Hello

I would like to share with you my sad experience with http://www.fastservermanagement.com/

I am an internet professional, I know how the hosting related jobs are difficult and I respect others professionals. I know that problems can happen, so I post such a message only when I feel that the considered party deserves it.

Early this year, due personal and professional problems, I couldn't monitor and manage closely my servers. My associate was ill and the only way to find some relief was to contract some management company to monitor, at least, the most important servers.

I signed up with Fastservermanagement about March 2005. I started with one server, then I added 2 or 3 others a couple of weeks later. I was paying $29 per month per server.

I was supposed to have the following with each server:



CHKRootKit - a simple program that detects and hacker software and notifies you if any has been detected via email
RootKit Hunter - scanning tool to ensure your system does not have any backdoors or exploits
Securing and Upgrading of SSH Server - increases security during ssh connections
APF Firewall - the most commonly used policy based iptables firewall system
Anti-DoS configuration for APF Firewall - helps mitigate denial of service type attacks
BruteForceDetection - notifies you of numerous login authentication failures
Log Analysis Software Installation - Emails are dispatched daily, the amount of detail in the emails can be changed on request
System Integrity Monitor - 24x7 Internal Monitor that checks all services and restarts them if they are down
SPRI - changes the priority of different processes in accordance to level of importance, hence increasing server performance
Secure and Optimize Apache (HTTP) - tweaks apache to perform better, and prevent unnecessary information from being easily seen
MySQL optimization - increases performance of MySQL
host.conf hardenening - prevent dns lookup poisoning & spoofing protection
nsswitch.conf modification - secure and optimize DNS lookups
sysctl.conf hardening - helps prevent TCP/IP stack from syn-flood attacks and other network abuses
Removal of unused software - prevents exploits and wasted resources
MyTOP - tool for monitoring MySQL threads and processes
MultiTail - view multiple log files simultaneously
TMP Directory hardening ( /tmp, /var/tmp, /dev/shm) - helps prevents execution of malicious scripts
Password Scanner - scans for easy to guess and common passwords
Filemanager - allows you to edit system files through WHM in case SSH is inaccessible
Firewall Admin - allows you to edit firewall allow & deny list and config through WHM


From this list, nothing was installed. They try to install myTOP but it never worked.

In fact, when you open an account, they install nothing. You need to open a ticket and ask for every specific item. So I did. Anyway, well later, when I assessed my servers security, I found that nothing, I mean nothing was done in this matter. No firewall, no BFD, SSH was still accepting protocol 1... on any server managed by Fastservermanagment.

Because I insisted for Apache hardening, they tried and when finished their job, Apache was just blocked and all websites were down. 10 hours downtime just for Apache hardening! In fact, I discovered later that they have no experience with Direct Admin.

It is not a shame to have no experience with a specific control panel, no one knows them all. But serious companies, when they don't feel comfortable with a control panel, they don't accept to being paid to manage it. Just to compare, I asked someday "nobalooney.com" to install PHP5 on a cPanel server and they refused because as professional as thery are, they judge that they have no complete cPanel knowledge to take contracts on it.

I decided to continue with Fastservermanagement because I was on need of someone to reboot my servers if they come to fail.

I asked for this service using their ticket system again. The service was "implemented".

Few days ago, a server was overloaded during a couple of hours and the pings sent by Fastservermanagement system were lost. For each lost ping, their system sent an automated email to NAC support service. They were flooded at NAC and contacted me to ask me to stop this game which was very understandable.

So, I asked Fastservermangement to stop using this useless method and rather to use an intelligent and human reaction when a server fails. I read on their first page:


24x7x365 (5 minute interval) Server Monitoring with Reboot
If your server is down, we will follow your instructions to reboot it by either contacting data center or accessing reboot port
Our response time on reboots is Guaranteed within 15 minutes!

Few days later, mySQL (which was monitored) stopped. All forum, portals, ecommerce websites... hosted on the server were down for 14 HOURS! Yes 14 hours. Eventually, I was phoned by a customer and nevertheless a friend then I ran to my office. I found 150 angry emails form my customers. I log into my box and restarted mySQL in matter of seconds.

Sometimes later, in May, one server crashed completly. Fastmanagement server had all instructions on how to reboot this box in these cases. But they even react and the server was down for 10 hours. Eventually I went to my office and restarted the server by myself.

Immediately, I asked Fastservermanagement to to cancel my subscription for all servers. They acknowledged. Then, I hired a unix admin to take care of my servers.

More...

They delete all paypal subscriptions except one for $29. On June 3rd, they charged $29. On July 3rd they charged $29! On August 3the they charged $29 too!

I contacted them and asked for refund. First they replied that they are "investigating" this. Then, they stopped to reply to any further emails from me.

As I wasn't sure when exactly I stopped the server if it was on May or June, I requested only to be refunded for July and August but they never refunded. I consider these sums as [B]stolen[B].

I reported them to Paypal, but Paypal gives no protection when it comes to services and generally speaking to "intangible or virtual" goods.

Here is the email from Paypal:


Unfortunately, PayPal was not able to resolve this dispute because the item purchased was virtual or intangible. As a result, we have not taken any action against either account at this time. However, this complaint has been noted in the seller's record for future reference.

Thank you for your cooperation with our investigation.

Thank you,
xxxxx
Protection Services Department

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link located in the top right corner of any page. If your inquiry is regarding a claim, log in to your PayPal account and go to the Resolution Center.


Fastservermanagement replied by fax to Paypal. So, I couldn't read what they wrote. Anyway, their English is better then mine, and they are more competent to handle Paypal complaints than to work with servers security and outages.


All of us need to provide actual services to being paid. But some, have easier life. They need just to open a website and take money. Shame!

With Paypal subscriptions, you aren't "charged" by the company you contract with...your Paypal account automatically SENDS payment to the company.

You should have simply logged into your Paypal account and cancelled the subscriptions when you terminated services with them.

--Tina

AH-TINA / Thank you for your update. Yes, that was done. But I forgot about one. It happend to me to receive $200 by mistake than to send them back to their legitimate owner. We are not on the business of taking money by any means and holding it at any price. I regret that there is any paypal tool or page to see all open subscriptions.

Well, what you expect for $29.95/month ? I hope you learn your lesson and thank you for sharing your issue with community.

I suggest you to try serverwizards.com - we are using them for more then a year and service is getting BETTER, not worse as many other company's.

Regards

Steve

Thank you for the hing Steeve :) Yes, this experience was not a full failure. I learnt many things from it.

Regardless of the fact that most people would have some concerns about a company purporting to fully manage a server for $29.95 a month, the original poster raises some legitimate complaints. I think his message reinforces the viewpoint that you get what you pay for, but some of the response times and actions stated are worse than I would have expected, even for $29.95 a month.

Granted, we only have one side of the story here, but it is something that everyone should keep in mind when looking at Server Management companies.

Here are a couple of tips for those seeking someone to manage their server:

* Make sure that the systems that you are using to run your business (control panel, operating system, web server, etc.) are supported by the company

* Make sure that the company is staffed 24 x 7 with experienced personnel who are able to resolve issues

* Expect to pay a reasonable monthly fee - in my experience anything less than $99.95 a month will lead to a bad experience: poor service, slow response, techs lacking appropriate knowledge levels, and/or the management company going out of business because they cannot sustain themselves on their revenue.

Obviously this is not an all-encompassing list, but do your homework first. Do not jump into a management engagement without knowing whether the management company is a good fit for your business.

And by the way, they're called Platinum Server Management (http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/) now.

They droped the "FAST" because they waren't fast.

Yes, it was a mistake. I allways tell people to not expect a good 300-Gb hosting for $3.95 a month, but I did the same mistake by believing all of that support for $29 a month.

Just installing half of the items listed on the list, it a whole day job.

Originally posted by steven-v
I suggest you to try serverwizards.com - we are using them for more then a year and service is getting BETTER, not worse as many other company's.

I'd have to agree with you there. I have a managed dedicated server with them and they have been great so far.

I've been with them from day 1 and I'm still treated like their best customer.

EVERY company has dissatisfied customers, even I do! lol

I've spoken to every one of their employees over the years and they manage all my servers, I have never had 1 problem at all. I know that they manage alot of servers, so a few dissatisfied customers are to be expected. you know what, I'd be concerned if I didnt see any dissatisfied customers.

PlatinumServerManagement is the only provider for me, keep up the good work!

you know, I was wondering why hostingcon is flaming one of their own gold sponsors.... must be because hostingcon's business partner is easyservermanagement ????? nice way to treat your advertisers, and I was considering going this year too, forget it! I dont know why they are commenting on PSM anyway when they never used their service

I've been dealing with them for a while now and have been very happy with their services. Response has always been fast and they have proven to me that they know what they are doing.

All businesses, even ones as small as mine, have clients they can't please. Platinum Server Management has a lot of clients and most of them are happy with the service, so they must be doing a pretty good job, especially for the price they charge.

Originally posted by edelweisshosting
I regret that there is any paypal tool or page to see all open subscriptions.

There is a page. It's called "History." You also received an e-mail every time a payment was made (clearly labeled as a "Subscription") along with a link to login and see the details of the payment. All you had to do was login to Paypal and click the links... :rolleyes:

:D Bailey

Originally posted by edelweisshosting
In fact, when you open an account, they install nothing. You need to open a ticket and ask for every specific item. So I did.

They are specific in their sign-up e-mail that you need to do this -- they're not doing anything wrong by not reading your mind. Remember they cannot login to your server without your password, and they don't have that just from your signup. :rolleyes:

I quote from their Sign-Up E-mail, dated February 2005 (I picked an old one so it would come from the same time-frame as your sign-up... although our May 2005 e-mail was identical):

FSM Sign-Up E-mail:

To start using our service, please update your server information in the "Password Manager" link.
Then, click the "Activate Monitoring" link and provide data center contact details in case your server crashes.
You can then start submitting tickets for whatever you'd like done.
**Please note** that nothing is done automatically; everything is done upon request.

That sounds pretty clear to me?

Anyway, well later, when I assessed my servers security, I found that nothing, I mean nothing was done in this matter. No firewall, no BFD, SSH was still accepting protocol 1... on any server managed by Fastservermanagment.

And when you logged into your server within the first 12-24 hours of ordering the work, and saw the work hadn't been done, what did you do then? When you asked them, how did they explain it was missing? How quickly did they rectify it?

The reviewer makes it sound like he was signed up for some time (days? weeks? months?) and didn't "notice" that the work he ordered, wasn't done. I don't know about you guys, but when I open a tech ticket with a provider, I watch for it to be updated, and then when I see an update I login to the server and verify the work was actually done. I even go to the extent of reading through /root/.bash_history to see what exactly they did.

So I am confused how the reviewer didn't catch onto this within the first 24 hours. FSM does this work generally within 12 hours of the ticket being opened. He didn't notice that they hadn't logged in? He didn't check up on the contracted work to make sure the work he paid for was done?

Call me old-fashioned, but I have always checked up on paid contractors with both my bricks-and-mortar and online businesses. This is business after all, not a hobby...?

Because I insisted for Apache hardening, they tried and when finished their job, Apache was just blocked and all websites were down. 10 hours downtime just for Apache hardening! In fact, I discovered later that they have no experience with Direct Admin.

Well now hold the doggone phone here. You say you signed up around March 2005. Well, FSM was no longer online at http://www.fastservermanagement.com in March of 2005 -- nor were they called "Fast Server Management" at that point. In fact the last sign of life at that domain (according to the Internet Wayback Machine, http://www.archive.org, was November 2004. But I'll play along.

That said, you state that you "discovered" they have no experience with Direct Admin after they screwed up some of the work done. Really! When you contacted their Sales Dept. and asked them about this before signing up (as they say you should right on their home page) and asked them about their experience with DA (or whether they even support DA at all), what did they say? I'm just wondering.

Because according to their website snapshot, taken 4 months before you ever signed up, they support Linux with cPanel: http://web.archive.org/web/20041104055240/http://www.fastservermanagement.com/

Color me confused, but what sense does it make, to sign up with a server management company that is specifically geared to a control panel you don't use? Which advertises 'this is the control panel we support' right on the front page -- and it doesn't match the control panel you've got?!?! :emlaugh:

It is not a shame to have no experience with a specific control panel

No, but I'd argue that there is shame in not reading the home page of a company prior to signing up with them. Sorry. :(

I decided to continue with Fastservermanagement because I was on need of someone to reboot my servers if they come to fail.

I asked for this service using their ticket system again. The service was "implemented".

Few days ago, a server was overloaded during a couple of hours and the pings sent by Fastservermanagement system were lost. For each lost ping, their system sent an automated email to NAC support service. They were flooded at NAC and contacted me to ask me to stop this game which was very understandable.

So, I asked Fastservermangement to stop using this useless method and rather to use an intelligent and human reaction when a server fails. I read on their first page:

Well now that is funny, because that is not how they set this service up, nor how they handle reboots.

Monitoring and reboot service is handled exactly as the customer requests it be done. When a ping fails, an e-mail is dispatched to the customer's e-mail address, not the data center's! Unless of course, the customer has entered the data center's support e-mail address in the box, instead of their own. ;) (tsk, tsk) The e-mails go where the customer tells 'em to, not some arbitrary place that FSM makes up.

Secondly, the reboot requests are not done by e-mail unless you tell them that's how it is handled by your data center. They request your data center's support system login details so they can submit a reboot the proper way. If they were submitting for a reboot incorrectly, again, that was your fault, not theirs. They only do what you tell them to, and the way you tell them to do it.

When a reboot request is put in, it is done by a live, intelligent human being and not a script.

Few days later, mySQL (which was monitored) stopped. All forum, portals, ecommerce websites... hosted on the server were down for 14 HOURS! Yes 14 hours. Eventually, I was phoned by a customer and nevertheless a friend then I ran to my office. I found 150 angry emails form my customers. I log into my box and restarted mySQL in matter of seconds.

FSM doesn't monitor MySQL. The never have. I quote from the monitoring system that you tell us you set up (you had to, otherwise the server-down e-mails never would have been sent):

"We currently monitor the HTTP port and SSH port of your server, every 5 minutes 24x7x365. We do not monitor any other ports or services at this time"

:eek:

That your MySQL failed and they didn't restart it, is not their fault. They have never monitored MySQL and it was not part of the service you signed up for. Read.

Sometimes later, in May, one server crashed completly. Fastmanagement server had all instructions on how to reboot this box in these cases. But they even react and the server was down for 10 hours. Eventually I went to my office and restarted the server by myself.

With all due respect, given how you have failed to understand the basic service that you signed up for, and considering that you didn't even know not to enter NAC's tech support e-mail in the "customer contact e-mail address" box -- I'm sorry, but I don't believe this report. I have to look at the examples above and believe that reboot procedure details were missing, that the client had removed monitoring, that the client had removed the reboot service off this server... or maybe that PSM restricted the scope of service because it's a DA server and not cPanel like they advertise they support. I would really like to know the other 95% of the story that we're not getting here.

Immediately, I asked Fastservermanagement to to cancel my subscription for all servers. They acknowledged. Then, I hired a unix admin to take care of my servers.

They delete all paypal subscriptions except one for $29. On June 3rd, they charged $29. On July 3rd they charged $29! On August 3the they charged $29 too!

That's how subscriptions work. The Paypal subscriptions are separate from the contract with FSM. The contract is the service they provide. The Paypal subscription is the payment. If you wanted to stop paying them, you needed to cancel the payment subscription with Paypal. Simply cancelling the contract was only 1/2 the job.

I reported them to Paypal, but Paypal gives no protection when it comes to services and generally speaking to "intangible or virtual" goods.

That's correct. Paypal never has offered protections for online services. That's nothing new and is fully explained right on their website, has been for years. You can find that information in your client center, and as a consumer you should familiarize yourself with what protections you are/are not entitled to so you know what to expect.

All of us need to provide actual services to being paid. But some, have easier life. They need just to open a website and take money. Shame!

From what I've seen, they did the work requested, and if they did not, it was paramount for you to hold them accountable. You have not told us at all how you did that nor what their response was.

You signed up for a service that they don't provide, incorrectly configured the services they do provide (and then blamed them for it), next you complained that they didn't do work that they never have done... and finally you kept sending them money voluntarily after you cancelled.

Bummer.


:lovewht: Bailey

Originally posted by edelweisshosting
They droped the "FAST" because they waren't fast.

Oh whatever :rolleyes: I understand you're unhappy, but slander is over the line.

Just installing half of the items listed on the list, it a whole day job.

Only if you use the whole day job method of doing it. The way they do it, it takes about 15 minutes. They do good work and the items that they install work as they should, when they are done.

And yes, I know this from experience. ;) Lots of it.

:D Bailey

Now that I am done chopping that up ;) sorry, but people who are smart enough to run dedicated servers, are also smart enough to read contracts and read the simple chart right on the company's homepage before signing up for a service. If it's not listed, they don't do it. Folks need to read what they're signing up for and understand what it means. It's part of being a smart consumer. There's nobody out there looking out for us, we have to be smart buyers and know what we're doing so we don't get screwed. It's unfortunate that the opening poster had a bad experience and lost some money, but folks I use this service and I personally know how Fast/Platinum Server Management have their system set up. The only way some of these things even happened (or didn't happen) is if the customer doesn't set them up right...

*sigh*

I've had servers hooked up w/ FSM off and on for about 16 months now. We put all of our shared servers on this service because they are the most mission-critical, it's good to know that if the techs are tied up on a couple shared server issues already, there's another set of hands out there that can put in for a reboot on server-down #3 if necessary. It is a very cheap way to protect against Murphy's Law. :)

The techs @ FSM/PSM are very knowledgeable, in my experience. They look into things when asked, have worked on things outside of what's listed on their homepage when I asked (a couple of filesystem issues for instance. I also had them run a quick manual security review one day when we were extra-busy and I just wanted to make some headway on a possible compromise), and they provide full and complete answers in their tickets.

They've always been friendly and helpful with us. Basic questions have been answered in under an hour for us. Original software installs are usually done within 12 hours, and re-installs/updates have always been done within 6 hours.

No company is perfect and things get screwed up. I expect that they will make a mistake or two at some point. Over multiple servers' experience though, we've been pleased. FSM/PSM is an extremely valuable resource to have at your fingertips for under 30 bucks a month.

:D Bailey

I had a verry bad experience with them aswell when i got a new server a couple of months ago, three days after registration they hadnt gotten APF to work, and tickets took a qouple of hours to get replies to.

I never expected anything good when i signed up for them so I wasnt to bummed about it and i did get a full refund aswell.!!

Originally posted by frattay22
you know, I was wondering why hostingcon is flaming one of their own gold sponsors.... must be because hostingcon's business partner is easyservermanagement ????? nice way to treat your advertisers, and I was considering going this year too, forget it! I dont know why they are commenting on PSM anyway when they never used their service

I'm not quite sure what you read in my post as a "flame" ... I was commenting on a situation posed by the original poster. I don't personally have any experience with PlatinumServerManagement's server management experience, so I cannot comment on their level of service, which I did not.

My comments about service levels were in general and not specific about Platinum. I would not personally use a provider that only charged $29 for full server management simply because I want to make sure that companies we work with stay in business, and I just cannot conceive how a company can make money at that price point and still provide the level of service that I would expect from a full server management provider.

I think your characterization of my post as a "flame" is inappropriate. FastServerManagement being a sponsor of HostingCon 2005 has absolutely no bearing on my ability to comment on the situation posed by the original poster.

Yes, my partner (Mouse) is also a partner in Easy Server Management. If that was some kind of an issue we would have never allowed FastServerManagement to sponsor HostingCon 2005 in the first place, but would have just shown preferential treatment to EZSM, which we did not. In case you missed it, EZSM did not sponsor OR exhibit at HostingCon 2005.

As to your comment about "nice way to treat your advertisers" -- if a company advertises in a magazine and then that magazine reviews a product or service put out by that company, should the magazine be honest or gloss over the truth because the company advertises with them?

no, you should not have given them special treatment, but you definitely should not have automatically assumed that the claim was true without even asking either side for more info. That's what is innappropriate for you as a business person.

and if you dont think they can provide a good service, whyd you let them exhibit, don't you care who's your sponsor, or I guess you just look to take money.

Apparently you missed my statement in my original reply that "we only have one side of the story" ...

I didn't say that I didn't think they could provide good service. What I said was that I personally would not get full server management for $29. That doesn't mean they don't have a right to promote their business and try to succeed according to their plan. Why would we stop them from sponsoring HostingCon? To my knowledge they have not done anything unethical that would cause us concern in allowing them to sponsor and exhibit.

Just because I don't personally think it's a good business model doesn't mean we're going to stop them from exhibiting. I'm sure if I looked at the products and services from every single company that exhibited at HostingCon there would be those that I just didn't like, didn't think were worth the price, etc. That doesn't mean we're not going to let them exhibit.

Personally, I think I've been extremely professional throughout this discussion and you have repeatedly taken shots and me and my company. I think you should look to your own behaviour before commenting on mine (glass houses and all).

I learnt many things from this experience and without the difficulties I faced few month ago, I would be smarter and never allowed such company to put hands on my precious servers.

As long as your servers work fine and never crash, you'll find that Fastservermanagement.com is a perfect management company for your server. I had the same feeling when week after week I signed up with them for more servers.

But when the problems started, I discovered that my servers weren't actually managed. When a server crashed, no one took care of it until I did. Just try to stop one of your servers to see their reaction. Nothing! They don't move a finger. What they want is just $29 a month.

During my first weeks, I also was confident with them and felt good with their communication. But when everything is ok, we can't judge a management company quality. It is only when you accumulate a 10, then 12, then 8, then 14 hours downtime... that you got your lesson.

All login information for all servers was stored on their data base and they was asked to secure every and each server. But weeks later, these servers were still without firewall, BFD, but with SSH1 and many other obvious security flaws I corrected with the help of true professionals.

On the finish, I paid 2 or 3 month in excess and they even refused to give back this money.

Paypal emails only when the subscription money was sent. I receive dozen emails from paypal every day. For this reason, I missed the subscription email for months and they profited from it.

Originally posted by edelweisshosting
As long as your servers work fine and never crash, you'll find that Fastservermanagement.com is a perfect management company for your server.

I think the core of the misunderstanding here is that you expect them to be a "server management company." They are not, not in the way I think you expected. And certainly not in the way sirtwist refers to them. FSM is a company which does a list of tasks when you request it done, and how you request it done. They do not "manage" a server though.

But when the problems started, I discovered that my servers weren't actually managed.

Correct, FSM does not "manage" servers in the all-inclusive way that perhaps you were expecting. Simply put, you thought you bought something, that wasn't offered. READ the company's website before signing up!!! PSM states exactly what they do for the $29/month. Never assume.

When a server crashed, no one took care of it until I did. Just try to stop one of your servers to see their reaction. Nothing! They don't move a finger. What they want is just $29 a month.

Baloney!!! I have had servers go down several times, and PSM does contact the data center after the 3rd failure notice (as they promise they will) and they manually put in for a reboot.

However, we have set the reboot service up correctly. It is not enough to just give the server IP & password to PSM. Setting up the reboot service is NOT achieved by "opening a ticket and asking for it be set up" as you told us you did. That's simply not how their service works.

Sounds to me like their reaction was "nothing" because that's how you set it up.

All login information for all servers was stored on their data base and they was asked to secure every and each server. But weeks later, these servers were still without firewall, BFD, but with SSH1 and many other obvious security flaws I corrected with the help of true professionals.

Why did you wait weeks to look? So you never actually told them that the work hadn't been done and you never asked them why? Never gave them a chance to fix it? :rolleyes:

Paypal emails only when the subscription money was sent. I receive dozen emails from paypal every day. For this reason, I missed the subscription email for months and they profited from it.

It's unfortunate that you don't pay closer attention to your e-mail, but at the end of the day, your e-mail and your Paypal account are your responsibility... nobody else's. :(




Sorry mate, I know this isn't what you want to read. Fact is though, PSM does not provide "full server management." They do a list of tasks, and that list is very clearly outlined right on their homepage. You assumed they do much more. Unfortunately that's your assumption, it's not their fault that you didn't understand what they do/don't do, nor that you didn't set the reboot service up correctly. :blush: The customer does bear responsibility in the set-up and use of their service.

:D Bailey

Originally posted by sirtwist
What I said was that I personally would not get full server management for $29.

They don't provide "full server management for $29." You are completely mirepresenting their services and ripping on their "business model" when you don't even understand what they actually do. (Which is perhaps to be expected from an individual jumping in and commenting on a service with which they have no experience.)

Personally, I think I've been extremely professional throughout this discussion and you have repeatedly taken shots and me and my company. I think you should look to your own behaviour before commenting on mine (glass houses and all).

Personally, I think you've been quite unprofessional speaking about a service that you've never used and clearly don't even understand.

But, that's just me. ;) (Clink, clink.)


:D Bailey

Hey

Thanks for sharing.

So, fastservermanagement.com is not a servers management company.

In this case, you must admit that the domain name is at least misleading.

This text from their home page is also misleading:


"It is our job to manage your servers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Managing servers can be a difficult... not everyone is capable of fixing and monitoring their servers all hours of the day. We're here to take that responsibility off your shoulders."

Hard to imagine 14 hours downtime without no move from them. I asked many times for their security bundle to be installed... nothing in this side too.


I wasn't unprofessional, I was stupid to trust them.

END.

Originally posted by bithost(NET)
They don't provide "full server management for $29." You are completely mirepresenting their services and ripping on their "business model" when you don't even understand what they actually do. (Which is perhaps to be expected from an individual jumping in and commenting on a service with which they have no experience.)

I have plenty of experience with server management companies. You're right that I do not have experience with Platinum as a customer.

Please take a moment to read http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/ and tell me that their "Server Management and Monitoring" package doesn't sound like full server management to you. A few points to highlight (directly from their website):

"Unlimited Admin Work Time!!"

"System Security, Optimization and Hardening (performed upon your request as often as you would like)"

"3rd Party Software Installation"

"Server Migration"

"24x7x365 (5 minute interval) Server Monitoring with Reboot"

I don't know about you, but that sounds like full server management to me. Look, I'm not knocking Platinum. I don't personally have any experience with them so I can't say whether they're a reliable server management company or not. All I'm saying is that I would be leery of paying only $29 a month... I seem to remember you being extremely critical of hosting companies who have low prices and that their business model is not realistic. You've always seemed to me to be a champion of reasonable pricing models. I'm saying basically the same thing -- I don't know how they can provide the services that they're including in their management package and stay in business.

Personally, I think you've been quite unprofessional speaking about a service that you've never used and clearly don't even understand.

But, that's just me. ;) (Clink, clink.)

Again, I disagree with your assessment. I think I understand what they are offering based on what is published on their website, and I still stand by my statement. That being said, I believe you said you had techs on staff and use them as a backup... THAT, I could see. That would be an inexpensive way to get some insurance, basically, and I have no problem with that.

See guys, and that's what I'm saying :) I think that every one of us has an idea of "what does 'full management' mean?" Yes, PSM offers management services, but they are not the primary administrator for the servers they do work on... the people who own/run those servers are still the primary admins and are still responsible for making sure the work gets done.

I agree with you George and edelweisshosting, that the services they provide are management services, but I think where the confusion is coming in is thinking that PSM runs peoples' servers for them. They don't. They are not running an all-inclusive "full" management service that is designed so clients don't have to touch their servers. The client is still the primary administrator on their own server... PSM is best-described as a resource. Not a replacement for a live full-time admin.

And you're right George, I am a huge supporter of reasonable pricing in the industry :D and I do feel that PSM is spot-on in regards to their pricing. They offer a very specific set of services, and $29/month is appropriate for what they do.

I mean George, they haven't touched one of our boxes in 4 months... except to send a couple packets to them every 5 minutes on two ports, & e-mail us the month's results every 4 weeks :P... but they still keep collecting $19-29/month per server anyway.

The items they will install -- takes 15 minutes to do, and it's done. Doesn't need to be done and redone all the time; once it's installed, it's installed, and it runs by itself. Is $29/month too cheap for that level of service? Is it too cheap to have them answer an occasional question? I don't think so. "Unlimited admin time" means they don't put limits on time once you do ask a question. It doesn't mean they sit there watching every inbound/outbound packet, monitoring every service and process, logging in to update software and take care of high loads pro-actively. You still have to admin the server yourself, and if you want to ask for their help with particular tasks, that is where PSM kicks in.

And no, their "Server Management and Monitoring" package does not sound like full management to me -- not even remotely. I know there is a lot more that goes into "full management," starting with work being done automatically (not requiring a ticket to request the work). There is a lot more going on with the running of a cPanel server than the things offered in their package.

That being said, I believe you said you had techs on staff and use them as a backup... THAT, I could see. That would be an inexpensive way to get some insurance, basically, and I have no problem with that.
George, it is my understanding that PSM goes for a niche market -- they are not designed to be 'everything for everybody', nor do they claim to be. They are very specific about what exactly they do. I think that folks in my position are their target market -- I do have techs on staff, and PSM is a fail-safe/extra set of hands and an extra brain to pick when we need it. I've already had everybody tied up on high priority support issues and had a PSM-monitored server go down... we were able to let PSM take care of the reboot and not pull personnel away from the other stuff they were working on at the time. That's exactly the scenario they're designed to handle (and that we pay them for), and they do great at it. :)

Hard to imagine 14 hours downtime without no move from them.
Not at all. If you don't have the reboot service set up (and from the details you have provided, you didn't have it set up), they won't do anything.

I asked many times for their security bundle to be installed... nothing in this side too.
For the third? fourth? time, I ask, when you asked them why it wasn't done, what did they say? (Funny how in the original post it was one request for the work that wasn't completed, and now it was requested "many" times. Hmmm.) I'd love to see the tickets where this interaction took place... would you consider sharing?




I think the OP just didn't realize the level of support that PSM provides/doesn't provide, is all.... and I think the OP didn't understand how to set it up so it would actually work the way he wanted it to. This is unfortunate, but bottom line, it's up to the customer to get this stuff set up and make sure it's running right. :\


:D Bailey

Bailey,

I can see what you're saying... I think maybe you're right and it's a perception issue. Maybe they need to do a better job in being more clear in their materials... I'll have to dig through my stack of Ping!Zine's, but I thought I remembered their advertising there saying "full server management for $29" ...

I used FastServerManagement when I had a server at Ev1. They were so good at monitoring and manageing my server that I eventually moved my server hardware over to their dedicated server outfit called serverbasement. ut

There have been some issues but nothing unreasonable. I have always found them efficient. Just now I had a hard drive fail. The data was restored to a new drive and the server up and running within 30minutes of the original fault. Now that is pretty good going.

I think the issue here is about expectations. Yes, you get what you pay for, but I think PlatinumServerManagement get away with it by the clear way in which they work. They wont do anything unless asked. this way they can keep the costs down, and only do the essentials as asked for by the client.

just my two pennies worth, but I am sorry if you've had a bad experience with them. That is a shame. I just wanted to say, its not all bad with them.

yes FSM/PSM does provide server management services, but they provide exactly what is listed on their site, nothing more and nothing less. just read what they offer, and if you like it, signup, if you don't like it, dont signup under a fulse assumption and them blame them

Again, as Baily said, FSM/PSM does provide server management services, just look at their main page. Just dont think server management means they will run your entire business and you can go on vacation without ever having to look at your server again lol