opinion on inexpensive managed servers

[lovina]

hi all ,

I would like to get people's opinions on getting an inexpensive dedicated server and outsourcing support to one of these hosting support companies versus getting a managed server.

Thanks,

[esl]

I think it would be a good idea if you don't need alot of support..... I would rather pay for a managed in house support staffed server.

[chaloupe]

Hi lovina,

I think managed is a good thing to take in case you don't know a lot about servers. If it breaks, they will fix it for you and not at $60/hour like non managed server.

If you take a non managed server and get support from outside, make sure they know and are able to troubleshoot about your OS and everything you are using on the server. Here at Hostgator, they can troubleshoot anyting install on the server (from basic setup and normal application on a server and more). So I know when I ask support for something, they can fix it in an excellent time frame an at no cost(No surpise like a cheap managed server that you could only be able to have one request per month to support and then need to pay for more).

For me having a dedicated server fully managed from Hostgator is excellent. I am learning a lot each day but still have a lot to learn. So I just pay for a managed server and I can sleep better at night and not need to be ready to spent a lot of $60/hour in case something breaks down.

So it's up to you, but inexpensive managed server will maybe not be the best thing. Just put the extra money to sleep well at night. I have search a lot about dedicated server before moving from reseller to dedicated here at Hostgator and I don't regret at all my move.(except I should have taken the standard server instead of the basic...)

I hope my opinion helped you a bit.

[guruji]

Hi,
Maintaining an in house technical team is an expensive affair and
brings in enormous responsibilities. These responsibilities will take lot of
time of yours in maintaining these services at an optimum level. That
also means having sleepless nights thinking of ways to bring optimum
level of balance between support and cost towards maintaining the
technical team of expensive system admin(s).
guruji
Consultant : Hosting, Web Design, Reseller Hosting, Virtual Servers, Dedicated Servers
www.comforthost.net

[vtrain]

here at HG is almost that. You have a The Planet unmanaged server and HG, that his hosted somewhere else, does the remote managing.

Having said this it makes sense to have a unmanaged server and the managing somewhere else because normally it's less expensive then having the managing team on site.

I know someone that bought a server by himself, bought co-location and a managing team in another place. He claims he got a very good price with this trick. The truth is he does not have only one server because co-location is only cheap if you have a couple of them.

by the way watch out with inexpensive dedicated server. There are some scams around, too.

Vt

[Serra]

Originally Posted by lovina

hi all ,

I would like to get people's opinions on getting an inexpensive dedicated server and outsourcing support to one of these hosting support companies versus getting a managed server.

First, there is no such thing as an inexpensive dedicated server. They are all priced about the same. You can go to thePlanet and get a dedicated box for just about the same price as an HG box. So, being managed is basically free.

I have seen prices where dedicated servers were like $60.00 per month, but those have always turned out to be false. goDaddy is a good example. They offer dedicated servers for really cheap, but read the fine print, it isn't a server, it is a VPS.

[vtrain]

Originally Posted by Serra

[snip]
You can go to thePlanet and get a dedicated box for just about the same price as an HG box. So, being managed is basically free.
[snip]

Actually they are between 50$ and 100$ cheeper then HG but they aren't managed....

Vt

[Serra]

Originally Posted by vtrain

Actually they are between 50$ and 100$ cheeper then HG but they aren't managed....

Vt

But they aren't cheaper. By the time you add all of the stuff that HG gives you for free, you end up at the same price point. The BASE price is much cheaper.

This is the same server I'm pay $178.00 a month for:

Server Matrix
Super Servers MatriXtreme Unmetered
Network Security Professional Services Server Upgrades
Email Solutions Internet Access Domains & SSL Certificates Business Tools
SM950D: Server Matrix's first Dual Core Pentuim D Solution
P265D: Total Control's first Dual Core Dual Opteron Solution
The Planet Becomes the First US-based Hosting Provider to Offer F-Secure's Antivirus Solution
The Planet now Microsoft Certified Gold Partner


Server Configuration Server Super Celeron 2.4 GHz - IDE - 80 - Setup: $99.00 - Monthly Fee: $119.00
RAM 1024 MB RAM
Primary HDD 80GB Hard Drive
Secondary HDD None
Drive Controller IDE
IP Addresses 5 IP Addresses
Bandwidth 1500 GB Bandwidth
Uplink Port Speed 10 Mbps Uplink
Web Analytics Software Urchin 100 profiles
Database None
Backup Service None
Operating System Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Version 4
Server Management Plan Silver
Control Panel CPanel/WHM with Fantastico - Monthly Fee: $20.00
Firewall None
Virtual Private Server Software None
Anti-Virus Software None
Hostname
Promotional Code
Special Requests or Comments
Number of servers 1
Monthly Charge $139
Summary Monthly Charge Sales Tax will be added for Texas residents
* For existing customers the first month's charge for this order will be pro-rated to your billing date after your order is approved.

Setup Fee: $99
Setup Fee Sales Tax will be added for Texas residents

Total Initial Charge: $238.00

[esl]

Actually it is cheaper..... $139 for the second month etc... or is my math wrong?

[Serra]

Originally Posted by esl

Actually it is cheaper..... $139 for the second month etc... or is my math wrong?

That is correct, but don't forget that the price includes $99.00 for the first month, so that is about $9.00 a month more for the first year.

The total is $148.00, that assumes that you have no more than 100 accounts on the server MAX. If you go over 100, then that prices goes up another $10.00, so $158.00.

$20.00 a month cheaper than my server. That is with the lowest level of service, if you do need anything. (Like a reboot or something hands on).

Should you want to upgrade to a fully managed server, that would be $100.00 extra! Which is WAY more expensive.

So, you are correct. That server is $20.00 a month cheaper.

The HostGator Standard sever is actually much cheaper. However, I'm not sure that I could go with just their Silver level of help. As we all know, downtime is a killer and not having HostGator to jump on problems might be a bad idea, unless we were total experts! I'm fairly sure I get my $20.00 a month worth of service and I'm not sure I could replace HG for $20.00 a month

I've said this before and I'll say it again, the only thing HostGator is selling is service. If their technical service begins to suck, then I'd say its time to get on a conference call with Brent or leave for another host. Right now, I'm not of the opinion that HG service sucks or is even bad. I'll point back to the review I did of my tickets in the ticket manager. Very few were mishandled.

Case in point. It is widely know that I'm not using HostGator 100%. I also have 5 shared accounts at another hosting company. (about $150.00 per month worth) I'm having problems with adding an addon domain, the thing just will NOT point properly. I put in a support ticket at 4:00pm today. I got an automated response back, it is now about 8:00pm and NOTHING from them yet. They are in CA, so this is still normal working hours for them. If that is second best performance, I'll stick with HG for my main stuff.

[esl]

Okay, I see your point Serra. Do you have to use the Urchin profiles though? Are they important?

[Serra]

Originally Posted by esl

Okay, I see your point Serra. Do you have to use the Urchin profiles though? Are they important?

Urchin profiles allow different accounts, for resellers clients to have their own reports. Otherwise, there is only one Urchin for the whole machine. (Some what useless in a multidomain enviroment.

As for Urchin, I do like Webilizer, but Urchin is really high end and makes a good selling point. It looks very professional and because not every host uses it (because of the cost), it really does give us an edge.

[esl]

Okay, thanks for the information.

[Serra]

Here are some instructions on setting up name servers on a dedicated server, from their support forum.

This will allow your site to point to your own nameservers: ns1.yoursite.com and ns2.yoursite.com.

1. Registering domain (if you don't have one already)
Register your domain if you do not have one. This domain will be used as your nameserver. (eg. ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com)

2. Will need 2 available IPs
<hosting company name> provides 3 IPs with the dedicated server. One is for the server itself, and the other 2 can be used for the nameservers.

3. Register the nameservers.
You will need to contact your registrar to register your domain as a nameserver. In most cases, you can login to your domain management page to set this up. An example can be found at the following link: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...hreadid=237604

note: registrations can take up to 3 days to propagate.

4. Fix NDC
SSH into your server as root and run the following:
/scripts/updatenow
/scripts/fixndc

In WHM, restart DNS/Nameserver (BIND) - it is on the left window pane.

5. Setup nameservers in WHM
In WHM, select Basic cPanel/WHM Setup near the top in the left window pane.
Set the Primary Nameserver to ns1.yourdomain.com (the domain you registered). Then click Assign IP Address. Repeat this for the Secondary Nameserver section, using ns2.yourdomain.com.

On the bottom of the page, click Save.

note: the IPs will be set incorrectly, this must be changed in shell

6. Edit files in Shell
SSH into your server as root and open the following 2 files and edit (you can open a file using nano). Check the key below.

file 1 - type:
nano /etc/resolv.conf
The file should be edited to look like this:
domain yourdomain.com
search yourdomain.com
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver IP1
nameserver IP2

Save (ctrl+o and enter) and close the file (ctrl+x).

file 2 - type:
nano /etc/nameserverips
The file should be edited to look like this:
IP0=0
IP1=ns1.yourdomain.com
IP2=ns2.yourdomain.com

Save (ctrl+o and enter) and close the file (ctrl+x).

Keys used above is explained below,

IP0=server ip
yourdomain = main domain of your server
IP1 = ip of nameserver 1
IP2 = ip of nameserver 2
ns1.yourdomain.com = nameserver 1 that you registered
ns2.yourdomain.com = nameserver 2 that you registered

7. Setup nameservers in WHM - final
In WHM, select Basic cPanel/WHM Setup near the top in the left window pane.
Set the Primary Nameserver to ns1.yourdomain.com (the domain you registered). Then click Assign IP Address (should be the correct IP now). Then click Add an A entry for this nameserver. Repeat this for the Secondary Nameserver section, using ns2.yourdomain.com.

On the bottom of the page, click Save.

In WHM, select Manage Nameserver IPs. You should see the correct 2 IPs and 2 nameservers.

8. Reboot server
SSH into server as root and type: reboot
When the server comes back and is set to your liking, you will have to contact your registrar and point your domain to your nameservers. Until then, your domain will not point to the dedicated server.

No, I don't know about you, but HG setup my nameservers for me and they gave me at least 5 IP addresses too! If this is inexpensive, I'm not sure I want it!