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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    508
    Hi.

    I'm in the process of selecting a second site. We just did Weinbar for first site, so we want the second one on east coast of USA.

    Since I have two sites, I'm playing a little risky and going for "cheaper" providers. However, time is money, so I still want to make the best choice I can within my price-range.

    Requirements:
    co-location, server is already built. 1U system.
    40GB/month (maybe could get by with 30GB/month, but would really like 50GB/month)
    $180/month or under - but goal for $140 or under.

    So far, what I came come up with:
    1) interserver.net
    2) dtwebworks.com
    3) insidecrew.com

    Can anyone comment on these places? What are their co-location contract terms? Any other places (toward East coast) that you would add to this list?

    Thank you.
    Last edited by StephenRS; 04-27-2001 at 01:53 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Posts
    127
    I am also looking to colocate a server.


    Insidecrew.com seems good, not much infos on their site though. Here are the ISPs I had in mind:

    dtwebworks.com

    weinbar.com

    venturesonline.com (VDI.NET)
    -> If they fix their bandwidth problems!



    Please, give me your thoughts on these ISP. If you are one of their
    customers, please give me info such as burst speed, customer service,
    reliability.

    Also, I am considering to get one of these 1U case to save on rackspace prices, anybody can recemmend me a place to get one? There are many ones available, and price varies a lot, what should I look for? I have a simple server, only 2 HD and 2 PCI card (ethernet and video), but I think I will have to get a motherboard with on-board video.


    Thank you,

    Cedric

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    508
    smash -- on the 1U server.

    1U is a real pain in terms of size and cooling. I built 3 of them myself last week. The first is going into Weinbar today.

    You don't need fancy video, so finding a mainboard that has onboard video is best. That way you only need 1PCI slot, which is the most common for 1U cases.

    Also with two hard drives, especially if you go with 7200/10000/15000 RPM -- plan on lots of extra cooling I had only one hard drive, and I stacked three systems on top of each other... they got pretty hot and I had to really plan out the airflow. I ran them for 3 solid days in a closed room at about 75 to 80 degrees F to make sure I did everything right

    Assuming you are going with a Intel P3 -- Also special low-profile heatsinks. Intel is supposed to trade you for free if you go with a retail CPU. On my 3 systems, I ordered the low-profile version of the Golden Orb -- it isn't the best heatsink on the market, but it works way better than the stock Intel one (despite being smaller).

    I actually went with Intel 815E motherboards with both on-board video and LAN. They are cheap and reliable... but they only support 512MB of RAM...

    I have photos to share, hopefully I can organize them sometime next week.

    My servers were designed to be cheap ($1150 including assembly labor) and last 18 months. They aren't perfect... but I'll likely replace them in less than 18 months anyway...
    Last edited by StephenRS; 04-27-2001 at 04:20 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Wichita, Ks, USA
    Posts
    1,984

    I would

    I would suggest starting out doing everything right, spend some money and build quality servers, the last thing you want is to have hardware problems
    affordablecolo.com carrier grade colocation at a affordable price!
    Charles Baker - Company Operations
    1-866-316-HOST

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    508
    cbaker17 -- servers are just one of hundreds of things that can go wrong. I have over 12 years experience doing server construction... I did not take this on without serious planning and customer discussion.

    It is this "spend money equals quality" belief that I challenge. I know how to build quality. Quality is quality, high price is not quality.

    However, perhaps you are making a different point...

    smash -- if you have never built your own server, I would not recommend it. It is not something a novice or even intermediate should consider I was doing 3 at a time, and I have over 10 computers of my own (I do distributed network software development). And I have worked with hundreds of high-end Compaq / HP / Digital systems too.

    However, my goal was to do it cheap. As I am going to have a fully dedicated spare server.

    I found this web site to be a great reference, but I didn't find it until after I was done
    http://www.linux-1u.net/

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    508
    Charles -- if you read my original message, I was asking about your (dtwebworks.com) offerings. In particular, what are your co-location contract terms? What is your current turn around time assuming I have a server ready to overnight? Thanks.

    If there are issues with posting such information in this forum, please feel free to email me at Stephen@RoundSparrow.com

    Thank you.
    Last edited by StephenRS; 04-27-2001 at 04:20 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Wichita, Ks, USA
    Posts
    1,984

    ahh

    Oh I wasnt trying to be rude stephen, I just giving a little friendly advise. And the reason I didnt fill you in on any info on our facilitys, is because I dont advertise on this board except in the advertising forum Ill send you some more info via email
    affordablecolo.com carrier grade colocation at a affordable price!
    Charles Baker - Company Operations
    1-866-316-HOST

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    100

    Thumbs up

    I have had a dedicated with InsideCrew and I for sure would like to recommend them. Their support is very good being a budget hosting company. I have a dedicated with one of the major players in this forum, and InsideCrew have not worse support, rather better. They do reply on all your questions, always within about at most 6-8 hours. Emergencies are handled within one or two hours. They keep their promises, which I appreciate. And, they do inform their customers about problems they have or have had. They do that by e-mail.

    They are very knowledgeable about UNIX sysadm and network. Most often they do not require you to pay if you need help with your server. If they want payment, the prices are very reasonable. I paid them $100 for setting up a firewall, $50 for configuring two name servers.

    They only charge setup fees if you upgrade your memory or add more hard disks, hence no monthly fees.

    The downside is their network connection. They used to have one single T1 that of course was a single point of failure. They have had problems with Verizone causing the network do be completely down for several hours in March. I belive they now have added another T1 with WorldCom that is redundant with the first T1. The T1 was never much utilized, and I assume they will upgrade when necessary.

    I can definitively recommend them. My experience is that InsideCrew are serious and knowledgeable people. They do not accept any kind of adult material on their dedicated servers.

    /lennert

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    508
    leat -- thanks for the great information.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    Connecticut, US
    Posts
    779
    Originally posted by StephenRS
    ...

    Also with two hard drives, especially if you go with 7200/10000/15000 RPM -- plan on lots of extra cooling I had only one hard drive, and I stacked three systems on top of each other... they got pretty hot and I had to really plan out the airflow. I ran them for 3 solid days in a closed room at about 75 to 80 degrees F to make sure I did everything right ...


    It is always worth repeating - inadequate cooling is the number one killer of disk drives. SCSI drives need the cooling more than IDE drives because the SCSI drives tend to push the performance envelope. If more people were as conscientious as you, I suspect we'd see fewer complaints about disk drive problems.

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