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I've recently been toying with a switch to Rackspace but the price and some reviews have kind-of turned me off from them. I started looking into using SoftLayer + a third party management compnay such as PSM or SeeksAdmin, but I don't like the fact that everything is done via a ticket system with up to a 6 hour wait. Does anyone know of a management company that picks up the phone and can answer questions more immediately than a ticket system allows. I've looked at AdminGeekZ but they're so vague on their web site that I don't really know what to expect from them.
Thanks for any input,OK, so after going through these forums for a while I've found the following companies that look somewhat promising. I'm both compiling this list for myself and others who are looking for a good server management company because as I've discovered today it's a pretty daunting task. Here's what I've found so far. Platinum Server Management (PSM) (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/">http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/</a><!-- m -->)They seem to be recommended by many, but don't seem to have any phone support. I'm willing to pay more than $30/mo., but the company has to be willing to answer the phone.SeeksAdmin (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://seeksadmin.com/">http://seeksadmin.com/</a><!-- m -->)Also seem to be recommended by many, but also don't seem to have phone support. See PSM above.AcuNett (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.acunettmanagement.com/">http://www.acunettmanagement.com/</a><!-- m -->)On the plus side they offer a response time of 2.5 hours rather than 6. Though this still isn't quite what I'm looking for, it's better than practically a full work day. They also offer unlimited admin time, where some other companies cap the number of hours included in their packages. A little more expensive than PSM and SeeksAdmin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.TouchSupport (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://touchsupport.com/">http://touchsupport.com/</a><!-- m -->)Their dedicated tech plan seems promising, but it seems to be limited to 4 hours of total support per month (8 incidents). Hopefully it'd never come to more than 4 hours, but I don't like the idea of limited access.Server Wizards (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://serverwizards.com">http://serverwizards.com</a><!-- m -->)Not much differentiates them from other services such as PSM and SeeksAdmin other than price (they're just shy of 3x expensive). The price makes me think I'm missing something... anyone want to clarify?Linux Tech Networks (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.linux-tech.net">http://www.linux-tech.net</a><!-- m -->)Their full server administration plan looks promising, other than the cap on admin hours, but some of the site has this odd feeling that strikes me as slightly unprofessional. I like the central "call us 24x7" banner, though. So this is what I've found so far. I'd love feedback on any of these companies, and info about their phone support (most sites didn't really say one way or the other how you can get in touch with them). Or, if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.I'll try to update this list with information I gather over the next couple of days. Right now none of 'em seem perfect, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for any help y'all can give.Cheers,ChrisWhat type of server do you have?
Is 24/7 support important to you?Hi,
Try serversupportguys.com, the have a US telephone number and their response times are fabIs 24/7 support important to you?
What kind of a question is that? :crazy: Of course 24/7 support is important!Well here's my experience.
SeeksAdmin - Well I signed up and 17 hours later nothing was done. I did get an email 4-6 hours into the signup stating that the server will done shortly but thats it. I sent in a ticket to cancel my account and get a refund. They exlained that my ticket was put into the wrong que. Eh well.
Acunett - They had super fast sales replies but I'm still hesitant about them. It took quite a while between ticket/upates for work to be done. Now at first it as my fault but once I had the root login info some of the initial work was done but not with out updating the tickets. They set up DA for me but its wasnt set up properly. Eventually after stressing about having a server for three days and not having things done properly I got pissed off and figured out the setup myself. Had to delete some of the work they did. Last ticket update was at least 10 hours ago and no update so far whether any of the work I requested was done. I'll go with them for the current month since I already paid for it.Server Support Guys looks really promising. Anyone have much experience with them?Their full server administration plan looks promising, other than the cap on admin hours
My 0.02 on this here:
Placing a cap on administration hours is a necessary evil. This is something that has been found out from personal experience too many times.
Without these caps, individuals have no respect for my time or experience, and message me every few minutes for stupid crap that is often user related, or programming related.
WITH these caps, individuals understand that my time is valuable, that they SHOULD provide their own user investigation and message me ONLY when it's been proven to be system related.
In most cases, the "cap" is never met, and if it is, who cares. I love doing the work that I do, and in most cases, I don't force the cap on individuals, providing they follow the above. Unfortunately, going from past experience, this is something that many do NOT do. Many want a step by step walkthrough on everything and anything, and they want you to be their own personal beck and call guy, their own personal systems admin, ALL for $100/month. Unfortunately things don't work that way in the real world.
Keep in mind that there is no "unlimited" anything. There's no "unlimited" bandwidth, there's no "unlimited" drivespace, there's no "unlimited" time. There's only 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week. Occasionally, we get 366 days a year, but most of the time, it's 365 (at least by the English calendar). Anyone claiming "unlimited time" clearly doesn't understand this concept, and doesn't value their own time or that of their representatives enough to put a proper limit on it.
some of the site has this odd feeling that strikes me as slightly unprofessional.
huh?
That site is hardly "unprofessional". Aside from the fact that it's a loose implementation of a template, unprofessional is hardly the word I'd use to describe it. If you feel it's unprofessional, at least be decent enough to say WHY, rather than "Oh, that's unprofessional". Given the fact that I pride myself on php design, professionality, and code, that is quite close to an insult.I use ServerWizards and used PSM before, the difference is significant, with ServerWizards I never wait longer than 30 minutes for ticket resolution while with PSM it could take days, PSM doesn't spend too much time on your server, they deal only with cpanel and treat every box the same. When I asked PSM to optimize mysql they applied some default config without even evaluating my server, that made Mysql performance even worse!ServerWizards manage boxes without control panel for me and they know their stuff very well, they gave me their phone number and I can call them whenever I want. I am sure if you ask them for their number they will give it to you.I think you will only find phone support with ServerSupportGuys.comThird-party management companies are good for when you don't really have a whole lot of constant problems going on with your server. They are usually for when you need something every once in a while, such as when you need to upgrade some software, or your server was hacked, or some other issue that doesn't take hours to fix. Third-party management companies provide a good service, however you must realize that they are out there to support more than just your server. That is how they can charge fairly low prices and stay in business. The only way to absolutely guarantee that whoever you call will immediately answer your call as well as immediately know absolutely everything there is to know about how to identify and fix problems on your server would be to hire your own tech staff.I use ServerWizards and used PSM before, the difference is significant, with ServerWizards I never wait longer than 30 minutes for ticket resolution while with PSM it could take days, PSM doesn't spend too much time on your server, they deal only with cpanel and treat every box the same. When I asked PSM to optimize mysql they applied some default config without even evaluating my server, that made Mysql performance even worse!ServerWizards manage boxes without control panel for me and they know their stuff very well, they gave me their phone number and I can call them whenever I want. I am sure if you ask them for their number they will give it to you.LOL pretty much like my story, i run a forum and mysql performance is important for me, i joined Seeksadmin after PSM and trust me SA is worth the money so far for me.Above all SA has a friendly and knowledgable staff
ThanksSamWhy not stick with your original idea and find a host (with the support you want) who will fully manage your server?Try emailing <!-- e --><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><!-- e -->. Steven and crew at HTTPme provide *truly* managed dedicated servers, I believe they have an emergency line they make available, but best of all, not very often do you actually need it...because the servers are fully monitored and managed.Server support guys I can't recommand them, they resolv a ticket approx in 3 weeks when it's a bit more harder.With acunett, when you are clear, you can get the works done pretty fast (approx. 6 hours). Like yesterday I just post again approx 15 tickets for a server, and this morning everything is done except one, they need more info, so not bad at all... and if you have many server like me (7 servers in my case) they will give you discount.Well here's my experience.
SeeksAdmin - Well I signed up and 17 hours later nothing was done. I did get an email 4-6 hours into the signup stating that the server will done shortly but thats it. I sent in a ticket to cancel my account and get a refund. They exlained that my ticket was put into the wrong que. Eh well.
Acunett - They had super fast sales replies but I'm still hesitant about them. It took quite a while between ticket/upates for work to be done. Now at first it as my fault but once I had the root login info some of the initial work was done but not with out updating the tickets. They set up DA for me but its wasnt set up properly. Eventually after stressing about having a server for three days and not having things done properly I got pissed off and figured out the setup myself. Had to delete some of the work they did. Last ticket update was at least 10 hours ago and no update so far whether any of the work I requested was done. I'll go with them for the current month since I already paid for it.
Small Acunett update. Once the initial slow setup issue has been resolved all other tickets have been processed pretty quickly (within a few hours.) So for now Acunett turned out good.Here is my expreience.Server WizardsBilling: MonthlyGood support & knowledge. Very quick response times, and good solutions. Some larger applications (high-volume server) I've had a bit of trouble on, but overall I'm very pleased.Rack911:Billing: HourlyVery knowledgeable, and does good work. Quick response times.Platinum Server ManagementBilling: MonthlyLong wait times for response. I was not happy with their service.actually you are mistaken serversupportguys.com offers email, phone and live chat support and they are very reliable. I think you will only find phone support with ServerSupportGuys.comI think you would be very happy with <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w -->. We've been using them for over 2 years now and are very happy. They are not the cheapest but do provide very timely support (answers to tickets are done within minutes, as well as to emails) and they start working on the issue right there and then. They are available by phone, and include a 1-800 number.Contact Jon via email at jon AT got-management DOT com You will not be disappointed.my poor experience from third party management companies will not be maybe that helpful.i only had the opportunity to use 2 of these companies. i wont refer to both of them as the first on which was pretty cheap had problems and many others have commented about that company. i want to state my personal experience with acunett that i joined recently. i had some serious problems and the really did manage to help me out and solve the situation. response was good and it can get much better i am sure because ronny seems a professional. money they worth it and they are not that expensive if they get the job done.phone support dont know if they have but it is even better that you can talk with them from msn (and cheaper). i even plan on taking a server with them. By all means this is my true experience and if anything (good or bad) ever happens with acunett i will let you know because this is a source for us to find out and avoid mistakes that others made due to ignorance.I'm in the same position you are in. I currently have a server at LT that I partially manage, but plan to get out of the hosting industry. I host our corporate domain of my primary work, and am looking for either a fully managed server directly with a datacenter with phone support, or someone through LT.
Phone support is a must. Not saying anything bogus, but we are a multi-million dollar company and the server must remain up as much as possible, and we need to contact them via phone in time of need.
Are there any datacenters as such? I know Liquidweb has phone support, but I'd like to keep my servers in Texas.if you make million go with rackspace, they will be happy to charge you tons of moneyI'm in the same position you are in. I currently have a server at LT that I partially manage, but plan to get out of the hosting industry. I host our corporate domain of my primary work, and am looking for either a fully managed server directly with a datacenter with phone support, or someone through LT.
Phone support is a must. Not saying anything bogus, but we are a multi-million dollar company and the server must remain up as much as possible, and we need to contact them via phone in time of need.
Are there any datacenters as such? I know Liquidweb has phone support, but I'd like to keep my servers in Texas.
Honestly, a multi-million dollar company should have enough money to hire it's own IT staff instead of relying on a third party sysadmin.Honestly, a multi-million dollar company should have enough money to hire it's own IT staff instead of relying on a third party sysadmin.
Why? We should hire additional personnel, pay benefits, and salary just for a server?
What we need is adults running a company, not kids, that are dependable to handle our needs. We have other priorities, and depend on those who specialize in this.I"m telling you, give Jon a shout at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w -->.I"m telling you, give Jon a shout at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w --> (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">http://www.got-management.com</a><!-- m -->). I second this for contactability. He's too new for me to evaluate his technical skills (just new to me; he's been at this for about 7 years), but darnit, he sure is easy to contact by phone & many other different methods. You can tell from his voice and demeanor that he's a very kind human being with good people skills. Someone who cares about your operation. Rare stuff in tech! Your money will be going to a good human being. You'll really like him.I do not recommend Serversupportguys.com (AKA BFTGlobal) at all. I had submitted approximately 10 tickets over the past two months and only one ticket was ever fully completed. They would give all sorts of excuses and actually ended up taking down our server for more than 48+ hours due to an email misconfiguration.
Serversupportguys.com also says that they have US support, but why were our tickets always answered by someone who could barely type English and at 2 a.m. in the morning? I understand a lot of tech's work late and that is fine, but when we would get responses that would tell us how to do something in half-baked English writing, I completely lost confidence in them.
We've been in the industry for several years now and I read the reviews in this post as a thumbs up for Serversupportguys. I'm not quite sure who the people were or what kind of service they experienced, but Serversupportguys.com does not even up-hold their own SLA. They just completely ignore it.
I'm not usually someone to bash a company, but I would recommend staying away from them. I was expecting them to up-hold their own SLA, but apparently they felt they did not need to do so.I have same experience with Serversupportguys, very slow answering speed. Dont recommend to anyone.ok, that is another few negative comments about PSM. I heard they were quite good? So they only run canned setups?ok, that is another few negative comments about PSM. I heard they were quite good? So they only run canned setups?
Canned setups? No
To be able to offer their services at the price they do, they probably do use standards, but I know they can customize setups as needed.I gotta say that Tom at Linux Tech Networks (linux-tech.net) has been excellent for us and pretty much all that we could ask for.
So far, we've done "ala carte" work with him, but I've never had an issue where he hasn't been able to jump on and resolve an issue we were having pretty much immediately.
We've thrown a ton of stuff at him, including troubleshooting and resolving problems with complicated, Zend-encoded PHP applications that had to talk to other applications, fixing a server that got hacked and rootkitted, moving a non-control-panel server over to a Cpanel one, and a ton of other stuff.
He's always been really reasonable and fair on pricing, and that rare breed of guy who genuinely cares about resolving the problem, even when it's a screwed up situation that a lot of other people would probably run screaming from.
We initially started working with him when it became clear to us how awful Planet's support was, but we will be continuing to work with him even after we move our servers elsewhere.I've used Tom as well on some Linux servers that we have, but he did not support FreeBSD at the time, which is most of our hardware.I used Acunett for several years and had very good luck with them. I only stopped using them a couple of months ago because I downsized from a dedicated server at TP to a Fully Managed VPS at LiquidWeb.
Acunett was always responsive and polite. They do good work.
-- David BallCheck out platinumservermanagement.com (PSM) - they dont have a phone number... but they always respond really fast, and they get the job done - at only $30/month. Highly recommended.
Thanks for any input,OK, so after going through these forums for a while I've found the following companies that look somewhat promising. I'm both compiling this list for myself and others who are looking for a good server management company because as I've discovered today it's a pretty daunting task. Here's what I've found so far. Platinum Server Management (PSM) (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/">http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/</a><!-- m -->)They seem to be recommended by many, but don't seem to have any phone support. I'm willing to pay more than $30/mo., but the company has to be willing to answer the phone.SeeksAdmin (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://seeksadmin.com/">http://seeksadmin.com/</a><!-- m -->)Also seem to be recommended by many, but also don't seem to have phone support. See PSM above.AcuNett (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.acunettmanagement.com/">http://www.acunettmanagement.com/</a><!-- m -->)On the plus side they offer a response time of 2.5 hours rather than 6. Though this still isn't quite what I'm looking for, it's better than practically a full work day. They also offer unlimited admin time, where some other companies cap the number of hours included in their packages. A little more expensive than PSM and SeeksAdmin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.TouchSupport (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://touchsupport.com/">http://touchsupport.com/</a><!-- m -->)Their dedicated tech plan seems promising, but it seems to be limited to 4 hours of total support per month (8 incidents). Hopefully it'd never come to more than 4 hours, but I don't like the idea of limited access.Server Wizards (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://serverwizards.com">http://serverwizards.com</a><!-- m -->)Not much differentiates them from other services such as PSM and SeeksAdmin other than price (they're just shy of 3x expensive). The price makes me think I'm missing something... anyone want to clarify?Linux Tech Networks (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.linux-tech.net">http://www.linux-tech.net</a><!-- m -->)Their full server administration plan looks promising, other than the cap on admin hours, but some of the site has this odd feeling that strikes me as slightly unprofessional. I like the central "call us 24x7" banner, though. So this is what I've found so far. I'd love feedback on any of these companies, and info about their phone support (most sites didn't really say one way or the other how you can get in touch with them). Or, if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.I'll try to update this list with information I gather over the next couple of days. Right now none of 'em seem perfect, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for any help y'all can give.Cheers,ChrisWhat type of server do you have?
Is 24/7 support important to you?Hi,
Try serversupportguys.com, the have a US telephone number and their response times are fabIs 24/7 support important to you?
What kind of a question is that? :crazy: Of course 24/7 support is important!Well here's my experience.
SeeksAdmin - Well I signed up and 17 hours later nothing was done. I did get an email 4-6 hours into the signup stating that the server will done shortly but thats it. I sent in a ticket to cancel my account and get a refund. They exlained that my ticket was put into the wrong que. Eh well.
Acunett - They had super fast sales replies but I'm still hesitant about them. It took quite a while between ticket/upates for work to be done. Now at first it as my fault but once I had the root login info some of the initial work was done but not with out updating the tickets. They set up DA for me but its wasnt set up properly. Eventually after stressing about having a server for three days and not having things done properly I got pissed off and figured out the setup myself. Had to delete some of the work they did. Last ticket update was at least 10 hours ago and no update so far whether any of the work I requested was done. I'll go with them for the current month since I already paid for it.Server Support Guys looks really promising. Anyone have much experience with them?Their full server administration plan looks promising, other than the cap on admin hours
My 0.02 on this here:
Placing a cap on administration hours is a necessary evil. This is something that has been found out from personal experience too many times.
Without these caps, individuals have no respect for my time or experience, and message me every few minutes for stupid crap that is often user related, or programming related.
WITH these caps, individuals understand that my time is valuable, that they SHOULD provide their own user investigation and message me ONLY when it's been proven to be system related.
In most cases, the "cap" is never met, and if it is, who cares. I love doing the work that I do, and in most cases, I don't force the cap on individuals, providing they follow the above. Unfortunately, going from past experience, this is something that many do NOT do. Many want a step by step walkthrough on everything and anything, and they want you to be their own personal beck and call guy, their own personal systems admin, ALL for $100/month. Unfortunately things don't work that way in the real world.
Keep in mind that there is no "unlimited" anything. There's no "unlimited" bandwidth, there's no "unlimited" drivespace, there's no "unlimited" time. There's only 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week. Occasionally, we get 366 days a year, but most of the time, it's 365 (at least by the English calendar). Anyone claiming "unlimited time" clearly doesn't understand this concept, and doesn't value their own time or that of their representatives enough to put a proper limit on it.
some of the site has this odd feeling that strikes me as slightly unprofessional.
huh?
That site is hardly "unprofessional". Aside from the fact that it's a loose implementation of a template, unprofessional is hardly the word I'd use to describe it. If you feel it's unprofessional, at least be decent enough to say WHY, rather than "Oh, that's unprofessional". Given the fact that I pride myself on php design, professionality, and code, that is quite close to an insult.I use ServerWizards and used PSM before, the difference is significant, with ServerWizards I never wait longer than 30 minutes for ticket resolution while with PSM it could take days, PSM doesn't spend too much time on your server, they deal only with cpanel and treat every box the same. When I asked PSM to optimize mysql they applied some default config without even evaluating my server, that made Mysql performance even worse!ServerWizards manage boxes without control panel for me and they know their stuff very well, they gave me their phone number and I can call them whenever I want. I am sure if you ask them for their number they will give it to you.I think you will only find phone support with ServerSupportGuys.comThird-party management companies are good for when you don't really have a whole lot of constant problems going on with your server. They are usually for when you need something every once in a while, such as when you need to upgrade some software, or your server was hacked, or some other issue that doesn't take hours to fix. Third-party management companies provide a good service, however you must realize that they are out there to support more than just your server. That is how they can charge fairly low prices and stay in business. The only way to absolutely guarantee that whoever you call will immediately answer your call as well as immediately know absolutely everything there is to know about how to identify and fix problems on your server would be to hire your own tech staff.I use ServerWizards and used PSM before, the difference is significant, with ServerWizards I never wait longer than 30 minutes for ticket resolution while with PSM it could take days, PSM doesn't spend too much time on your server, they deal only with cpanel and treat every box the same. When I asked PSM to optimize mysql they applied some default config without even evaluating my server, that made Mysql performance even worse!ServerWizards manage boxes without control panel for me and they know their stuff very well, they gave me their phone number and I can call them whenever I want. I am sure if you ask them for their number they will give it to you.LOL pretty much like my story, i run a forum and mysql performance is important for me, i joined Seeksadmin after PSM and trust me SA is worth the money so far for me.Above all SA has a friendly and knowledgable staff
ThanksSamWhy not stick with your original idea and find a host (with the support you want) who will fully manage your server?Try emailing <!-- e --><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><!-- e -->. Steven and crew at HTTPme provide *truly* managed dedicated servers, I believe they have an emergency line they make available, but best of all, not very often do you actually need it...because the servers are fully monitored and managed.Server support guys I can't recommand them, they resolv a ticket approx in 3 weeks when it's a bit more harder.With acunett, when you are clear, you can get the works done pretty fast (approx. 6 hours). Like yesterday I just post again approx 15 tickets for a server, and this morning everything is done except one, they need more info, so not bad at all... and if you have many server like me (7 servers in my case) they will give you discount.Well here's my experience.SeeksAdmin - Well I signed up and 17 hours later nothing was done. I did get an email 4-6 hours into the signup stating that the server will done shortly but thats it. I sent in a ticket to cancel my account and get a refund. They exlained that my ticket was put into the wrong que. Eh well.
Acunett - They had super fast sales replies but I'm still hesitant about them. It took quite a while between ticket/upates for work to be done. Now at first it as my fault but once I had the root login info some of the initial work was done but not with out updating the tickets. They set up DA for me but its wasnt set up properly. Eventually after stressing about having a server for three days and not having things done properly I got pissed off and figured out the setup myself. Had to delete some of the work they did. Last ticket update was at least 10 hours ago and no update so far whether any of the work I requested was done. I'll go with them for the current month since I already paid for it.
Small Acunett update. Once the initial slow setup issue has been resolved all other tickets have been processed pretty quickly (within a few hours.) So for now Acunett turned out good.Here is my expreience.Server WizardsBilling: MonthlyGood support & knowledge. Very quick response times, and good solutions. Some larger applications (high-volume server) I've had a bit of trouble on, but overall I'm very pleased.Rack911:Billing: HourlyVery knowledgeable, and does good work. Quick response times.Platinum Server ManagementBilling: MonthlyLong wait times for response. I was not happy with their service.actually you are mistaken serversupportguys.com offers email, phone and live chat support and they are very reliable. I think you will only find phone support with ServerSupportGuys.comI think you would be very happy with <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w -->. We've been using them for over 2 years now and are very happy. They are not the cheapest but do provide very timely support (answers to tickets are done within minutes, as well as to emails) and they start working on the issue right there and then. They are available by phone, and include a 1-800 number.Contact Jon via email at jon AT got-management DOT com You will not be disappointed.my poor experience from third party management companies will not be maybe that helpful.i only had the opportunity to use 2 of these companies. i wont refer to both of them as the first on which was pretty cheap had problems and many others have commented about that company. i want to state my personal experience with acunett that i joined recently. i had some serious problems and the really did manage to help me out and solve the situation. response was good and it can get much better i am sure because ronny seems a professional. money they worth it and they are not that expensive if they get the job done.phone support dont know if they have but it is even better that you can talk with them from msn (and cheaper). i even plan on taking a server with them. By all means this is my true experience and if anything (good or bad) ever happens with acunett i will let you know because this is a source for us to find out and avoid mistakes that others made due to ignorance.I'm in the same position you are in. I currently have a server at LT that I partially manage, but plan to get out of the hosting industry. I host our corporate domain of my primary work, and am looking for either a fully managed server directly with a datacenter with phone support, or someone through LT.
Phone support is a must. Not saying anything bogus, but we are a multi-million dollar company and the server must remain up as much as possible, and we need to contact them via phone in time of need.
Are there any datacenters as such? I know Liquidweb has phone support, but I'd like to keep my servers in Texas.if you make million go with rackspace, they will be happy to charge you tons of money
I'm in the same position you are in. I currently have a server at LT that I partially manage, but plan to get out of the hosting industry. I host our corporate domain of my primary work, and am looking for either a fully managed server directly with a datacenter with phone support, or someone through LT.Phone support is a must. Not saying anything bogus, but we are a multi-million dollar company and the server must remain up as much as possible, and we need to contact them via phone in time of need.
Are there any datacenters as such? I know Liquidweb has phone support, but I'd like to keep my servers in Texas.
Honestly, a multi-million dollar company should have enough money to hire it's own IT staff instead of relying on a third party sysadmin.Honestly, a multi-million dollar company should have enough money to hire it's own IT staff instead of relying on a third party sysadmin.
Why? We should hire additional personnel, pay benefits, and salary just for a server?
What we need is adults running a company, not kids, that are dependable to handle our needs. We have other priorities, and depend on those who specialize in this.I"m telling you, give Jon a shout at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w -->.
I"m telling you, give Jon a shout at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">www.got-management.com</a><!-- w --> (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.got-management.com">http://www.got-management.com</a><!-- m -->). I second this for contactability. He's too new for me to evaluate his technical skills (just new to me; he's been at this for about 7 years), but darnit, he sure is easy to contact by phone & many other different methods. You can tell from his voice and demeanor that he's a very kind human being with good people skills. Someone who cares about your operation. Rare stuff in tech! Your money will be going to a good human being. You'll really like him.I do not recommend Serversupportguys.com (AKA BFTGlobal) at all. I had submitted approximately 10 tickets over the past two months and only one ticket was ever fully completed. They would give all sorts of excuses and actually ended up taking down our server for more than 48+ hours due to an email misconfiguration.Serversupportguys.com also says that they have US support, but why were our tickets always answered by someone who could barely type English and at 2 a.m. in the morning? I understand a lot of tech's work late and that is fine, but when we would get responses that would tell us how to do something in half-baked English writing, I completely lost confidence in them.
We've been in the industry for several years now and I read the reviews in this post as a thumbs up for Serversupportguys. I'm not quite sure who the people were or what kind of service they experienced, but Serversupportguys.com does not even up-hold their own SLA. They just completely ignore it.
I'm not usually someone to bash a company, but I would recommend staying away from them. I was expecting them to up-hold their own SLA, but apparently they felt they did not need to do so.I have same experience with Serversupportguys, very slow answering speed. Dont recommend to anyone.ok, that is another few negative comments about PSM. I heard they were quite good? So they only run canned setups?ok, that is another few negative comments about PSM. I heard they were quite good? So they only run canned setups?
Canned setups? No
To be able to offer their services at the price they do, they probably do use standards, but I know they can customize setups as needed.I gotta say that Tom at Linux Tech Networks (linux-tech.net) has been excellent for us and pretty much all that we could ask for.
So far, we've done "ala carte" work with him, but I've never had an issue where he hasn't been able to jump on and resolve an issue we were having pretty much immediately.
We've thrown a ton of stuff at him, including troubleshooting and resolving problems with complicated, Zend-encoded PHP applications that had to talk to other applications, fixing a server that got hacked and rootkitted, moving a non-control-panel server over to a Cpanel one, and a ton of other stuff.
He's always been really reasonable and fair on pricing, and that rare breed of guy who genuinely cares about resolving the problem, even when it's a screwed up situation that a lot of other people would probably run screaming from.
We initially started working with him when it became clear to us how awful Planet's support was, but we will be continuing to work with him even after we move our servers elsewhere.I've used Tom as well on some Linux servers that we have, but he did not support FreeBSD at the time, which is most of our hardware.I used Acunett for several years and had very good luck with them. I only stopped using them a couple of months ago because I downsized from a dedicated server at TP to a Fully Managed VPS at LiquidWeb.
Acunett was always responsive and polite. They do good work.
-- David BallCheck out platinumservermanagement.com (PSM) - they dont have a phone number... but they always respond really fast, and they get the job done - at only $30/month. Highly recommended.