I am debating with these two companies. Can anyone please give some advice.

I really need my site to be up all the time.

webreseller has stronger machines at a lower cost, but I have heard rackspace has the best uptime.

Thanks
Nawaz

I've only dealt with Rackspace, but I can't imagine anyone being any better. The uptime has been 100%(four months now) and the support has been their 24/7. Their support really is fanatical. My first two hosts were never there when I needed them and answered their emails as if I sent them through the US post office. Contact Khaled at Rackspace. He mentioned the other day of some specials that were about to take place.

Rackspace support and network is excellent but remember they are very costly. Simply because they are the best.

But If you are expert enough to manage your server yourself and mid level bandwidth is ok for you then i guess webreseller is good option. :)

Originally posted by mahinder
[...] and mid level bandwidth is ok [...]
webreseller's bandwidth (network) is top notch! never seen such lightning fast downloads! yipes rocks!

webreseller because they offer high spec machines

you can get more out of webreseller

however, i believe rackspace has been around longer, and i hear NOTHING but positive things about rackspace.

they have had an 100% uptime of 1 year too, which is always good to know.

and im pretty sure their Directory of sales can spell properly.

I wouldn't really compare the two, they are offering different things.

Webreseller are offering budget level servers, with high levels of bandwidth, and a certail level of managed support (they called it semi-managed?)

RackSpace offer high-end, fully managed mission critical servers, so charge much higher. Bandwidth is more expensive, as is hardware.

From what I've seen, both have excellent networks, it just depends on what you require as to which you choose.

Matt

Most people never put a *true* value on service/support until they actually realize they don't have. RachSHACK customers for example. $99.00 is great! Then a drive fails or you screw up some configs. RackSPACE takes care of these issues. This means a good nights sleep. Full management - "Fanatical Support".

Never used Webreseller, but as pointed out, I really do not see them being able to match the level of support that Rackspace has. Are Webreseller a good comapny, sounds like it. But for me, I pay for *guaranteed* quality support.

I really need my site to be up all the time.

This request points to RS in my opinion.

Over a year - uptime 100%

If you need 100% there is no other choice.

have windows server with rackspace ...

it's absolutely fantastic ... the average of email support is around 1 hour at offpeak.

Webreseller.net also offers high end 100% managed servers, we do not only offer only budget servers. We try to cater to all markets.

hello webreseller...

how much would the upgrade of your celeron managed server to pentium ?

and do you have anything with PLESK for your managed server?

We will be launching the PIII Managed in the new site, we have not confirmed prices yet, but we will be using Ensim 3.0 for windows and this is a great system...

I have also heard good things about webreseller but if you need 100% uptime, I think that Rackspace is your best bet.

Webreseller seems to be good but there is some stuff they have no control over. They only use Yipes, so if there is a problem with Yipes, there is no backup, even if they are in a ring.

Webreseller:

I think that if you would add a second ISP to your network, even cogent, you would get a lot more customers since you seem to have good tech support.

unless you are running a mission critical site ... which cost us $$$$ per hour ... otherwise i think webreseller is good enough.

i really wish to get one of my server hosted there ... but hate the setup fee LOL

Originally posted by webreseller
We will be launching the PIII Managed in the new site, we have not confirmed prices yet, but we will be using Ensim 3.0 for windows and this is a great system...

You *may* think differently when you go live with it. It has great possibilty, but if you get Windows customers who are smart, they might not be happy. You will see. It does has some annoying things tied to it as I am sure you found out with the beta. But until you sell some servers with it, it is hard to see what issues stand out. It does have outstanding possibilties! I don't want to say more, because my buddy Ken patrols these forums. :D

Originally posted by swijaya0101

i really wish to get one of my server hosted there ... but hate the setup fee LOL
i second that, damn §$%$"§%"$ setup fee.

I have 2 servers with rackspace in London and one with serverbeach.com

I have nothing but praise for rackspace. Serverbeach is a new company.

Serverbeach and rackspace are the 2 BEST companies to host with in my opinion.

If you want cheap reliable servers with no support - serverbeach is the place to be, and if you want strong managed servers rackspace is the place to be!!! :)

I am going to put in my 2 cents about RackSpace.com as I am now a very unhappy ex-customer of theirs. I signed up with them and planned on moving a lot of sites from another Datacenter over to them since the seem to have better support. They are much more expensive than the other companies and they would not let me buy my license for Plesk.
Well within the first week the CPU fan stopped and burned up the processor. which tells me they gave me a used box more than likely. They fixed that after having about 8-10 hours of down time because they could not figure out what was wrong. It happened in the morning hours so the DNS got cached and took forever to resolve (lots of unhappy New customers)
Well that got resolved but I spent the money on the RackSpace.com Linux BouceBack which is their back up system. They charge a fair about on it but when they did the back up each week it took 40 minutes to backup less than 1 gig of customer files (total under 2 gigs including OS) They told me that it is normal. When I questioned how long it would take to back up a server, based on that speed, on a full server?? I figure about 6 hours and when I asked support they agreed and said that sounds right??? 6 hours off-line to do a back up? What a joke!! Well I have been with the for 3 months and I have questioned the bounce back every week after it takes so long and every week I am being told that nothing is wrong. Well I finally got someone at the company to admit that there could be a problem (do you think) and they said they could look into it but it would require more down time... Why did they not just get a new box running and switch me out? Crazy!!! Anyway I cancelled my service and even though they sold me bum equipment they stuck me to the contract and I wound up paying about $1500 and only used about a total of 5 gigs of BW the whole time.
I suggest being very careful with these guys.. Don't okay anything until you know you server is running good.
they do have a strong network but no company should treat the small guys like us with such disrespect as to not fixing a problem when they should have known no hard drive backup should take that long.
My 2 cents.
Robert

Originally posted by GWDGuy
Well within the first week the CPU fan stopped and burned up the processor. which tells me they gave me a used box more than likely.

Fans fail all the time... new or used... often times, the new ones fail shortly after using them.

Its amazing... we can send men to the moon, but we can't make a fan that doesn't fail! <chuckle>

Both Rackspace and Webreseller are good choice of companies to get a server from. If you have the budget, you definitely can't go wrong with Rackspace. Their big name and reputation are no nonsense.

However, if you're tight in budget, Webreseller is a great alternative. I have a server there and it's been running great. I like the network speed and I think it's equal with Rackspace. Not sure about the redundancy in Yipes network though, but so far the uptime has been great!

Originally posted by twrs
Both Rackspace and Webreseller are good choice of companies to get a server from. If you have the budget, you definitely can't go wrong with Rackspace. Their big name and reputation are no nonsense.


One thing to be careful with about Rackspace is their financial situation. They announced a profitable quarter last quarter, but their equipment is highly leveraged, and they may run into financial problems if the overall industry slowdown continues.

Originally posted by hangten



Its amazing... we can send men to the moon, but we can't make a fan that doesn't fail! <chuckle>

Oh so true.. It is amazing of some of the stuff we can do and then again it is amazing some of the stuff we can't do.

:)

Robert

Originally posted by GWDGuy
I am going to put in my 2 cents about RackSpace.com as I am now a very unhappy ex-customer of theirs. I signed up with them and planned on moving a lot of sites from another Datacenter over to them since the seem to have better support. They are much more expensive than the other companies and they would not let me buy my license for Plesk.
Well within the first week the CPU fan stopped and burned up the processor. which tells me they gave me a used box more than likely. They fixed that after having about 8-10 hours of down time because they could not figure out what was wrong. It happened in the morning hours so the DNS got cached and took forever to resolve (lots of unhappy New customers)
Well that got resolved but I spent the money on the RackSpace.com Linux BouceBack which is their back up system. They charge a fair about on it but when they did the back up each week it took 40 minutes to backup less than 1 gig of customer files (total under 2 gigs including OS) They told me that it is normal. When I questioned how long it would take to back up a server, based on that speed, on a full server?? I figure about 6 hours and when I asked support they agreed and said that sounds right??? 6 hours off-line to do a back up? What a joke!! Well I have been with the for 3 months and I have questioned the bounce back every week after it takes so long and every week I am being told that nothing is wrong. Well I finally got someone at the company to admit that there could be a problem (do you think) and they said they could look into it but it would require more down time... Why did they not just get a new box running and switch me out? Crazy!!! Anyway I cancelled my service and even though they sold me bum equipment they stuck me to the contract and I wound up paying about $1500 and only used about a total of 5 gigs of BW the whole time.
I suggest being very careful with these guys.. Don't okay anything until you know you server is running good.
they do have a strong network but no company should treat the small guys like us with such disrespect as to not fixing a problem when they should have known no hard drive backup should take that long.
My 2 cents.
Robert


And what happen to there 2 hours hardware replacement gurantee??? :(

I feel very sorry about you. I hope they will not do this kind of stuff with me or any other customer. :rolleyes:

I also have server with them since 2 months and it has been working fine. BTW there is only 1 web site on it. ;)

I am sure they will be fine with you but if they decide that that don't want to help.. like they did with me you have no choice but to live with it or go somewhere else and still have to pay them.

I have a much better server and service where I am now.

Good luck :)

Originally posted by uuallan


One thing to be careful with about Rackspace is their financial situation. They announced a profitable quarter last quarter, but their equipment is highly leveraged, and they may run into financial problems if the overall industry slowdown continues.

This is incorrect... I surfed their site and found this:
http://www.rackspace.com/about/newsroom/listings.php3?hidelistings=1&detail=1104
Which says that they've been profitable for over a year now and said they doubled their revenue over that year as well...

Also I saw that they made the Red Herring Top 100 this year:
http://www.rackspace.com/about/newsroom/listings.php3?hidelistings=1&detail=1106

And it looks like they also won the Frost & Sullivan award for their customer service:
http://www.rackspace.com/about/newsroom/listings.php3?hidelistings=1&detail=1105

I dunno how much more stable of a company you can have... I think we can all learn a little bit from Rackspace...

But if you really want to talk about financial troubles - I was checking out some of the other managed hosters out there and found out that Digex has been trading at under a dollar for awhile...
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DIGX&d=c&t=3m&l=on&z=b&q=l
do I smell a delisting? <ouch>

Enron had good stuff to say about themself until the last days. :D

Originally posted by GWDGuy
Enron had good stuff to say about themself until the last days. :D

I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in awhile who used to work for Enron a couple of years back... she had just left her last job a few weeks ago and I asked her where she left... her response was "Andersen"... <chuckle>

Originally posted by hangten

This is incorrect... I surfed their site and found this:
http://www.rackspace.com/about/newsroom/listings.php3?hidelistings=1&detail=1104
Which says that they've been profitable for over a year now and said they doubled their revenue over that year as well...


If I were relying on public information, I would have posted the links. According to sources I have talked to -- off the record, of course -- RackSpace is highly leveraged, and carrying a lot of debt. They are fine as long as they continue to sign up new customers, but if they begin losing customers, they could wind up in a lot of trouble.

As to Digex -- duh :).

Originally posted by uuallan


If I were relying on public information, I would have posted the links. According to sources I have talked to -- off the record, of course -- RackSpace is highly leveraged, and carrying a lot of debt. They are fine as long as they continue to sign up new customers, but if they begin losing customers, they could wind up in a lot of trouble.

As to Digex -- duh :).

but recently then opened a new noc at U.K. From where they bring money if they don't have enough funds. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by mahinder


but recently then opened a new noc at U.K. From where they bring money if they don't have enough funds. :rolleyes:

Ya... I don't see it. A company of Rackspace's caliber couldn't do anything shady so long as people like Norwest and Sequia are involved...
http://www.rackspace.com/about/corporate/corporate_overview.php

anyhow, all this stuff is speculation anyhow - It's like saying M&M/Mars is loosing money hand over fist, the reality is that nobody knows.

Originally posted by mahinder


but recently then opened a new noc at U.K. From where they bring money if they don't have enough funds. :rolleyes:

The U.K. Data center has been opened since January of 2000:
http://www.rackspace.com/about/newsroom/listings.php3?hidelistings=1&detail=1018

I didn't say they did not have enough funds, I said they were highly leveraged, big difference :D. Keep in mind, that RackSpace is not a publicly traded company, so they do not have to report their financials, and they don't.

You won't find any quarterly earnings, or year end financials on their web site. So, the only information you have available is what is in their press releases, which are always spun positive.

The information I have is from one of their largest vendors, and again, is off the record.

Am I saying RackSpace is a bad company? Of course not, I think they have a great product, and I sincerely hope they do well.

What I am saying is that just because a company is big, does not mean that they can't fail (look at Exodus), and the things I am hearing about RackShack indicate they could be in trouble (again, emphasis on could).

Originally posted by hangten


Ya... I don't see it. A company of Rackspace's caliber couldn't do anything shady so long as people like Norwest and Sequia are involved...


Norwest and Sequoia have both made bad investments...and will probably make more. Hopefully RackSpace won't be one of them, but since their financials are not public there is no way to know for sure.

I am just relying on information I have gotten from a vendor.

RackSpace is highly leveraged, and carrying a lot of debt. They are fine as long as they continue to sign up new customers, but if they begin losing customers, they could wind up in a lot of trouble.

Allan, I enjoy your reads in the magazines and you are usually on the ball, but even you will probably admit these statements are nuts.

"Leveraged" is a term used by competitors (for hundreds of years) to muddy the waters about another person business in terms of financials. What does leveraged *really* mean? And when you think about it, what large company isn't?

"They are fine as long as they continue to sign up new customers, but if they begin losing customers......"

There's a revelation! :) Add customers = make money. Lose customers = lose money. Isn't this true about ANY business? ;)

Originally posted by UmBillyCord


"Leveraged" is a term used by competitors (for hundreds of years) to muddy the waters about another person business in terms of financials. What does leveraged *really* mean? And when you think about it, what large company isn't?


This is true, and I am explaining it badly, but I cannot give any more details without violating the trust of my confidant. Think of it like this:

AT&T, Sprint, WorldCom and MFN all leveraged themselves to expand their networks. They got a LOT of equipment from vendors on credit, or with really good terms...so they built up a lot of debt, but were still considered profitable because they are able to meet their debt obligations and have some money left over.

Now the debt accumulated by WorldCom and MFN is so high that they may not be able to pay it back based on existing revenues. The death spiral begins :). WorldCom will probably survive, MFN will probably join the ranks of AGIS :D. AT&T and Sprint, on the other hand, are certainly highly leveraged but not to the point that people are concerned about their ability to repay the outstanding debt they have...so no one talks about them going in to chapter 11.

What I have been told is that RackSpace is in a similar situation with some of their vendors. There is no way to verify this, since RackSpace won't discuss it :D, and of course you should take it with a grain of salt...after all the guy I was talking to may have been wrong. But I certainly want to throw it out there for people to consider.

"They are fine as long as they continue to sign up new customers, but if they begin losing customers......"

Originally posted by UmBillyCord

There's a revelation! :) Add customers = make money. Lose customers = lose money. Isn't this true about ANY business? ;)

That's me, I am all about cutting edge business theories :D. In this, using the example above, if they lose revenue they cannot meet their debt obligations and that's where the trouble comes in. As opposed to a company with no outstanding debt, who loses customers, and just has to cut costs to adjust to the loss.

In this, using the example above, if they lose revenue they cannot meet their debt obligations and that's where the trouble comes in. As opposed to a company with no outstanding debt, who loses customers, and just has to cut costs to adjust to the loss.

I'm with you. I had to give you a hard time though. :)

Originally posted by UmBillyCord

I'm with you. I had to give you a hard time though. :)

:D

Originally posted by UmBillyCord


I'm with you. I had to give you a hard time though. :)

Do you guys really even care? You guys are starting to remind me of the movie Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back... <chuckle>

I think you can't go wrong with Webreseller. Their prices are unbeatable and their support is great (friendly and fast).
And of course they are on Yipes...which is quite fast.

No negative comments? Well...no, actually not...although a Dual P3 1.4 Ghz with 2*36 GB 15k SCSI drive and 2 GB ram for $149 a month would be nice :D

That would be very nice, but we need to stay in business for a while ;)

Originally posted by Matlok

And of course they are on Yipes...which is quite fast.


Are you talking about backbone speed, or how fast they landed in Chapter 11 :D?

Originally posted by webreseller
That would be very nice, but we need to stay in business for a while ;)

That's also important. Maybe $249 ? :)

Originally posted by uuallan


Are you talking about backbone speed, or how fast they landed in Chapter 11 :D?

ROFL :D . Of course I was talking about how fast they landed in Chapter 11....uhh... Backbone speed. They must be fast in everything :)

I heard that RackSpace.com is opening up a new data center. Anyone else hear this?

This is true. Outside of Phoenix I believe.

I was not expecting such diverse responses from posting this question.

For those who care, I have decided to go with rackspace. No other company seems to have more good recomendations than bad.

Nawaz

Originally posted by nawaz
I was not expecting such diverse responses from posting this question.

For those who care, I have decided to go with rackspace. No other company seems to have more good recomendations than bad.

Nawaz

Best of Luck. BTW, I don't think such big and professional company is going to bankcourrpt or something like that in near future.



;)

Originally posted by nawaz
[B]For those who care, I have decided to go with rackspace. No other company seems to have more good recomendations than bad.
[B]

Keep us all informed as to how it goes - good luck!

test

well, depends how much you want to spend.

As far as I know, webreseller bandwidth is a bit cheaper and a lot of people report it much faster (also from europe) comparing to uunet and other real (or better, expensive) tier-1 lines....

Originally posted by hangten


Keep us all informed as to how it goes - good luck! Lol, we all know how it will go... come on... it's Rackspace!

Alan

Just a quick note... any limited company (publically traded or not) in the UK have to make a publically available copy of their accounts and present them to company house. Any person in the UK can request a copy of their full accounts.... maybe different in the states...

If you choose Rackspace, please be forewarned, you are going to pay through the nose in bandwidth charges.

We negotated a bit of a discount when we signed with them for 3 servers, and I certainly have nothing but GREAT things to say about the network and server uptime (in fact, all three servers have been up since the contract was signed <Jan> with no reboots, pushing 40-60gb through each monthly). The problem is the bandwidth charges. We are finding it difficult to generate a profit when the charges are so high, and with this industry being so competitive, it's impossible for us to increase our rates to compensate.

you are right... they are rather expensive if you have decent traffic..

Originally posted by Host Visions
If you choose Rackspace, please be forewarned, you are going to pay through the nose in bandwidth charges.

We negotated a bit of a discount when we signed with them for 3 servers, and I certainly have nothing but GREAT things to say about the network and server uptime (in fact, all three servers have been up since the contract was signed <Jan> with no reboots, pushing 40-60gb through each monthly). The problem is the bandwidth charges. We are finding it difficult to generate a profit when the charges are so high, and with this industry being so competitive, it's impossible for us to increase our rates to compensate. We all know that Rackspace.com are very expensive, but that's why they can provide a first-class service in managed dedicated servers. As I've said many times, this is the case where "what you pay for is what you get", in a good way. I'm a great 'fan' of Rackspace as some people may have noticed as I usually reply to most of the Rackspace threads at WHT :).

Alan

Dont know about you guys but evertime i go to rackspace.com my browser crashes. Whats up with that? Other times, its so slow i have to wait about 5minutes before the page finally loads. Once i do get there and view their bandwidth cost of $980.00 for 400gb i close brower real fast.

I've not had any problems here with the Rackspace website, it's most likely a glitch with your computer's browser. You should try the website on another computer just to make sure. If you're planning to use 400Gb of bandwidth at Rackspace and it's not a commercial website, I wouldn't suggest to use them as they do have expensive bandwidth prices. Obviously if your revenue is much more than the $980 quoted, then go for it :).

Alan