rackspace.net

[jellywobbles]

Hi Guys:

Does anyone know anything about rackspace.net? Are they any good? Whats there connectivity like etc??

Their prices are excellent .. however having caught a major cold with my present supplier (catalog.com .. NOT to be recommended at any price!!) dont want to make the same horrible mistake again.

Any help would be appreciated or recommendations for other good dedicated server providers.

Ideally I am looking for a RAQ4 256Mb or (preferably) a Linux Box with 256Mb running Web Host Manager / CP3; and at least 4 IP's.

Thanks

Jez
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[TJW]

The general consensus on RackSpace is that they are pretty good, but 'Managed' hosting does come at a price. If you're prepared to pay a bit more then they are not a bad choice.

They are based in San Antonio, TX I think.

[TJW]

Jez,

Forgot to ask why you would not reccomend Catalog. What's wrong with them? I heard they had a bit of downtime over the last few months.

TJW

[jellywobbles]

Originally posted by TJW
Jez,

Forgot to ask why you would not reccomend Catalog. What's wrong with them? I heard they had a bit of downtime over the last few months.

TJW

Blimey .. where do I start? Their connectivity has been appalling over the past 5 months .. often very long periods of time when my server (with 150 domains hosted) was not accessible! Lots of other users have lodged complaints at catalog.com's forum .. BUT .. if you post a message that criticises them in the slightest way .. its gets deleted! Its dreadful! Now .. just a couple of days ago they have got a new "manager" called JASON KRULL who's is down right rude & offensive! He's 100% ignorant! He told one of our guys to go elsewhere for his hosting after he had complained about connectivity problems again! (We had about 10 customers ALL complaining that the server was not accessible .. giving us real hard time .. and this ***ole almost accused us of lying .. he said their network was not at fault! He's a total pratt!)

They are very "weird" company to deal with .. very small .. about 27 staff .. turn over is about $2m .. I'd say they very shaky & with new guys like this KRULL person .. they're sure gonna lose customers!

However .. one guy needs special mention .. Joe Sullivan Ops Manager who is very helpful; however he's the guy that runs their forum so I guess he must be resposnsible for deleting any posts that criticise catalog.com. ??

Very few users post messages now .. since they know that they'll get deleted if they complain! And .. they have turned off the e-mail facility so you cannot e-mail other users! Theres more life on the bridge of The Titanic than there is at the catalog.com forum!

Great shame; as initially they seemed OK; but we have had horrendous problems .. many PLESK ***ociated .. simply because catalog.com didnt know enough about the PLESK system. (They recommended PLESK to us in the 1st place!!) We have just got DNS working correctly after 5 months of complaining! In the end we had to e-mail their CEO ..several times I might add B4 he responded!!

We have never ever been treated with so much disrespect & rudeness. Give catalog.com a VERY wide berth!


[Edited by jellywobbles on 03-08-2001 at 05:07 AM]

[Martie]

I think RackSpace has gotten really popular over the past year. I havent checked their prices lately but I will be looking into them shortly.
Theyve really expanded and I think they come highly recommended now.
I live right here in San Antonio too!

[forum_master]

Originally posted by Martie
Theyve really expanded and I think they come highly recommended now.


I'm based in Europe and they are setting up an office and data centre in London UK. These guys are getting very serious about their hosting.

[James]

Not anymore they're not. They've pulled out of the data centre deal, and partnered with BT. The deal is more marketing related than technical.

Also their IPO was aborted in November, which must have cost them quite a bit :shake:

You need big bucks to get into the managed hosting market. Your going to have to compete with the likes of exodus, Digex, globix etc.

[akashik]

They are on the up though. There are a ton of hosts renting servers off them lately. I couldn't put a figure on it, but their growth is probably outstripping a lot of other NOC's right now.

Let's hope they have plans in place for that kind of growth. Alabanza used to be 'all that' but their growth has led to more than a few unhappy campers regarding support levels. VDI has been blundering from one mistake to another lately and has seen hosting companies deserting like rats off a sinking ship.

So far I haven't heard much bad press about Rackspace though so maybe they're thinking ahead :)

Greg Moore

[JTY]

I've only heard good things about rackspace.... you may want to check out http://www.dtwebworks.com/ and see if they have a better price....

[Locu]

I always thought rackspace's prices were a bit steep. And their (along w/ a lot of other companies) managed servers have setup fee's, which to date I still do not understand. We don't charge setup's because a managed server belongs to the company still and costs are retrieved on the hardware with apx 4 months service. Perhaps rackspace doesn't believe they will retain their customers for 4 months due to poor something.

I haven't heard any direct complaints about rackspace, but I do know their prices are a bit high.

[TimBoyce]

Rackspace are a British Telecom partner in the UK, so they must be pretty big!

[Sarah]

You can read about the agreement here.

http://www.webhostdir.com/news/articles/showarticle.asp?id=54

Its a bit old now but a good read all the same.

[jbryce]

Originally posted by James
Not anymore they're not. They've pulled out of the data centre deal, and partnered with BT. The deal is more marketing related than technical.

Also their IPO was aborted in November, which must have cost them quite a bit :shake:

You need big bucks to get into the managed hosting market. Your going to have to compete with the likes of exodus, Digex, globix etc.

Rackspace did indeed partner with BT, however this had no effect on the U.K. datacentre operations. We've had a European datacentre for over a year, and are continuing to develop our presence there. We just recently moved into new space, allowing us to offer a broader range of complex services and firewalls in the U.K.

As far funding, Rackspace was the first major hosting company to be EBITDA positive, profitable, and cash flow positive. Read more at http://www.rackspace.com/promo/dc_promo.php. I think in the past year many companies have found that an IPO is not always the best route to take.