Offer premium server management option for extra cost

[ethan526]

Though I do appreciate the convenience and variety of options in which to contact your support, I'm on a dedicated server and run some high traffic sites which may experience alot of hack attempts. I recently switched from another dedicated host provider last month to hostgator and though I do appreciate the greater options and flexibility available to me with your setup, I'm not experienced as a server admin and have no time to learn all that's needed to best manage my server.

It would be great if you had a "premium server management" option in which there was a dedicated expert to quickly handle any concerns/issues I might have and monitor my server closely for hack attempts, abuse, etc. I suppose this would be similar to: http://www.serverwizards.com/smanagement.php

I wouldn't mind paying alittle extra to sleep much more comfortably at night knowing I have an experienced server admin monitoring my sites and ready to answer any issues I may have without the same wait as the normal queue. Also someone who may be more familiar with my setup and what I'm trying to do, instead of a different tech each time needed to familiarize themselves with my server would make for better efficiency.

Anyhow, let me know if this is something you guys would consider.

Thanks,
-Kevin

[slapshotw]

Platinum is known to be very good as well, and much cheaper than serverwizards:

http://platinumservermanagement.com/

[codesight]

Maybe HG should work a deal with that outfit that slapshot linked to.

Get a reduced rate, then charge a nominal fee as an addon to the dedicated server?

Or mark up the dedicated servers and include it for every server. This would make the dedicated servers even that more appealing, especially the non-managed ones.

[slapshotw]

It would be hard for HG to do that without making it look like their dedicated support is bad though, wouldn't it? How would they position the service?

[ghpk]

platinumservermanagement.com response times are horrible.

[slapshotw]

Really? Everybody on WebHostingTalk seems to like them.

[ghpk]

PSM are good if you have issues and are not in a hurry, your client doesn't have problems with a small issue taking 1-2 days to resolve.

They are certainly over-loaded, infact seems very over subscribed.

one of my friend has an account with them, and he often calls me for help, cause his waiting time exceeds his client's patience, I asked about response times and he says PSM support needs to be spoon feeded, they give bookish answers just near their SLA timings.

I've recommended Hostgator to this friend and he might move in coming months :-)

[codesight]

I'm not saying it'd have to be that outfit, but, there should definitely be a difference in support for dedi's versus shared.

I worked with a previous host and I left for other reasons, but their support was pretty good.

They had different support for different services. It was basically "tiered" and it'd be good if HG did that.

Shared servers get X amount of support staff and Dedicated servers get a different X amount of support staff.

It works just like school systems, you have more support staff per server in the dedicated than you do with the shared.

The ratio is closer so you can count on answers more reliably.

Yes, the shared servers is where HG makes it's money, but for the price of dedi's, I think support should be a bit more priority than shared, you can always find more shared clients.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by ghpk

PSM are good if you have issues and are not in a hurry, your client doesn't have problems with a small issue taking 1-2 days to resolve.

Sounds like an opportunity for someone to compete.

Especially because there are so few clients who combine issues and "not in a hurry".

[ghpk]

yes certainly a upcoming boom, all small web host need a helping hand, if the available hands are so busy, there's need for a new one, which can compete on price and offer fast response.

I've a client for whom i went to inquire/sign up last week, and for sales question i got an answer like " Yes, we are here! but are currently busy, all support is provided through..." this is a permanen status on their IM.

I asked i need to make a sign up, someone replied, "you need to login to create a support ticket"

(un)-fortunately my client cancelled within 24 hours of his first nightmare.

[joer80]

How did you know your server had a hack attempt? That is scary..

[gtgeorge]

I think a nice option for the current support system would to be able to flag the dedicated support request as such with priority when needed. This would only be for those of us with a very low support request history?

After all the customers that almost never call upon support should be able to reap the rewards of not overloading a busy support system.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by joer80

How did you know your server had a hack attempt? That is scary..

The short answer: because it's a server and the power was on.

The longer answer: the almost universal reaction of new dedi owners, upon first seeing the logs of their firewall, login failure daemon, and other security defenders, is to grow faint and go through a couple of days of paranoia.

During periods of low malicious activity, these server defenders may fend off a few hundred attempts per day.

During periods of medium malicious activity, a few hundred attempts per hour.

When the malicious activity really gets hopping, a few hundred attempts per minute is nothing. Try a few thousand.

If you visit sans.org and click the link for storm center, you'll get some idea of the volume of these automated attempts, which come from all over the world. You'll think any number I mention is an exaggeration until you do.