RackShack

[NetGuy]

Anyone had any good or bad experience with them? They seem to be way too cheap to be that good.

[jschoepp]

Does anyone on this forum actually use RackShack? I am looking for a dedicated host (unmanaged) that will provide reliable service with a record of uptime.

Most of the posts I see about RackShack talk about their tech support issues. You have got to know that for the price, the support won't be the best. But I am more concerned with uptime and fast site access. I won't need the tech support if the server is up and running.

So if you have any experience with RackShack's uptime, speed or service (should we experience downtime that is their fault, ie: not a script problem or something on my end).

Thank You,
Joseph Schoepp

You can reply to email, just take off the # sign in front of my email address: #joe78@bellsouth.net

[MaSSiVe]

I would initially recommend rackshack, we have 5 servers with them, but be warned! there support is so rubbish and slow

from time to time they will give you a decent answer but most of the time they respond with 'Sorry, this is beyond are scope of support' becomes very annoying, and they often recommend a system restore (which costs you 30pound per restore which can take them anything upto and between 2-24 hours)

but there servers are generally speedy in respects to bandwidth, but have any other problems like any other hosting company, would recommend tho

[e3servers.com]

Rackshack offer a good product for the price. They are the elephant of low cost dedicated servers. However, with the low price you get completely unmanaged servers. Basically this means you do everything. Period. I have had experience with them and have had good experiences. I have also heard about bad experiences, but when you have thousands and thousands of customers you are going to have the good with the bad. You may also want to look at Nocster and Dedicated Now.

[NetGuy]

i've been hearing a lot about the hidden costs associated with these low cost server companies. www.serverbeach.com apparently charge a $50 support ticket fee each time one is raised.

[e3servers.com]

Wow!

I haven't heard that one but I can believe it.

[James]

Well its not quite as simple as $50 per support ticket. They have a sliding scale http://www.serverbeach.com/catalog/support.php I can see where they are coming from though. They are at least being transparent about their service prices, unlike many larger hosts in the market.

[MrCharlie]

serverbeach = rackspace.com but with paid "fanatical support" rather than free. To the best of my knowledge it's the same datacenter, connectivity, etc. (don't hold me to that though.)

The one thing I want to know about serverbeach is let's say for example your hard drive dies on your dedicated server - does one have to pay $50 to notify them of this?

We were doing some comparing the other day and it seems you can basically get Rackshack's $335 per month server plan through serverbeach for $99. That's $236 worth of support calls! :)

[JTY]

I don't believe Serverbeach uses rackspace.com's datacenter, rather it's a former facility of theirs.

[MrCharlie]

Well - both appear to be in Forth Worth TX. Do they have multiple data centers there?

[lihost]

Rackshack is ok, but as mentioned above, there support is hit or miss. They have 24/7 support and all, but when you call you usally get a level 1 tech and they do not know much and usualy say you need to submit a trouble ticket for a level 3 tech to answer. Usualy support tickets get answered within 6 hours, sometimes fixing the problem. They do recomend system restarts allot, but like also said above they do cost money. I actualy think serverbeach resells rackshack servers.

[travisbell]

Originally posted by MaSSiVe
I would initially recommend rackshack, we have 5 servers with them, but be warned! there support is so rubbish and slow...


I am going to have to completely disagree with that statement. We have a server with RS, and every time I have needed help they have been quick, and helpful.

It is my opinion that RackShack is truly an odd company that way -- usually you get what you pay for, but with RS we have had no network downtime, helpful support and no, hidden fees.

I would strongly recommend them to those who don't have access to an affodable datacenter, ot who want to see what its like to have a server.

:)

[zookpak1]

I have a dedicated server hosted with them. They are okay if you don't need any hand-holding services.

ZookPak

[FatDaddy]

Before you go to RS or serverbeach look at http://www.valueweb.com/dedicated/dedicated-servers/linux.htm

Price is a little higher but I believe the support and features more than make up for it.

I currently have a box with serverbeach. Unfortunately my needs, gaming servers, require someone closer to me than they are. Otherwise no complaints.

[Satori]

A couple of things need to be stated here.

1) Neither Rackspace nor Serverbeach host, or have hosted, our of any facilities based in Ft.Worth Texas.

2) Serverbeach was founded by Richard Yoo, co-founder of Rackspace. Read what he has to say about it here:

http://www.serverbeach.com/catalog/about_us.php

3) Serverbeach built their own datacenter, from the ground up, and negotiated their own deals with Tier 1 bandwidth providers. I'm sure Richard's pull with vendors he had previously built relationships with at Rackspace had something to do with the kind of deals he was able to get, but I don't see anyway that this can be interpretted as a shared datacenter or peering setup. Serverbeach stands on it's own.

4) Serverbeach support - check the link posted earlier by James ( http://www.serverbeach.com/catalog/support.php)

It states very plainly what you get for free, and then goes on to offer support if you need it in areas that are outside the sphere of support for an unmanaged setup. There is no "sliding scale" here, however - you can buy support tickets, and the only variance in what you pay is based on how MANY support tickets you buy. It is also clearly stated what kind of work can be accomplished with a $15 support ticket, and what sort of issues would require the more expensive consulting services listed at the bottom of the page.

The implication I got from earlier posts in this thread is that you could call up to Serverbeach, ask for help, get it, and then get billed based on some mysterious sliding scale. That is absolutely not the case.

I'm a Serverbeach customer, and a Rackspace employee. If you want dedicated hosting, there are a lot of things to consider. When you get down to managed vs. unmanaged services, however, it comes down to what you know. Until recently, only experienced systems administrators could do business with unmanaged providers without taking HUGE risks. With Serverbeach, I think the door is opened to people who know what they are doing, but aren't necessarily gurus in their own right. With support available, you can have the low cost of an unmanaged server, and still have an ace in the hole if you run into something that you can't fix yourself.

The notion that charging for support is in some way underhanded is ludicrous to me. Do you realize how much it costs to maintain a solid support staff? Systems Administrators don't come cheaply. Of *course* support is terrible at most unmanaged hosting companies. A company offering low cost servers *and* support for free must either be taking a huge loss to do so, or be cutting corners drastically somewhere. Most save money by not hiring experienced systems administrators and instead paying web-savvy college students tiny hourly rates... If I wasn't sure I could fix my own server problems, and knew that I'd at some point need to rely on support, I definitely wouldn't want to have my issue handled by the kid that couldn't even get a job at the University computer lab!

ServerBeach is something new. The unmanaged servers don't cost much, because most of them really are unmanaged. The bandwidth offering is a gamble (same for anyone offering so much for so little), but it pays off - out of 100 servers with a 450GB ceiling, maybe 5 or 10 will actually use it all. Support is paid for with support tickets and consulting fees, so having a small but competant support staff on hand doesn't require any corner cutting.

/soapbox

So, anyone else have any myths about either company that you'd like debunked? ;.)

Oh, final note before I post this - don't take my word for all of this. Do your own homework, make the best decisions that you can, and pick a company that will provide you the things that you need to do business. I'm obviously biased - if I had my way, you'd all come to Rackspace and host with us here.... but the truth is that we aren't the best company for everyone. If you have absolutely no concerns about service and support, then leasing a server from Rackspace doesn't make a lot of sense. Why pay us for something you don't want? I've got Serverbeach bias too. I've got a lot of friends that work there, and I want to see them do well. I also host my own servers there. Because of this, my praise should be taken with a grain of salt.

That said, I pride myself in objectivity, and there's nothing presented as fact in this post that you can't go online and verify with information from the public domain. The important thing to anyone considering a server lease, however, is to actually go out there and do that. I don't think there's an argument for time spent researching a purchase being poorly spent!

Cheers,

Satori

[johns]

Hi there,

Before you pick rackshack I would invite you to check out neutelligent.com. We have great prices along with great tech support and no hidden costs. We have a level 3 data center located in Tampa, FL and have been in business for six years with an uptime during that time of 99.9% of the time. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks,

Jonathan Sarofeen
Account Executive
johns@neutelligent.com
(813) 221-4429 X 325
toll free 1-877-248-9888 X 325
www.neutelligent.com