Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Reload OS Time

[cdru]

What is a reasonable expectation for how long a host should take to reload an OS?

Read on for my story if you want details behind my questions...

Due to a logical but unfortunately incorrect mistake on my part, we ordered a dedicated Windows server with a 64-bit OS. We just found out that the 64-bit OS isn't compatible with a software package and we needed to get the 32-bit OS reloaded in a hurry.

I understand that urgency on my part doesn't necessarily mean it's an urgency on their part, but I am also paying additional for the server reload. I submitted a ticket with the hosting company yesterday around 7PM to get it reloaded ASAP. As of 9AM this morning I didn't hear anything from them one way or another so I signed in to my hosting account only to find that they left a reply to my ticket asking to confirm that I really indeed want a reload with the selected reload options. I never received any type of an email notification of the reply. I was a little miffed that I didn't get any e-mail, but oh well so I confirmed that was indeed what I wanted.

At 10:30 I get an e-mail asking me to reconfirm that my server's physical specs and there is a discrepancy on the memory installed as their records were outdated and showed 1/2 what was really installed. I have to contact my account exec to get that straightened out and I finally get notified that the reload has started around 11:30AM.

I was originally told informally 3-4 hours in a support chat. Here it is 12+ hours after the reload supposedly started and I have heard nothing from them. I tried checking at 5:30PM tonight before I left work what the status was, but the lady I spoke with just repeated the message I got at 11:30AM saying things were underway and that she couldn't give me an ETA on when things would be finished.

Am I unreasonable in thinking 24 hours after I submit the ticket with an priority of "ASAP" is too long? I'll cut some slack for the miscommunication on confirming that I indeed want a reload but even then it's been 12+ hours after they said that they have started and the server when down.

[DWebby]

Indeed +12 is a bit long. Who is your host?

[kevworks]

Hi,

If you think +12 hours is long for an os Reload, try 14 hours to put a centos DVD in the dvd drive.

But if just depends, are you paying them reload the OS or is this a free service? So you have an SLA with them or did they just basically tell you that reboots are free and done as they are requested.

Generally the good data centers have systems to do reinstalls in 30/60 minutes.

[insanelymacintosh]

Man. Sorry to hear about what has happened. Like kevworks said, there are datacenters that allow clients to reload the OS from a control panel (without human interaction) which usually only takes an hourish.

I would say it is unreasonable considering how in the contact reply back to you they stated it would take 3-4 hours and now it has been 12+ hours.

[PogiWeb]

It takes me about an hour in total to do a OS Reload and it does not matter what day, date or time.

[WebbyCart]

Hi,

The actual reload is just quick around 1 - 2 hours, but on some large providers, they schedule the reload as not all techs are able or allowed to reload thus taking it long.

Regards,
Bobby

[cdru]

I was finally updated at 7:40 this morning that there were multiple hardware issues that they are "actively troubleshooting" and that they will update me ASAP. I've asked for further clarification.

In a former life I was a server admin so I understand stuff comes up, usually at the most inopportune time (thanks Murphy for that Law). But I'm still disappointed that it took 18 hours to get even a response of "Hey we are having problems".

And to answer a few of the above questions, the hosting company is Hivelocity, we paid $65 for the reload (which is equivilent to 1 hour of maintenance with a self managed SLA), there is no hosting control panel like Plesk...just straight Windows 2003.

[Tina J]

It depends on the host. At one host, we can get an OS reload done within a few hours of submitting a ticket. At another host, it might take 24 hours or more. However, we are ultimately the ones who decide which host gets to keep our business.

--Tina

[kevworks]

If you paid 65 dollars I would expect it to be faster. If it was free, I would have to just accept that fact and hope I do not need another reload for years.

Good luck at any rate

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by cdru

And to answer a few of the above questions, the hosting company is Hivelocity, we paid $65 for the reload (which is equivilent to 1 hour of maintenance with a self managed SLA), there is no hosting control panel like Plesk...just straight Windows 2003.

An OS reload shouldn't take longer than a couple hours. Hell, if they're having issues reloading it with your current hardware setup, the least they could do is swipe it with some new parts and get you running ASAP.

Based on the numerous negative Hivelocity reviews here on WHT, it doesn't surprise me that they're taking this long.

[cdru]

I finally got an update around noon today that they got the server fully reloaded. It seems that there new quad core motherboards don't play nicely with their raid controllers. While I'm happy that the server's back online, I'm not really impressed with their (un)Impressive Support.

[sgarbus]

Originally Posted by cdru

I finally got an update around noon today that they got the server fully reloaded. It seems that there new quad core motherboards don't play nicely with their raid controllers. While I'm happy that the server's back online, I'm not really impressed with their (un)Impressive Support.

What a poor excuse. Even if that was the case, it shouldn't have taken them over 24 hours to reload an OS. Could they not have temporarily removed the RAID card and scheduled your server for maintenance at a less-urgent time?

I highly doubt that every customer with a Quad Core server has to go through that process. Issues like these remind me of how thankful I am to house our servers with a competent provider.