what I had to say about the matter. :rolleyes:

(This does not imply what I think or do not think about SM/TP in any way)

I think you are wrong, because The Planet do not write or say that the P2800 is a Dell box and if you ask them they answer you honestly that is not, that's also why I know about the RLX box, they told me!

If you look careful you'll also see the P2800 is the only server where they don't use the Dell logo (Powered by Dell) and it's also the only server which don't support DRAC which is developed by Dell!

Is there that much advantage in the Dell systems? Why would an RLX Dual Xeon perform differently from a Dell Dual Xeon?

To get the dell one, it costs just $20 more per month, minus one HDD, but the HDD is SCSI. I assume the RLX box HDD is IDE. The dell with 2 x SCSI 73G is $50 more.

Originally posted by Imago
Most of the GNAX resellers are also excellent providers, but with ThePlanet you will get some extra stuff and golden management and support. At least they were such for me. :-)

Well, "Gold" management at TP does not mean it's better then the default management provided by tranxactglobal (GNAX). Just sounds better ;)

But it's true that at TP you get some extra stuff... Comparing the high end servers, they provide extra RAM (2GB against 1GB), extra SCSI drives (2 SCSI vs. 1 SCSI/ 1 IDE), and extra downtime (specially at DLLSTX4... just take a look at the Outages forums).

That said, my vote goes for GNAX.

Originally posted by miss_lea
Okay, just for the record!

If you look careful you'll also see the P2800 is the only server where they don't use the Dell logo (Powered by Dell) and it's also the only server which don't support DRAC which is developed by Dell!

I think the original posters point was that the server in question is pictured as a Dell Poweredge 1600SC, when it is not a Dell server.

[ Disclaimer: I'm not passing any judgement on ThePlanets
services, merely attempting to clarify what I believe the original
poster meant ]

Originally posted by nopzor
I think the original posters point was that the server in question is pictured as a Dell Poweredge 1600SC, when it is not a Dell server.

[ Disclaimer: I'm not passing any judgement on ThePlanets
services, merely attempting to clarify what I believe the original
poster meant ]

Thank you for enforcing my original point. They have pictures of Dells, and the average person who is looking for a TC server would honestly buy that P2800 on the assumption that it is a Dell... although it doesn't say "DRAC card", they would assume that because there is a picture of a PowerEdge on the products page, it is a Dell.

Just wanted to clarify.

A quick hop over to the RLX page indicated the P2800 is a blade... not a ATX or 1u box.

That could certainly be done for 1500-1700.

Assuming the poster knows for sure that those are what they use.

Given my druthers, I am still leaning to the voxrox.com Dual 2.4.

Chili

I will make a simple comment. GNAX provides more efficient support and admits when there wrong and listens to clients.

If there is a problem GNAX will talk to you and fix it. GNAX obeys the laws of customer service.

Our experience with the Planet was horrible and to this day they have never admitted they "EVER" made a mistake. Even going back to a ram upgrade that botched and 13 hours later I finally had to tell them to pull the ram before they ever even switched it.

But not everyone has had the experience we had with the planet, nor will everyone. So, it is a gamble. Will you be one or will you not be. Read the forums regarding the various issues with the planet.

With GNAX you can actually get a custom deals, if you know how to negotiate.

GNAX is more friendly, and more honest in long run.

You can't go wrong with goin with them.

I also recommend Servint, if you have no idea about servers, and what you should do to keep your server working nice all the time.

They have superb support, and all servers are managed there.

N.

Originally posted by NEMON
With GNAX you can actually get a custom deals, if you know how to negotiate.

GNAX is more friendly, and more honest in long run.

You can't go wrong with goin with them.

I also recommend Servint, if you have no idea about servers, and what you should do to keep your server working nice all the time.

They have superb support, and all servers are managed there.

N.

No I was just asking what else has to be managed?

Already theplanet have hardware firewall + ddos protection, OS updates, security patches etc etc.. + Some admin time free.

Gnax it costs a bit more for managed + firewall.

edit: $75 more :(

Read all the fine print. Read it very well. If it doesn't fall in the fine print it's $75+ per hour.

I emailed The Planet and asked whether there is much of a difference in performance between the RLX box and Dell box since both have very similar specs,

still waiting for a reply... ~ 8 hours.

I emailed jhinkle @ GNAX and asked if this WHT offer is still available:

Dual Intel 3.06 Ghz XEON Processor - faster than the comptitions Xeons
1024MB ECC Memory
2 x 80GB Hard Drives
2000GB of Bandwidth
8 IPs
APC Reboot
100% Network Uptime Guarantee on the GNAX route sciences optimized network!
$199.00/mth, $0/setup

No response ~ 6 hours.

I will keep you guys updated, though reading all the responses it seems GNAX should be good, + this offer which is basically an extra 400Mhz.

Once again I am reconsidering whether I should start selling shared hosting since there are so many people selling many GB of space and 100's of GB of transfer at < $15. I don't have that many customers already to justify buying a dual xeon. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Initially I tried to edit my post but apparently I can't after 15 minutes.

My initial thoughts were that I could use the "Dual Xeon" as a marketing technique to get more customers, but it seems people are just as happy with P4's and Celerons...

I have enough money to ensure atleast a years worth of hosting @ 224$ + all the initial start up costs, but I am not keen on wasting it. I have seen a few hosts offering 15gb space / 150 gb transfer @ ~ $10 per month.

Does anyone have any figures that show success/failure rates of web hosting businesses?

I think the drop out rate in the webhosting business is pretty high. Take a look at the "Running a Web Hosting Business" and read a few threads about it...

Regarding "I have seen a few hosts offering 15gb space / 150 gb transfer @ ~ $10 per month" simply do not take part in this game :)

Originally posted by Karthick
I emailed The Planet and asked whether there is much of a difference in performance between the RLX box and Dell box since both have very similar specs,

still waiting for a reply... ~ 8 hours.

I emailed jhinkle @ GNAX and asked if this WHT offer is still available:

Dual Intel 3.06 Ghz XEON Processor - faster than the comptitions Xeons
1024MB ECC Memory
2 x 80GB Hard Drives
2000GB of Bandwidth
8 IPs
APC Reboot
100% Network Uptime Guarantee on the GNAX route sciences optimized network!
$199.00/mth, $0/setup

No response ~ 6 hours.

I will keep you guys updated, though reading all the responses it seems GNAX should be good, + this offer which is basically an extra 400Mhz.

Once again I am reconsidering whether I should start selling shared hosting since there are so many people selling many GB of space and 100's of GB of transfer at < $15. I don't have that many customers already to justify buying a dual xeon. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.


Karthick,

have in mind it's a weekend. I am sure that's not so strange 2 you :)

For example I am here, online, but if any sale request came during weekend, we dont replay. Mostly cause when we will goin to do once, they will expect always to get replay during the weekends (ofcoruse not for tech issues etc) and in long run, that's a not a good option.

N.

Originally posted by Walter
I think the drop out rate in the webhosting business is pretty high. Take a look at the "Running a Web Hosting Business" and read a few threads about it...

Regarding "I have seen a few hosts offering 15gb space / 150 gb transfer @ ~ $10 per month" simply do not take part in this game :)

That is exactly what I am scared about - High drop out rate.

I can provide 16 hours support per day (me and partner; 8 hours each) and maybe have the system sms me if I get a support ticket in the other 8 hours. I know it is possible to hire support personell over the net, haven't looked into this option just yet.

To start off, my current plan is to sell 2GB space, 30 GB transfer @ something just under 10 per month. - Does this sound good? Any thoughts - comments?

Originally posted by NEMON
Karthick,

have in mind it's a weekend. I am sure that's not so strange 2 you :)

For example I am here, online, but if any sale request came during weekend, we dont replay. Mostly cause when we will goin to do once, they will expect always to get replay during the weekends (ofcoruse not for tech issues etc) and in long run, that's a not a good option.

N.

Sure, I understand. I am not complaining or anything. Please remember that I am a n00b at this stuff. I am just informing exactly what I am doing with everything so if I am doing something wrong I can get feedback.

Though one thing for sure, if I do start this company I will be practically living on WHT :stickout: :D

Originally posted by Karthick
To start off, my current plan is to sell 2GB space, 30 GB transfer @ something just under 10 per month. - Does this sound good? Any thoughts - comments?

For me that's way to cheap, but of course there will be many hosts disagreeing.

But from your post I assume you haven't made a solid business plan yet? I don't want to sound impolite but your prices should be driven not by guessing but by your needs (steady income) and your customers needs (service).

I think you really should discuss this topic in the adequate forum (Running a Web Hosting Business).

Originally posted by Karthick
That is exactly what I am scared about - High drop out rate.

I can provide 16 hours support per day (me and partner; 8 hours each) and maybe have the system sms me if I get a support ticket in the other 8 hours. I know it is possible to hire support personell over the net, haven't looked into this option just yet.

To start off, my current plan is to sell 2GB space, 30 GB transfer @ something just under 10 per month. - Does this sound good? Any thoughts - comments?


Karthick,

ok, nothing personal, you seem's like a nice guy. But we are mostly here tired of newbie's trying to make a quick buck :)

There is really no way, from us to give you bullet-prof way of "how to make money in this business", heck, I am doin it like many years now, and every day I wake up wondering regarding many things.

You actually have NO exp with administration of server (unless I am mistaken), and you did not made any plan for the prices and everything regarding business him self.

You should first do on some basic, the server is actually very easy to get this day's, almost like hambugers in Mcdonalds - like a drive in "hello sir, here is your P4 server, have a nice day!" but everything alse is very important.

If I would devide my time in this business in % for each day, servers and etc, takes less then 10% of time, everything alse is spend on actually talking with people (email, phone etc), billings and such, if you have nice operation goin, servers will work just fine in the moste of the time.

I could write more, but it's hard to put everything what I know here in few lines in this post.

I wish you the best regardless on everything.

N.

Originally posted by Walter
For me that's way to cheap, but of course there will be many hosts disagreeing.

As I said this is my plan to get started with, so that I do not run into loss too much. Even with this config, I am not anywhere near loss on a server with approx 60-70 accounts.

Originally posted by Walter
But from your post I assume you haven't made a solid business plan yet? I don't want to sound impolite but your prices should be driven not by guessing but by your needs (steady income) and your customers needs (service).

I haven't made any solid plans yet. If I start, it will take many weeks, maybe months, as I want to plan out everything, see my accountant + lawyer and make some solid advertising plans before I start offering anything.

Originally posted by Walter
I think you really should discuss this topic in the adequate forum (Running a Web Hosting Business).

Will do

gee, I just notice, in last 48 hours, I just made more posts then in year and a half :)

It must be I have 2 much free time......not good, not good!

N.

Originally posted by NEMON
Karthick,

ok, nothing personal, you seem's like a nice guy. But we are mostly here tired of newbie's trying to make a quick buck :)

There is really no way, from us to give you bullet-prof way of "how to make money in this business", heck, I am doin it like many years now, and every day I wake up wondering regarding many things.

You actually have NO exp with administration of server (unless I am mistaken), and you did not made any plan for the prices and everything regarding business him self.

You should first do on some basic, the server is actually very easy to get this day's, almost like hambugers in Mcdonalds - like a drive in "hello sir, here is your P4 server, have a nice day!" but everything alse is very important.

If I would devide my time in this business in % for each day, servers and etc, takes less then 10% of time, everything alse is spend on actually talking with people (email, phone etc), billings and such, if you have nice operation goin, servers will work just fine in the moste of the time.

I could write more, but it's hard to put everything what I know here in few lines in this post.

I wish you the best regardless on everything.

N.

I have some experience, with VPS but that was all managed... :( Easiest option for me is to get a server admin from Rack911, or I might sit down for a month or two and learn server administration, which is also possible and more feasible in the long run.

I can assure you I am not trying to make a quick buck but I wish I can establish a long term business.

Thanks for your kind comments and suggestions.

Liquid Web has decreased their price and is now comparable to TP and GNAX. I have ruled out GNAX because of the 50/50 in/out rule.

Liquid Web have slightly slower processors - 2.66 Xeons

However Liquid Web offer full server management - They claim that it is enough to know how to use WHM, they care of the rest. Free third-party software installations and they will also try to support third party software.

$249 - Liquid Web Dual Xeon 2.66 OR Dual Opteron 242 - 2 x 120G IDE 7200RPM - 50GB Remote Backup - Remote Reboot

$274 - ThePlanet - Dual Xeon 2.8 Only - 2 x 73G 10000RPM SCSI - DRAC - 40GB Remote Backup - Dell Servers

Pings are very similar. I am leaning towards the Liqiud Web one. Another factor influencing my thoughts is the second TP datacenter which is said to have frequent downtimes - which the professional series of the total control servers go in.

Which one is better in your opinion? LW or TP?

Which CPU is better for web servers? Xeon or Opteron?

If you need some hand holding regarding server management, go with Liquid Web, I don't think ThePlanet has that kind of management, or at least not at this price.

The big plus at ThePlanet are their affordable SCSI servers, very good for heavy load and databases!

The Opterons are very powerful and AFAIK outperform the Xeons.

Originally posted by chili
A quick hop over to the RLX page indicated the P2800 is a blade... not a ATX or 1u box.

That could certainly be done for 1500-1700.

Assuming the poster knows for sure that those are what they use.

Given my druthers, I am still leaning to the voxrox.com Dual 2.4.

Chili

I have one of the original TC servers when they were all RLX boxes. This is my spec, so if the P2800 is anything like this, it's a pretty decent box (and it's a 1U server, not a blade):

1 Supermicro \ Dual Xeon - TotalControl RackModule \ X5DPR-IG2+
2 Intel \ P4 Xeon \ 2.8Ghz
2 Transcend \ 512MB \ DDR266 ECC Registered
1 3Ware \ 2 channel SATA \ Escalade 8006-2LP
2 Seagate \ 80GB:SATA:7200RPM Barracuda \ ST380013AS
1 TotalControl \ IPMI \ 1.5

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cprompt
[B] it's a pretty decent box (and it's a 1U server, not a blade):
[QUOTE]

VOXROX has been doing some research into the viability of a blade server offering. The main disadvantage that we see, is often times, the drives are slower (ie. laptop IDE drives). Other than that, is there anything that anyone has _against_ blade servers?

I wonder how the cooling is on blade servers...

Other than that, is there anything that anyone has _against_ blade servers?


While chassis failure is relatively rare, especially with redundant power supplies, taking down an entire chassis of blade servers sorta scares me.

As mentioned above you really need to plan how you are going to cool a rack of these. Judging by the amount of power required from one of these you may be able to get a couple in a rack, but I would be a little worried about the cooling of a cabinet with two of those units in it.

Then, if you can manage to fit two blade chassis into a cabinet then you will get a decent amount of servers in a cab(24ish), which is about what you can do with 1U machines.

I think they are a really cool idea, but make sure you get the cooling under control.

Peter

I went with LiquidWeb. My first server was setup in roughly 4 hours after ordering. LiquidWeb called me up to confirm the order about 10 minutes after I ordered it.

good prices, good servers, worst support. until they read these threads and do something about it, i do not feel sorry for them in any way.

they need to take a headsurfer course!

Hi Salvatore,

Are you talking about The Planet or Liquid Web?

I'm talking about the planet, Thank you

And also another problem with the planet is that their new datacenter has many outages, and they don't give you the choice of putting the Professional Series TC servers in the old DC. Apparently if you purchase Enterprise series you have the choice.

Highly recommended ThePlanet

--
Mobi

I would like to retract what I said in this thread. I guess they have been listening which is good. I have pounded them with many questions on my new server because I am new to windows/plesk and all tickets were answered in a timely manner.

Thanks again ThePlanet, good to see you listen and improve.

On the west coast there is calpop.com which has came to me to be pretty decent.


Dual Intel Xeon 2.6ghz CPU
533mhz FSB
1 GB PC2700 DDR Ram
120 GB HD Serial ATA
1500+ GB Burstable
24 Hour On Site Support
185 and free setup

Another good place which has a setup fee is steadfastnetworks.com

High-Level Server

Dual Intel Xeon 2.4Ghz
1GB DDR RAM
120GB 7200rpm Hard Drive

$199.95/month + $49.95 setup with 1000 GB of bandwidth


I have a server in theplanet now and its a linux server.. I personally done like it but im pretty sure its just the windows box isnt that great.

XS

The planet and voxrox have been great so far. Great support, service etc. And NO downtime (that I have noticed) since I signed up with both. Both are great choices in my opinion.

We've been doing well with Sago's dedicated dual XEONs and they are amazingly only $175 / month (I think people overlook the bargain servers at Sago) :). We have some co-lo boxes at ThePlanet as well (no dedicated) and their support/bandwidth has been good.

Chris

We've been with them for about 1 mth and we're looking to get out ASAP. Support is non-existent. Here's what they'll tell you everytime: "submit a trouble ticket & we'll get to it".

Our server went down and it took them 4 days to properly restore all data. They're support is the worst we've ever seen. Not worth the hassle. You get what you pay for in this instance. We sporadically have email issues as well, sending & receiving.

Good luck on your search. We're praying for the hosting gods to help us out on the next (& hopefully last one) dedicated hosting provider.

Originally posted by madspeed
Support is non-existent. Here's what they'll tell you everytime: "submit a trouble ticket & we'll get to it".

But that's how the game works - what's the problem with submitting a ticket to their help desk?

Not if you have a server down. We understand the purpose of TT's but when it's critical to restore a server, waiting is not an option.

Even though we submitted the TT, it took them 5 hrs later to acknowledge the issue and then referred us to submit 2 other separate TT's to resolve the issue. After that, it took over 15 phone calls to a Mgr to expedite. Four days later & many TT's, we finally resolved the issue.

Not our idea of a fully managed hosting provider if the support is not there, especially when one is paying for it.

Sounds like bad luck.

Last time one of my servers went down at ThePlanet I was automatically notified (SMS) via the external monitoring I use, I went to my computer to look after it (remotely), only to find out that there was already a tech from ThePlanet looking after it (about 5 minutes?).

I had a couple problems with tech support at The Planet but all together they are one of the best companies to go through.

Whenever I had a problem I just picked up a phone and called them, that usually got my issue resolved right away..

Originally posted by Karthick
Hi,

I am thinking about purchasing the P2800 from ThePlanet, but they seem amazingly cheap for a Dual Xeon server with so much bandwidth. I haven't heard any bad things about ThePlanet yet though.

The plan is basically:

Dual Xeon 2.8 Ghz w/HT
1 GB RAM
2x80GB HDD
2 TB Transfer
100Mbps

$199 Monthly.

Karthick

It is a little old, but I may as well post for comparison purposes. The P2800 now has
Dual Xeon 2.8 Ghz w/HT
2 GB RAM
2x120GB HDD
2 TB Transfer
100Mbps

Free Network Backup Hard Drive (40 Gig)

$199 Monthly. No Setup Fee

Code - WHT

Originally posted by Bill_LWH
It is a little old, but I may as well post for comparison purposes. The P2800 now has
Dual Xeon 2.8 Ghz w/HT
2 GB RAM
2x120GB HDD
2 TB Transfer
100Mbps

Free Network Backup Hard Drive (40 Gig)

$199 Monthly. No Setup Fee

Code - WHT

On theplanet.com the specs are still as I listed, so this must be a special offer?

Where did you see this offer? I might get it soon.

I actually seen it on these forums as a matter of fact. It is in the dedicated server forums. Go ahead and try selected 2 gigs of ram on it, 2 120 GB hard drives, and click order and see what prices you get. I'll edit this post when I find there post.

EDIT : Thread ID 333530 on these forums

TP's network is solid....the 2800 is great for the $ - don't expect quick resolutions from support.

Always answered the phone though.....

you can save $ if your willing to pay higher set-up fee's @ others like GNAX and go Dual Opteron.

GNAX Dual 242 Opteron w/t (2) 120GB SATA RAID / 1GB RAM
is outperforming
TP 2800SR Dual Xeon 2.8 w/t (2) 73GB SCSI RAID 1 / 2GB RAM
with the exception of the read/write times on the SCSI (duh)

both have same OS and CP.

I am not running a whole lot of MySQL so the savings of 140/mo is worth the Dual 242 Opteron @ GNAX

What I liked most about GNAX is the 1-time hardware upgrades versus TP adding cost to the monthly....

Also GNAX worked very well with me on IP assignments (in C class blocks for SEO) versus TP assigning IP's from what ever block they are currently assigning from.

Just the confirmation after reading all the debates about what machine is Dell and what is RLX:

The P2800 (2 IDE HD) is NOT Dell, it's RLX machine.
The P2800ss (has 3 SCSI drive) is indeed a Dell machine, which is about $50 more compare to P2800 (comparision is between normal price, not promotion).

LT had an offer on a Dual Opteron 242 with 2GB RAM for $199.

Originally posted by Bill_LWH
I actually seen it on these forums as a matter of fact. It is in the dedicated server forums. Go ahead and try selected 2 gigs of ram on it, 2 120 GB hard drives, and click order and see what prices you get. I'll edit this post when I find there post.

EDIT : Thread ID 333530 on these forums

That thread (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=333530) is nearly 2.5 months old.

Originally posted by Zion
LT had an offer on a Dual Opteron 242 with 2GB RAM for $199.

Just wondering what is LT stand for, not everyone is familliar with all of dedicated server companies :).

Originally posted by Nam
Just wondering what is LT stand for, not everyone is familliar with all of dedicated server companies :).

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