Hello,

Any cheap colocation places with good service and reliability?

So far I've come across with the following:
maxim.net
tera-byte.com
vdi.net (close to where I live, which might be a plus)

Anyone have any experiences with them or has some more colocation places to add to the list? Also, please give me some advice or what to look for when shopping for a good colocation place. One more question, what is used more often (better) as a control panel, plesk or cpanel, or some other alternative?

I really appreciate the help.

-Kevin

dtwebworks.com
serverhost.com
interserver.net (using VDI's network)
venturesonline.com (also using VDI's network)

If you need bandwith around 10-15 GB and you don't need CPanel nor you need a big NOC, then I will advice you to go with dtwebworks.com since it only charges you around $25 per 1U server and data transfer costs as low as $2/GB and no more than $3/GB (also, no setup fee).

However if you need around 20-30GB and you need Cpanel and big NOC (like VDI), then I will suggest you to go with interserver.net. For a mere $120/mo you get 30GB of data transfer, CPanel and WHM, 10 IPS, and no rack charges (no setup fee too). Additional data transfer will cost you about $4/GB.

Venturesonline.com, though a bit more expensive than interserver.net (but still cheaper than VDI) would also
be of your interest. The guys running the business have pretty good reputation here. Their bandwith charges is $3/GB.

If your sever does not come in rackmount unit and you need more than 4U of rackspace, then try to contact serverhost.com since they have pretty good deal on rack charges and their bandwith is pretty cheap too. Their network is faster than dtwebworks.com but slower than VDI. Cpanel will also cost you more (not sure how much, but not $25/mo as offered by VDI although they have an agreement with VDI regarding this, just contact them), if you need one...

Now.... like about your options:
1. VDI.net ... I can get cheaper colocation at the same NOC, for lower price by going with either venturesonline.com or interserver.net
2. maxim.net ... though your capped bandwith is really cheap, the rack charge is pretty expensive... aroudn $250/server (Gee!). Great bandwith prices, though!
3. tera-byte.com ... at least from my computer when I do traceroute... it's much slower than VDI. Their colo charges is good, though I don't like my bandwith be capped...

There are some other, but let me think it over again... :D
Good luck,

cheers,
:beer:

While I appreciate Dektong recommending our services, I just want to clarify some things about what he said:

For most tests, our network is faster than VDI:
(Example: from Dialtone Internet)

traceroute to serverhost.com (216.215.238.240), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets
1 216.87.208.1 (216.87.208.1) 0.602 ms 0.481 ms 0.581 ms
2 s4-0-0.ar1.TPA1.gblx.net (64.209.252.61) 42.396 ms 101.083 ms 59.088 ms
3 pos5-1-155M.cr1.MIA1.gblx.net (206.132.248.42) 13.197 ms 12.860 ms 13.514 ms
4 pos0-0-622M.cr1.ATL1.gblx.net (206.132.115.86) 27.286 ms 26.545 ms 26.564 ms
5 pos0-0-0-155M.ar1.ATL1.gblx.net (206.132.115.114) 26.838 ms 27.400 ms 26.734 ms
6 trivergent.s11-1-1.ar1.ATL1.gblx.net (208.51.117.34) 30.185 ms 30.486 ms 29.824 ms
7 serverhost.com (216.215.238.240) 31.528 ms 31.645 ms 31.827 ms

traceroute to vdi.net (216.10.16.24), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets
1 216.87.208.1 (216.87.208.1) 0.723 ms 0.502 ms 0.470 ms
2 serial3-0-7.hsa1.mia1.level3.net (63.212.176.29) 1.910 ms 2.249 ms 2.254 ms
3 lo0.mp2.Atlanta1.level3.net (209.247.8.248) 18.452 ms 18.128 ms 18.648 ms
4 loop0.hsa1.wee1.Level3.net (209.247.2.3) 41.650 ms 40.880 ms 42.379 ms
5 s1-0.core1.cftnnj.inet.vdi.net (63.211.88.6) 50.078 ms 42.918 ms 47.752 ms
6 vdi.net (216.10.16.24) 49.211 ms 42.243 ms 41.736 ms

That shows about 10ms of latency that we have over VDI, even though we take an extra hop.

Our available bandwidth is much higher too, since we have an ethernet handoff from NuVox/TriVergent, our upstream provider, who has an OC3 to Level3 and an OC3 to Global Crossing, with other DS3/DS1 connections as backups. While traceroutes may not reveal the difference from some places, when you try to burst to 100Mbps at VDI, you'll understand why Serverhost/Plusweb is a much better choice.

As for pricing, I can confidently say that we have lower pricing than all of the competiton mentioned (with the exclusion of Maxim.net, who has a different method of pricing).

Moderators, please do not remove this post. I was simply responding to a post made in this thread that had misinformation.

Contact me for more information about our pricing, services, or network.

Regards,

My apology Jeff. Don't try to misled anybody. I think the reason I feel VDI is faster is because I am closer to VDI than to you... (Same here for dtwebworks.com) Not a good basis to judge how fast an NOC is... :(

cheers,
:beer:

Dektong,

Certainly that can be a factor. The only reason I can see to go with VDI for colocation at this point anymore is because you save $75/mo on Cpanel/WHM fees in their data center over ours.


Bill @ VDI requested I remove my comments beyond this sentence to prevent any knee-jerk reactions about Cpanel/WHM, and since I want to maintain a good relationship with VDI, I have complied.


Regards,

[Edited by jkehe on 02-23-2001 at 09:56 PM]