Finally, I decided to go with interserver.net to colocate my first 1U rackmount server.

I send my server on Sat Feb 24th, 2001 and the server has just arrived today, Mon 26th, 20001 at 12:56pm (check that with tracking number). I will post my experience with interserver.net to all of you here. As promised, the server would be up within days.... (hope it will be even faster).

So far, I have a good experience with them, especially Mike. The deal I got was: $120/mo (COLO A) with 30GB traffic, 10IPs, CPanel3+WHM. Cheaper than if I colocate it with VDI, yet the same thing since interserver is using VDI's NOC. The best deal: No setup fee! It's not just setting up the server to the rack, but they will install the OS and configure the server (something I am not really good at), install Cpanel3+WHM for free. As I know it, all servers sent to VDI's NOC will have to be resinstalled (if it needs to since CPanel3 only work with RH 6.2) and that's why I just sent my server blank and they will install everything for me. VDI charges $100 for this, yet I got it free from interserver.net.

Another thing: the $120/mo includes basic server administration! (not sure how they define it, though).

So far everything is good ... but sales are always good, everywhere... anywhere... so only time will tell how good they really are.

I will keep my update on this matter....

cheers,
:beer:

where did you get the server? did you buy it online or something?

Originally posted by teck
where did you get the server? did you buy it online or something?

Built it myself! :D
P3 733
512 MB PC133
2 x 30.7GB 7200 rpm ATA66 (one for backup).
1U rackmount for cost efficiency (although I just knew later that their prices are the same for 1U/2U... :( I should have gone with 2U... more cooling)

Cheaper than anywhere else, especially since they will install the OS... :D

cheers,
:beer:

As promised, my server will be up tommorow or a day after. I will just wait patiently ;)

cheers,
:beer:

can you use regular parts to build it? so basically you just have to buy the 1u rackmount case right? how much does that cost? also..as for cpu, ram and everything else..its just standard parts you can buy from your online etailer right?

Originally posted by teck
can you use regular parts to build it? so basically you just have to buy the 1u rackmount case right? how much does that cost? also..as for cpu, ram and everything else..its just standard parts you can buy from your online etailer right?

define 'regular' :D My CPU is as regular as others since I bought Retail version of P3 733. I use micron chipset memory, used 7200 rpm (not 5400rpm) Maxtor DiamondMax HD (used to be one of the fastest ATA66 HD) with 2MB cache... So yes... though my system is an entry level system, I believe I have build a good entry level system.. And yes, you can buy it anywhere... but better to buy a retail product since it comes with longer manufactur warranty.

You can build your own 1U rackmount for around $600-$700 (mine is more expensive) and it is better than most entry level dedicated server.

You may contact me if you need further information... :D

cheers,
:beer:

Too bad my server is not up today yet... Well, they have one more day to work on the server... I have to remember that it's not just putting the server on the rack and connect it to the switch/router, bur they have to so some OS installation, server configuration, CPanel+WHM configuration, etc...

But tommorow, the server should be up! I hope they will have it as promised. So far, no complaints...

cheers,
:beer:

Finally!
As promised, my server is up today. It was late but I can't blame them. There was a problem on my onboard NIC (can't make it to work). But I can't blame them for this! Mike even installed a free 3COM NIC for me! That's very nice of him. Remember, I send my server blank... they have to install the OS and configure all the hardware. All this is done for free yet I still get another free NIC! You guys rock!

I had some difficulty with my server, again not their fault. It's just me having no experience with WHM. After they put my server up, they are still around to help me with even the dumbest question. At around 12:20, I opened a ticket support to ask for additional IPs; Got response in just about (or probably less than) 10 minutes with the additional IPs.

I have no complaint so far. They have been pretty helpful! I hope I will get more good experience with them. So far, I won't hesitate to recommend people to use their service. They are doing their business personally and honestly.

for the people at interserver... you guys are great, and I hope you guys will still be great in the future!

cheers,
:beer: -> my server is up!

If you use more than 30GB of traffic, how much do they charge you?

It's in their web site... $4/GB but talk to Mike. He is willing to work everthing with you, including the overage bandwith charge. He is not gonna nickel-and-dime you for everything.... How much do you think you will need?

cheers,
:beer:

:beer:

One week after my server has been up. No downtime... There were only two requested reboot, after I ask them to change hostname and formant my second HD. Gee... I won't stop talking the good thing about them and will recommend people to colo there... (or even have a dedicated server with them). Why? here is one of the reason: On their colocation page, you can find this statement: "Your basic contract with Interserver includes system administration, but not individualized development work unless otherwise specified. Most administration tasks that a system administrator usually handles ...". Their helping me with some administration task is really what make them valuable...

They formatted and mounted my second hard drive for backup purposes. Not only that, they even installed a perl backup script that will backup all users on the primary HD, daily and weekly. I did not even ask for this script, yet they put it for me... :) I then checked out the backup script and saw that all backup logs are emailed to john@interserver.net as my server sysadmin, not to me! I was really surprised to see that my name is not on the script although theoretically I am my own sysadmin :D

Still yet another thing, they even took an initiative to add my new IPs on WHM, something that we usually need to do it ourselves.

So far, I am really satisfied with them. Not only my servers has never been down (I use QWKmon.net and no reported down time) but also their helping you as a sysadmin is really helpful!

So, I will really recommend them to everybody thinking about colocating.... you can't go wrong with them, especially with their being your sysadmin or at least helping you as a sysadmin... :D

cheers for all,
:beer: -> happy customer :D

Hi,
Did you face in the last 2 weeks any problems with interserver ? I have a site hosted there and I faced tons of problems and downtimes. I was planning to get a server from them. I want your opinion now. Shall I get the server from them ?

My site is slow there.... Will it be faster if I got the ded server ?

Regards

Originally posted by Mc Ghoush
Hi,
Did you face in the last 2 weeks any problems with interserver ? I have a site hosted there and I faced tons of problems and downtimes

Yes... There are some connectivity issues, but these may not be their problem per se... Actually I think VDI has been having a lot of blurps in their connection (not a long porblem, just a blurp). One thing I realized, every time my server is getting slow, all other hosts (VDI based) are also slow... Next time, when you are having problem with this, try to check all other VDI-based hosts like VenturesOnline.com, Wizardshosting.com, JaguarPC.com, Hostrocket.com, LiquidWeb.com, and of course VDI.net itself...


I was planning to get a server from them. I want your opinion now. Shall I get the server from them ? My site is slow there.... Will it be faster if I got the
ded server ?


Considering on a shared account, a server could as well be shared by hundreds of other accounts then yes... a dedicated should definitely be faster than your shared account. But connectivity-wise, I can't tell since I also hate it that lately VDI seems to have tons of problems... :( BTW, how much traffic does you site consume? Are you using a lot of CPU resources?

cheers,
:beer:

Though I don't use interserver (I'm using VO) I have to say it's very refreshing to see a company that actually CARES about its clients. I've had similar experiences with VO, in fact they've installed 3 different PHP modules for me (one of which didn't even work) without charging a dime... hehe, it's like, a hosting company that actually makes use of a ticketing system! WEIRD!

I suppose you also looked at dtwebworks.com, from reading this board they're my favorite for colocation. They also seem to be slightly lower priced than interserver...

Can you explain what made you prefer interserver.net over dtwebworks.com ?

Originally posted by astra4

Can you explain what made you prefer interserver.net over dtwebworks.com ?

Yes, dtwebworks.com was on my list (as well as serverhost.com). But I went to interserver because of the Cpanel/WHM software that I need. It would cost an extra $199/mo for this at dtwebworks.com. Also, how much would it cost for a 30GB transfer (actual) and 10IP at dtwebworks?
1U rack space: $35/mo
30GB transfer: $60/mo
10IPs : $20/mo

so total of $115/mo. An extra $5/mo will give me all the above plus CPanel/WHM at interserver. Of course, if you do not need the 30GB, your colo price will be less at dtwebworks.com (too bad, interserver will require you to buy at least 30GB). But again, the price for CPanel/WHM will justify it.

Also... This is really cool about interserver... They did not charge me any setup fee (plus they installed the OS and configured the server). Saved anywhere between $50-$150 already for this free setup. With all these, interserver.net seems to give the lowest VDI-based colocation price. So... these are the reasons I go with interserver.net.

BTW: my server has been up for 29 days straight. Pretty cool since I build that server myself :D

cheers,
:beer:

Now... I have talked about this at my other post, but for the sake of completion, I will post it here too since this is directly related to interserver.

I downloaded a file (uumap.tar.Z) at ftp.uu.net. The file size is about 8.5 MByte in size. I got about 440-510 KByte/second (about 3.5-4 Mbps) and this was when VDI is having some trouble (about 10-25% packet loss). So I downloaded again at different time and this time I got about 870 KByte/s (about 6.96 Mbps). Quite fast, I think... I am not sure what would a good number be... but I think, this is quite fast. The good thing.... I don't have to worry about being billed with 95th %ile... they are using average/actual bandwith measurement so it was quite fun actually downloading these files when you are bursting close to 7 Mbps... cool... :D

cheers,
:beer:

i used to get 3 megabytes per second from a vdi box. yes, per second. that file took about 3 seconds to download. lately, it's been sucking

Wow! that's great! it means about 24Mbps? Very nice... well since interserver is located at VDI, I am hoping to see that number too... at least somewhere close to it :D

cheers,
:beer:

This could probably the first complain I had about interserver.net.

Few weeks agon, VDI was having problem and needed to have some scheduled down time... I knew this because William (VDI's owner) mentioned it here at WHT. Also because for some reasons I am still in Ventures Online mailing list, although I am no longer have any account with them, and I got the warning about the scheduled down time from Patt (VO).

Now, what really bothers me was how come I did not get any warning/notification from my own host, interserver? I talked to Mike on ICQ and he simply told me that he was not told by VDI about this either and did not know about this scheduled down time. When I asked hime how come interserver seem to be the only one who did not know about this while VO (and possibly all other hosts) was told about this. He just said "sorry about this". I would expect interserver to know what's going on with VDI and to notify their clients about this, but... too bad, they did not even care to be somehow more updated on this matter.

For me, his answer is not enough. This did not only happen once. VDI was having more than once scheduled down time, and evertime I know about this is either from WHT or from VenturesOnline (ironically, no longer my host...).

cheers,
:beer:

hey dektong,

I'm currently considering interserver very seriously right now. I've seen quite a few threads about them, and since it's easier to find negative reviews than positive ones, it's nice to find someone happy with them. I'd love an update on your situation. Still satisfied?

Originally posted by Justice
hey dektong,

I'm currently considering interserver very seriously right now. I've seen quite a few threads about them, and since it's easier to find negative reviews than positive ones, it's nice to find someone happy with them. I'd love an update on your situation. Still satisfied?

Justice,
Make that two happy guys. I took dektong's advice and got my server with them. The 1GHz Special Dedicated from interserver and I am extremely happy with them. I would like to say that every host has problems but what I look for is someone willing to push the envolope in Customer Service and interserver is it.

Fact: They are extremely friendly and would help with almost anything, best of all for free. For me they have agreed to install Real Server.

Fact: Their prices are out of this world and extremely attractive.

Fact: Sometimes support can be a bit slow, I have no complaints about this as I know that even if they are not helping, they ARE helping some other customer and I will get my problem solved. Not just an e-mail saying sorry we don't provide help for such problems.

Guess: After bugging(talking) Mike and John for two weeks over ICQ and HumanClick I am very statisfied that even if there is a problem at 2 AM these guys will do their best to help. Also they won't double cross you. With my previous host I woke up a couple of times and my server was unaccessible. I freaked out and for hours I tried to fix it and sent countless e-mails to support only to find out hours later that my server had been taken offline becuase of 2 complaints about spam or a DoS attack. I know why this might be necessary bu at least they could have informed me by e-mail that they had done it. Anyway i think interserver would at least inform me but thats just me :) its up to you to decide.

wow, your story put the icing on the cake. this forum has officiall inspired this thread (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20695) :D

and be sure to keep me posted on your service with InterServer. They're currently my top candidate for a new mate...err, host.

So far so good. They really do use the Support Ticket System :) unlike other hosts.

&

Its not enough how many time I say this: "these guys are very very helpful and understanding"

Hi guys,
You all asked to be kept uptodate with my experience with InterServer and here it is.
Their support has been excellent and they always answer the support e-mails/tickets. However it is much faster if I contact John directly by AOL IM.
They have treated my like I was their only client, even agreed to install RealServer for me without installation charges. Also installed frontpage 2002 and gave extra Ips quickly.

By now it might seem repetetive but I can't help it, I just can't stop praising InterServer. This is why I will not post anymore.

I have completed a full week with interserver and its amazing how they have bent over backwards to help me and if you read other threads other InterServer clients have had similar experiences. InterServer answer support queries so fast that today I saved $100 that I would have loosed if the reply was even an hour late, but it was on time (40 mins). They assigned a few Ips immediately and said that the rest would come the next day when they get a new IP block.

This was for all you guys who wanted to know how my experience with InterServer was like and as we already know dektong has had similar experiences.

Also if there are any other InterServer clients reading this I would encourage to post your exeriences here.