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  1. #1
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    Many months and many servers :: A dedicated server review

    Hello everyone and I hope the following reviews/opinions are helpful to someone!

    Introduction:

    I am Zach Roberts, owner and project manager of Lifelesspeople.com.

    Over the past few months I've been with many dedicated server providers. To date I count six different providers!

    The Providers:
    BurstNET: http://www.nocster.com/
    ServerMatrix: http://www.servermatrix.com/
    Simpli: http://www.simpli.biz
    eBoundary: http://www.eboundary.com/
    FDC: http://www.fdcservers.net
    LiquidWeb: http://www.liquidweb.com/

    BurstNET review:

    I first used BurstNET/Nocster a few months ago before all the recent DDoS network issues, so my review won't include any opinions over recent problems.

    My first impression of BurstNET was that they were a second rate company with cheap prices/quality. I was wrong to say the least.

    In my experience, BurstNET provided a good bang for your buck and support that can't be matched.. for that price.

    When I as a member, the network was in one of its better months but, I still noticed a latency when typing commands in SSH. It wasn't my apartment's connection, this lasted too long.

    Summary: For the price, it can't be beat. If you need higher quality, pay for it. For everyone else, what few faults they do have is just money in the bank.

    ServerMatrix review:

    In my stay at ServerMatrix I had the following boxes: 2 2.0 GHz P4 (SuperServers) and 1 1.7 GHz Celeron.

    The boxes were setup within 12-24 hours of my orders and were setup to my specifications everytime without any errors.

    Technical support was a major issue and their tech staff didn't seem to care too much. (At least the ones I talked with on the phone.)

    More often that, not I was told to log a ticket and they would look at it in just alittle while when I called.

    Summary: Good quality network with alot of features/options. Fast setup times and the setups are usually done right. Don't depend on too much technical support if you can't setup/manage the server yourself.

    Simpli review:
    My first dedicated server ever was through Simpli.biz and I must say I gave Erica hell with all my requests for operating system changes.

    If you need a quality server on a good network, look her up. If you are looking for a good bang for your buck in liue of quality, look elsewhere.

    Erica is professional/nice but, she can be fiesty at times so watch out! (Shes going to kill me for saying that. )

    Summary: Overall a provider geared more towards experienced people that need higher quality/high uptime/extremely fast speeds and not toward the bargain basement servers that are all too common.

    eBoundary review:
    eBoundary is another high quality provider that isn't for someone looking on a budget.

    They currently use Allegiance Telecom in San Diego, CA for their provider currently and are planning to move to Peer1. I see nothing but, good things in service and quality from eBoundary!

    Summary: Danny at eBoundary will go out of his way to help you and is very well versed in security/operation of both Linux and FreeBSD. If you are looking for quality and can't manage your own server entirely, talk to Danny.

    FDC review:
    FDCservers.net got my business for one month due to their very cheap prices. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

    FDC's sales department may not appear to be the most professional ever but, they get the job done and are around at many odd hours of the night/day to help you find what you need.

    With their unmetered connections they may appear to be a good buy but, be warned.. their network quality could stand to be vastly improved.

    Technical support is non-existant as far as software support goes, you are entirely on your own to make sure your box runs properly.

    With free OS reloads/free IPs/unmetered connections and ultra fast setup this provdier looks to be a great buy.

    Summary: In my experience FDC doesn't have alot of the bells and whistles alot of the other "discount" providers have but, they get the job done. If you aren't looking for 100% uptime or very high quality (network quality that is). You have found your provider.

    And last but, not least..
    LiquidWeb review:
    While I havn't been with them long, my first impression is that they will be quite good.

    Their network is absolutely excellent and their setup times are good as well.

    If you are looking for a good medium between price/quality these guys are your perfect match.

    Summary: Not too much information on them yet, first impressions are great and look to be a very good provider.

    I hope all of this helps someone and if there are any questions I'll be glad to answer everything thrown my way.

    Good luck to everyone!

  2. #2
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    Satyr, Chrisalya, Canada
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    All I Can Say Is WOW!
    --

  3. #3
    well I am working on pulling off my burstnet servers. In the last 2 months I have been down a total of 15 days (at least one or 2 hours a day) And when it was up I tried downloading from my own server and got speeds up to 20k Normally the speed was 2 -4k (56k connections can download this fast)
    I am swapping to managed so after a few months we will see. I got 2 2.0g celron servers with 512m ram and 1000g bandwidth each and those 2 cost me the exact same (after their special deal ends) as the one 2.4g celron 512m ram 1000g bandwidth server I had from burst. So Once i get these clustered (anyone know how to do this??) if they hold up as well as the 1 server (and I am sure the speeds won't be any worse) I will be happy.
    On support all my main support questions were always the same. "when will my server be back up" and "when will the speed be back up" and it was always "we are working on it now" or "we are investigating the problem" and they was willing to offer me more bandwidth for the days I was down. Wasn't that nice considering the fact i use 700g bandwidth a month and lost 20 - 50 bucks for every day it was down Nice of them to up my bandwidth from 1000g to a little more.
    ANYWAY managed had my servers up next day as per what they told me (Now if i can figure out how to set it up burst did that for me)
    Last edited by msealsmusic; 12-05-2003 at 01:53 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
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    eBoundary offer dedicated server? I only see their virtual hosting plans.

  5. #5
    Originally posted by DOBo
    eBoundary offer dedicated server? I only see their virtual hosting plans.
    * 11/10/03 eBoundary dedicated.

    eBoundary is currently pre-selling our new dedicated server offerings, these servers will be located in the Peer1 facility in NYC. Peer1 offers 100% network uptime and has a proven track record to back it up.

    More information on this service should be available in the coming weeks.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Thanks for the great comments, like I've said before it's always nice to hear people appreciate the hard work .
    http://www.eBoundary.com - Let us help you expand your eBoundaries!
    Fast, Secure and reliable FreeBSD shared, reseller and dedicated hosting.
    FREE Peace of mind with every account!

  7. #7
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    Great review Lifelesshost!

    I can confirm your impressions about SM and FDC as I am currently one of their customers. FDC has improved a lot the quality of their network recently.

  8. #8

    Why?

    You appeared to be satisfied with some of the providers. Why, then, have you kept switching and been with so many?

  9. #9
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    I need a good balance between price and quality. That is hard to find.

    In other words, I want everything for nothing and I'm still looking for it..

  10. #10
    Jeez, why did'nt I think of doing soimething like that?

  11. #11
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    Zach was the reason we got APC remote reboot ports.

    Thanks for the review! Yes, we are a premium provider, but I don't think anyone ever thought otherwise. We've been sold out of dedicated servers on our website for 2 months and we set up three new ones last night, so we must be doing something right.

    Anyway, Zach, we have a certain sysadmin (who introduced you to FreeBSD) trying out DirectAdmin + FreeBSD 4.9 on a dedicated right now, so if he likes it, it may be an opportunity for you.

    Good luck!
    Erica Douglass, Founder, Simpli Hosting, Inc.
    »»» I founded Simpli Hosting, and sold it in 2007 to Silicon Valley Web Hosting after over 6 years in the business.
    Now I'm blogging at erica.biz!

  12. #12
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    haha, don't get me started on DirectAdmin Erica, that little puppy gave me a headache or 2 not so long ago
    http://www.eBoundary.com - Let us help you expand your eBoundaries!
    Fast, Secure and reliable FreeBSD shared, reseller and dedicated hosting.
    FREE Peace of mind with every account!

  13. #13
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    So far as I can tell, DirectAdmin is an up and coming control panel.

    So far, cPanel is still king of the control panels because of it's server management capability but, DirectAdmin is still in development so.. we'll see.


  14. #14
    Originally posted by LifelessHost
    I need a good balance between price and quality. That is hard to find.

    In other words, I want everything for nothing and I'm still looking for it..
    Let me know when you find that!

  15. #15
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    latest release of cpanel isn't very promising hope they fix some of these new errors soon. Not that messing with bind and apache doesn't give you some experience.
    Patron: I'd like my free lunch please.
    Cafe Manager: Free lunch? Did you read the fine print stating it was an April Fool's joke.
    Patron: I read the same way I listen, I ignore the parts I don't agree with. I'm suing you for false advertising.
    Cafe Owner: Is our lawyer still working pro bono?

  16. #16
    Nice review. I wish more members put this much thought into posts. Sometimes include features you liked about a host, while pointing out some flaws. Too many people say "Nocster sucks" then do not say well hey they were good with this and that. Every company is going to have some flaw, the good ones just know how to fix/ handle it.

    Derrick
    ResellerEdge.com - High Quality Reseller/ Multiple Domain Hosting.

  17. #17
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    Not a bad post indeed. But where are the cussing and accusations I'm so used to seeing.
    Patron: I'd like my free lunch please.
    Cafe Manager: Free lunch? Did you read the fine print stating it was an April Fool's joke.
    Patron: I read the same way I listen, I ignore the parts I don't agree with. I'm suing you for false advertising.
    Cafe Owner: Is our lawyer still working pro bono?

  18. #18
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    thanks for the review, always good to hear what others get up to

  19. #19
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    If everyone that reviewed could do it without raving and ranting, just giving a solid and intelligent review, I think we wouldn't have as many bad reviews as we have now.

    People getting dedicated servers just don't realize what they are getting into. That would be my take on 70-80% of the negative reviews we see on these forums.

    When will they learn?

  20. #20
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    hah - very well put !

  21. #21
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    Thanks for all of the reviews, they are helpful

    Originally posted by LifelessHost
    So far as I can tell, DirectAdmin is an up and coming control panel.

    So far, cPanel is still king of the control panels because of it's server management capability but, DirectAdmin is still in development so.. we'll see.

    As far as I can tell, DirectAdmin has been the reason why my two DA servers keep locking up for no reason (see http://www.directadmin.com/forum/sho...&threadid=1334 for my story).

    - Matt

  22. #22
    Try Gnax.com. They have a great network. Servers and support are great.

  23. #23
    Join Date
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    Is that our Prohacker? he gets around
    http://www.eBoundary.com - Let us help you expand your eBoundaries!
    Fast, Secure and reliable FreeBSD shared, reseller and dedicated hosting.
    FREE Peace of mind with every account!

  24. #24
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    Originally posted by mainarea
    Thanks for all of the reviews, they are helpful


    As far as I can tell, DirectAdmin has been the reason why my two DA servers keep locking up for no reason (see http://www.directadmin.com/forum/sho...&threadid=1334 for my story).

    - Matt
    Hmm... I can tell by looking at your post that you're not on the latest kernel. Might want to up2date that.

    As far as that's concerned, we have ~6 or so DA boxes right now and we're continuing to have the best success rate out of any control panel we've tried. All of them except one are running RH9 and all have performed flawlessly. This is much better than I can say for cPanel...
    Erica Douglass, Founder, Simpli Hosting, Inc.
    »»» I founded Simpli Hosting, and sold it in 2007 to Silicon Valley Web Hosting after over 6 years in the business.
    Now I'm blogging at erica.biz!

  25. #25
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    Re: Many months and many servers :: A dedicated server review

    Good review LifelessHost!

    I just started in this marathon "I need a good balance between price and quality." So far I was only with ServerMatix for a very short time and canceled my box for a reason described by LifelessHost, however I'm not sure about "Fast setup times and the setups are usually done right." I would say your chances are 50/50, may be "usually" word is more true, I can't judge the world by my experiance

    Now I go with BurstNET/Nocster, I ordered a little box (Celeron™ 2GHZ 400FSB, 256MB PC2700 333MHZ DDR RAM, 9GB SCSI, 10/100MBPS SWITCHED VLAN, FreeBSD 4.9+Cpanel) it's more on performance side. Will try them out when box will be ready. I have to give them 9+ on scale of 1 to 10 for information/explanation/description on their site, many sites don't even have half of that info, which leave you to guess or contact them. Also, wide selection of OS they can install, probably biggest selection on the market right now. They sound very promising. Especially I like:

    "The company has been in business since June 1, 1991. BurstNET Technologies, Inc.™ entered the web hosting industry in December 1996.";
    "BurstNET™ does not allow adult content on the NOCSTER network." -less hacker attacks;
    "Support 24/7/365 via email, web based ticket system, ICQ, AOL Instant Messanger, & website java chat. An emergency pager number is also available for dedicated server & co-location clientele. We strive for response times of no more than a few hours. Response times of just a few minutes are quite common during normal business hours."
    Although people saying 99.5% uptime is not true, it seems more real than 99.9% in many providers.

    So, will see and keep you posted about progress

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