Better hosting? Maybe not quite yet?

[jdubbish]

Well, without getting into too much detail to begin with I am looking into a truely dedicated server option for ASP development (both Classic ASP and .NET 2.0).

Right now I'm only paying about $2500/yr for a fully managed shared server with 5 sites, each with 100 mail accounts available on a shared mail server, unlimited aliases, unlimited mailbox sizes, a single shared 200MB SQL Server 2000 DB (2005 Available Upon Request), a full set of 50+ ASP components, nightly backups, and 99.7% reliability.

I am hoping to get a fully dedicated server somewhere between $3-4K/yr with ALL of the features above. I wouldn't mind redundancy on the backend, but I know that gets very pricey.

Current Host is [link=www.aspwebhosting.com]www.aspwebhosting.com[/url].

Considering [link=www.maximumasp.com]www.maximumasp.com[/url], but their mailboxes are capped at 20MB and that's with them customizing the service.

RackSpace is of course WAY too high for my tastes right now.

Basically, I'm sick of calling (and paying) someone to create a subdomain, setup a virtual directory, review my script for certain apps before going live, and add extra NT accounts where needed (for enhanced security).

Any thoughts? These may not be the right boards, so I'll try tek-tips too. Definitely shoot any ideas my way.

Thanks!

 

[etjohnson81]

I use EasyCGI.

http://www.easycgi.com

For me they are great. Support is great and services are great to go with it, not to mention price.

Let me know if you want to sign up, Im awaiting my "affiliate" program setup.

 

[etjohnson81]

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[a6m1n0]

I have a dedicated server at Server Matrix and they are really good at only $1800 a year. ( Reboot requests only take <30 minutes. )
Specs: P4 2.4GHz/1GB RAM/2x80GB HDD/100MB NIC/1500GB Transfer

I have another dedicated server at Layered Tech and they are only $1500 a year, but support is only Ok. ( Reboot request takes about two hours to complete ).
Specs: AMD64 3200+/1GB RAM/120GB HDD/100MB NIC/1200GB Transfer

-a6m1n0

Curiosity only kills cats.

 

[Tarwn]

Oddly enough I have a game server right now thats basically a coloc'd box. Think it has in the range of 2.4Ghz CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 80 GB HDD and an unquoted amount of bandwidth (though it's stated at so many players playing straight every day for 8 hours)
They do not install SQL Server, etc that I am aware of, but I'm curently running:
IIS, MySQL, PHP, FTP, VNC, 2 BF2 Servers, 2 BF1942 Servers

Basically they give you free reign to install what you want. You do haveto DNS requests through them, which is a little painful at a two-three day turnaround. And I don't rememberthe details on mail accounts.

OTOH they also have both standard colocation and more specific hosting ("business services").

I haven't used anything but their gaming system, but they might be worth checking into:

http://www.hypernia.com/

Looks like about $850 for a dedicated DB server or mail server, $450-$650 for a basic vanialla coloc'd server.

-T

 

[tsdragon]

If your server is truly a "dedicated" server, why should you have to wait even 5 minutes for a reboot. Why can't you log in and reboot the server yourself? I don't know what my company would charge for a dedicated server with those particular options, but I know the service would be considerably better.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[a6m1n0]

If your server is truly a "dedicated" server

LOL, yes my servers are truly "dedicated" servers.

why should you have to wait even 5 minutes for a reboot

From home I have a dynamic IP address, and on rare occasions my ISP renews my IP ( of course without notice ) when I am in the middle of working on a server. This disconnects my remote session and I cannot login via RDP...ye ole "Remote sessions exceeded/can't login" error, in which I have to start a support ticket and wait for the reboot. If anyone has a workaround for this particular problem feel free to enlighten me as no administrator likes to force a restart on a perfectly working system while in operation. Unlike most, I trust noone with administrative rights on my servers, including the company I lease them from. So asking NOC to login localy to warm boot is out of the question.

I don't know what my company would charge for a dedicated server with those particular options, but I know the service would be considerably better.

Hard to compare since you did not leave any information for me or anyone else to evaluate.

-a6m1n0

Curiosity only kills cats.

 

[a6m1n0]

I forgot to add that indeed any service *must* be better than that of LT.

I say this because when I first accessed the server after the initial setup was complete there were no drivers installed for the system besides the Broadcom NIC, which of course they *had* to install. It was very very sluggish for an AMD64 3200+.

After repeated ignored support requests for these drivers to be installed, I finaly asked for the hardware specs on the system and was given a direct link to the HP website where I downloaded the drivers...ATI all the way around...Chipset, Video, etc. The problem is that the drivers were for XP only and not 2003.

Having the courage to install these knowing very well I might end up paying $50 for a reload I installed them anyway. I half expected the installer to give me an error about the OS, but it didn't! So lucky me it worked without a hitch and performance is noticably better.

I do have to say though that the pricing is great and other than these issues the system has been running great since November last year.

So if your budget is tight, must have a dedicated server, and you can handle yourself in case of emergency, then LT might be the place for you. ( NOT! ) Don't go low budget as it can bite you in the arse when you least expect it.

-a6m1n0

Curiosity only kills cats.

 

[tsdragon]

Hard to compare since you did not leave any information for me or anyone else to evaluate.

I don't have any information to leave at the moment. If we decided to do this we would have to build a new server (we don't just keep spare servers lying around). It would have everything that you've asked for. I've passed on the information about what you need on to my bosses to see if they might be interested. I'll let you know what they say.

The one thing I CAN tell you is that ALL of our support calls are handled personally by the people who built the systems or wrote the programs. We don't have a dedicated "support staff". The people who built the hardware or wrote the software know it best, so they are the ones that support it. Since we're a small company, this works well, and our customers are quite happy about it.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[a6m1n0]

The people who built the hardware or wrote the software know it best

How true...I have the same philosophy about support, and my clients are also very happy.

Don't rush yourself for a server on my account...my lease does not run out until November at LT but I am certain that the OP that started this thread will be more than interested. Heck, I myself will start shopping again in October so I will keep you in mind.

-a6m1n0

Curiosity only kills cats.