Hey Gang,

I am moving http://spider-food.net to a co-located server at Media3.

So far, they have been very responsive and the prices seem very fair. However, in general terms what can you suggest that I look for?

Thanks.

I would not recommend using Media3. They are the largest active host for SPAM sites on the web (see http://www.spamhaus.org, and more specifically http://www.spamhaus.org/statistics-hosts.lasso). Because of this, their entire IP address range is blocked by RBL and MAPS, and those two services are used by about 40% of all dial-up ISPs.

In other words - any e-mail sent from your server at Media3 will not arrive to 40% of all ISPs (including, I believe (but am not 100% certain), AOL and Hotmail).

Wow!! Some people are in some real **** eh. This sucks! I hate spammers!

They are also a lousy host as far as support of nay type. They were my last host before getting my own server.

Because they are a spam haven, their range of IP addresses is blocked by a great many servers, thus cutting you off from a fair amount of the Internet as far as e-mail goes.

Sounds like x-nay on media3. :D Defeats the whole purpose of having a domain if your email becomes inacessible to a large portion of the world.

Well, this sounds all very odd.

I've been hosting with Media3 for years now and not had one problem.

Support has been great. And several members of the support team (especially Linda) have even given me their ICQ address so I can touch base when I have questions.

I even had one occasion where I was trying to set up an auction site using a Perl script. And when I could not get it to work after three days of trying, one of their tech folks went in and coded everything for me - for FREE!

I guess I'll have to check into this spam issue a little farther. But I've been so pleased with Media3 that I can not imagine co-locating anywhere else.

What I really want to know, is what should I look for in a server.

Thanks.

Well, I placed my order today.

I wound up going with Media3. They made a very sweet deal for me and I guess I'll be up by Thursday.

Thanks for everyone's input though.

I have been with Media3.net for about 3 years. I started using the shared servers and as business grew put a co-lo server in. Last week I put my second co-lo server there and plan on at least one more this year. As far as spam goes the only thing I can say is that when one of my accounts was being used as a spammer about a year ago I got a call quick from Media3 and they put a stop to it. I worked with several other hosting firms since I started my business in 94 and have never been happier. Are the perfect, no, but I have never found another hosting firm that even comes close when it comes to support.

I guess if you don't mind being hosted on the worst "ISP directly hosting stealth spam services" for 9 months running, then it's your decision. Personally I wouldn't colo a 386 with 2 megs of ram there if they paid me to.

Check out the links for yourself:

http://www.spamhaus.org/statistics-hosts.lasso
http://www.spamhaus.org/spammers.lasso?-database=spamhaus.fp3&-layout=list&-response=spamhaus.lasso&-noresultserror=norecords.html&-operator=cn&globalsearch=media3&-search=

Enjoy your new home! :stickout

And, of course, we have two brand new people vouching for a company with a horrid record, especially as regards spam. The credibility gap widens further.

True, True.

Hey Duster, I'm thinking of mirroring spamsites.org, although I don't know if I would have the patience to deal with these people (all spammers are complete idiots, bar none). I see the issues spamhaus must deal with. What do you think? :)

Even more great news about media3 from MAPS:

http://mail-abuse.org/pressreleases/2001-01-02.html