I have a server with managed.com, i have emailed them at least a dozen of times to temporarily shut down the server until my customer re-setups their payment plan.

I have not received 1 response. I also tried their whpsupport@webhostplus.com and all other emails as well.

So my question is, how can I suspend access to the server from my end? I do have the root password, I could change that, but i want all the accounts to be deactivated too.

box is running a Linux/cPanel Setup

Thanks in advance,

Well, you can always shutdown the server to make it simple. just issue the shutdown command and ask support to reboot it when they pay. If you also have access to the switch (you probaly dont), you can reroute the traffic from there pretty much.

If you have root access, you can log into WHM using the root user and password. Then suspend all the accounts (and prevent reseller from activating).

Make sure you change the root password or the customer can log in and undo your actions. He could even change root password on you.

im afraid to shut it down, because i will never be able to get managed.com to start it up again.

whm suspension sounds pretty good. i was thinking of shutting down all services via ssh. i will do both.

WHM suspension should be enough, but you can always kill services if you want.

Don't forget to change the password for admin or any accounts they have with shell access.

Good luck.

thanks for all the input.

hopefully that will get the customer to pay again...

Intel,

Have you called up the client? Maybe he/she doesn't want the server anymore

Intel,

Have you called up the client? Maybe he/she doesn't want the server anymore

that was my concern too, that would be a big loss. but i checked his domains/hosting website and it is still on our server.

for some reason, our billing software wasnt making invoices for this customer so they didnt pay for the last few months.

i emailed him and he is working on sending the payment as of now.

Setup the firewall to block all access except from your IP, or even just block port 21, 80, 2082, 2083, 2086, 2087 and change root password.

In an ideal world you'd just be able to shut it down at the switch port, thus the server keeps running, but can't push any traffic.

Seems odd managed.com wouldn't reply to at least clear up their policy regarding this.

I know you didn't ask for advice on payment, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. :)

Since dedicated servers are such a high ticket item, you should probably make sure you're getting paid every month on time. Don't wait until the client hasn't paid for several months before you suspend them. You could be looking at a huge loss if you wait too long. Our policy is to suspend after 3 days late, unless they notify us that they are going to be late (and it better be a good reason, from a long-time customer, with promise to pay within a few days).

--Tina

I know you didn't ask for advice on payment, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. :)

Since dedicated servers are such a high ticket item, you should probably make sure you're getting paid every month on time. Don't wait until the client hasn't paid for several months before you suspend them. You could be looking at a huge loss if you wait too long. Our policy is to suspend after 3 days late, unless they notify us that they are going to be late (and it better be a good reason, from a long-time customer, with promise to pay within a few days).

--Tina

I agree, and this should be the same even if it isn't a high ticket item. :)

I know you didn't ask for advice on payment, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. :)

Since dedicated servers are such a high ticket item, you should probably make sure you're getting paid every month on time. Don't wait until the client hasn't paid for several months before you suspend them. You could be looking at a huge loss if you wait too long. Our policy is to suspend after 3 days late, unless they notify us that they are going to be late (and it better be a good reason, from a long-time customer, with promise to pay within a few days).

--Tina

Hi Tina,

Thanks for the comment. you are absolutely right. we actually require the first and last month's payment up front so even if a payment for one month has no gone through for whatever reason, they have 1 month to figure it out.

however, this particular client was somehow left out of the system when we made our transition from WHMAP to HSPComplete.

and major part of the problem was that customer was in singapore. but today he sent all the outstanding balance via western union. its all good now.

thanks for all the inputs.

I'm glad you got your money. We actually may start requiring a deposit on our servers, since even though we suspend right away - if they don't pay, we still owe our providers. :(

--Tina

turn the server off

Thats why its a good idea to colocate your servers if you're selling dedicated servers. That way you can easily throttle the bandwidth or turn off the switch-port.

Thats why its a good idea to colocate your servers if you're selling dedicated servers. That way you can easily throttle the bandwidth or turn off the switch-port.

That's a poor reason for colocating.

--Tina

I'm glad you got your money. We actually may start requiring a deposit on our servers, since even though we suspend right away - if they don't pay, we still owe our providers. :(

--Tina
Thats why you may want to look into purchasing a bunch of servers and getting yourself a rack and coloing it :P.. dont owe anyone money except the one month payment.

Thats why you may want to look into purchasing a bunch of servers and getting yourself a rack and coloing it :P.. dont owe anyone money except the one month payment.

...and here's the downside:

1. You will owe the equipment vendor a monthly payment (or put out a hefty chunk of $$ upfront). Couple that with the colo payment and replacement parts when things crap out and you're near what a lease fee would be anyway.

2. Unless you have physical access to your equipment, you'll be at the mercy of the datacenter anyway.

3. Leased servers are generally under waranty and all replacement parts/labor are free.

4. Leased equipment is a tax write off. Colo'd equipment isn't - except for depreciation, which isn't going to add up like leased equipment will.

5. In a couple of years, you'll have equipment that needs replacing if you colo. If you lease, you can upgrade and probably stay at or near your same monthly payment.

6. Colo'ing, you have all of your eggs in one basket. Leasing, you can spread your equipment out over multiple datacenters (like we have).

I'm not saying that leasing is always better than colocating. If your circumstances are right for colocating, more power to you. But I don't see it being a "better" solution than leasing in every situation.

We've gone from leasing to colocating to having our own humble datacenter...and weighed all of the pros and cons and eventually went back to leasing. It just makes more sense.

--Tina

That's a poor reason for colocating.

--Tina

I don't recall saying thats the only reason for colocation?

Hello,

Type in the command

shutdown....

this would shut the server.

Thank you.

Regards,

have you tied calling support? Also, how about briging the apache server offline.

...but today he sent all the outstanding balance via western union. its all good now....
The client already paid guys.

Good for you since the client paid the money :) I would prefer stop the services and reset the root password incase of non-payment from the customer.