It's easy to find dedicated servers these days. It's not all that difficult either to locate one that's decent, assuming you're a server-side guru. One of those that pop into mind is DigitalNation.

My question is, does anyone know of any dedicated companies that offer dedicated and personal support, for free? I'm thinking a company with connectivity like Rackspace, but excellent, personal support like FutureQuest. The main stumbling block for many people in terms of committing to a dedicated server is the entire administration thing, which can get quite intimidating.

George

Rackspace doesn't have very good connectivty at all, DN has better, I have better connectivity than rackspace.

Sounds like more of a shameless plug for your company, Rackspace.com has ext. good uptime, one of the best in the industry and the real kicker is their excellent support, by doing a old fashionded search by clicking that wierd new fangled button in the top right corner and typing in rackspace youll find many that think rackspace is top notch besides those who enjoy adv. their own company...

I never said, that they weren't top notch, but I just stated that there bandwidth isn't all that.

((REMOVED BY CREGO3D))

good night folks ;)

[Edited by CRego3D on 02-15-2001 at 11:15 PM]

Rackspace has improved significantly since two years ago in terms of connectivity and speed. Between DN and RS, the choice is obvious, for me at least.

George

Hey how about the http://www.wedgehost.com
The rates are good but can't say anything about the service. Check out http://www.wedgehost.com

I think you'd be hard pushed to find a company with as much connectivity and reliability as DigitalNation (now Verio Dedicated Solutions)

RackSpace would be the choice for me Excelent Support & Connectivity is near to Lightning !

Tried to look at http://www.wedgehost.com but Netscape could not find the server. I'll try later.

Gary

I was glancing over Hostrocket, but couldn't find much info on what services come default with their dedicated packages (ie: free support etc). Also, the setup fee to me seems a little high.

I was seriously tempted by UltraSpeedUSA at one point, but you all know what happened to that :)

Again, Rackspace's support is great, but it's become a little too impersonal for me, especially with some of the things I need assistance with.

George,

There is no such thing as free support for dedicated servers. There are companies that advertise it and youll find their prices are $100 or more than one who don't. That $1200 or more yearly can buy a lot of books.

Time is money. You're looking for a cheap server and asking the support people to place zero value on their time.

Think again. I don't believe you'll find what you are looking for in a worthwhile host and are just setting yourself up as a victim of one or more of the many "promise them anything, get their money and credit card number (and keep on charging) and then forget about them" hosts we read about here frequently.

Duster, if there's anyone who understands the concept "you get what you pay for", it's me. :) I'm definitely not looking for a cheap server, or one that allows me to take advantage of the host's expertise/time for free. God knows where that took me in the past. Having said that, I think the support structure of most dedicated companies nowadays is a little ridiculous. Being nickeled and dimed for every second of the technician's time doesn't exactly put the customer at ease, especially if server-side management isn't his strong point.

Is it so hard for a dedicated company to offer even 1/4 the support of what Virtual Hosts do, for free? After all, we're paying basically the sum of all customers on a box in terms of Virtual Hosting. Things such as initial setup of things per request of the customer (email, ftp, logs rotation/stats etc), and basic support throughout. Yes, some dedicated customers will want a nuclear fusion reactor installed every 2 weeks, and for them, the task should be fee based.

George

Okay. Now I have a clearer understanding of what you're looking for. We see so many people here looking for unreasonable deals that you seemed to be another of them. Apparently, though, you appreciate the concept of value.

You may find, as I have, that some companies do offer some support for free, such as answering questions. It is no substitute for learning on one's own. The object it to make any such questions inteelligent ones that aren't covered elsewhere and aren't the most basic of questions.

I know that DI, as an example, will answer questions without charging for them, even beyond their 30 days initial support period. For reasons that should be obvious if you read my comments at http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=5832, many companies don't want to publicize that they will do so.

If you choose a company with an overall good attitude and record of support, a frank discussion with them may reveal that they will answer your questions. It's not their job nor responsibility to teach server management, and there are other resources that help do so, though some companies will assist so long as you are doing your part and learning the basics.