I'm trying to gauge whether or not I'm paying too much (or getting a good deal) on my current dedicated hosting. Here's the rough specs of my server, and cost:

-Cobalt RAQ 3 with 256 RAM
-250 gigs/monthly tranfer

Cost- Around $700/month

Now, the server is pretty crappy, but support is great, and so is the network (Verio). It's also been fine tuned to handle my site's load.

My question is, am I paying unnecessarily here, and if so, what are some suggestions as to where to move to? I probably would want a Linux server w/ 512 RAM this time, and with excellent network and support (eg: not Cogent).

I don't want to post my site's URL, as everything is very sketchy now. I just want to get some idea of my options.

Thanks,

I'm with www.dedicated-servers.co.uk.

Costs me £200 a month for a PIII 800 with 256MB, 2x 20GB hard disks.

That's got 15GB per month bandwidth, so I assume yours is so expensive because of the amount of bandwidth you've got.

Regards

Matt

Yes, those prices sounds very high, and not only compared to Rackshack.net.

Just browse the Web Hosting Special Offers forum and you will see the current price level

It looks like that is a little expensive... I'm sure you could find something a little cheaper on a good network.

Originally posted by easybyte
I'm trying to gauge whether or not I'm paying too much (or getting a good deal) on my current dedicated hosting. Here's the rough specs of my server, and cost:

-Cobalt RAQ 3 with 256 RAM
-250 gigs/monthly tranfer

Cost- Around $700/month

Now, the server is pretty crappy, but support is great, and so is the network (Verio). It's also been fine tuned to handle my site's load.

My question is, am I paying unnecessarily here, and if so, what are some suggestions as to where to move to? I probably would want a Linux server w/ 512 RAM this time, and with excellent network and support (eg: not Cogent).

I don't want to post my site's URL, as everything is very sketchy now. I just want to get some idea of my options.

Thanks,

i suggest you should stuck with your current provider if you are happy with them. $700 for 250 GB of quality bandwidth is fare price. Also as you described your server is find tuned so your new provider may not have all things like your current provider.

Just my $0.02.

I agree with mahinder. If you're happy with your current provider and you can afford it, stick with them.

Personally, I think their pricing is quite expensive. With $700/month, I could probably get a better server (than RAQ) elsewhere, maybe even on Dialtone or Rackspace, though I'm not sure if you could get that 250 GB bandwidth/month.

It depends if 250gb per month is your allocation or your actual usage? ie. do you actually use 250gb per month? The server is pretty crap $99 per month rent max. It's always a good idea to re-negiotate contract every 6 or 12 months.

Thanks guys for the response. Of course the reason why I'm inquiring is because $700/month is a little steep for me. In today's economy I'm not sure if it makes sense to do that, even if I can afford it.

With regards to bandwidth usage, I'm currently using around 200 gigs (out of 250 gigs). The site is mostly text, so if I can get a more powerful server and install mod_gzip, I'm sure the usage can come down a lot more.

I'm hoping to find a "perfect" server that's around $500/month. I'm aware of the advertising forum, but as mentioned, I need quality insurance (who doesn't). The site is very important to me, and when it is slow or goes down, a lot of screaming people will be letting me know of it.

For top quality bandwidth you'll probably pay $3 per gb ( in 100 gb blocks ) Though affordable colo is nice quality and its only $1.50 per gb.

I just figured out these numbers for you:


Server Cost: ~ $150/month
Support Costs: ~ $50/month
Bandwidth Costs: ~ $500/month


Now, if you round that out with the 250GIG transfer you get, that means that your paying about $2.00/gig, which is a pretty good price on a tier1 network. Now, the prices for the server and support are just a guess, but it is pretty close possibly.


I doubt you would find a much better deal with the level of support you seem to be getting. Even Rackspace charges something like $2.75/GIG, so you should have the better deal.


Jim

I guess for that bandwidth, I'm getting a good deal. But the nature of the site makes me think I can reduce that cost. The site is mainly text, so with a decent server+mod_gzip, the bandwidth could probably be cut down to less than 150 gigs/month (or even to 100 gigs). And since the site is just text+images with a few cgi scripts, support is rarely needed unless it's a network or server down issue.

well, if your site gets that many hits, you may want to look into a good advertising solution. With the extra advertising solution profits, you could go out and purchase a Dell Server for about $1300.00 and then colocate at like AffordableColo.com (www.affordablecolo.com) . Its like $35/mo plus $1.50/GIG of bandwidth.

You shouldnt have much need for OS tech admin, so why even go dedicated, just colo. If you ever need some sort of help with the server admin/management, you could always post an ad here, on WHT.


Check it out


Jim