server colo advice please

lfelton · 30th April 2008

I want to colo a 2U server and had thought that I'd narrowed the options down to 2; Rapid Switch and Host-it.co.uk

I've now stumbled across Poundhost, who (apart from having probably the worst service provider name ever!) seem to have a very low cost & high spec offering.

Can people give me insight into the pros & cons of these ISPs? While cost is always an issue, infrastructure reliability, ease of access & network speed are key.

Thanks!

blueroomhosting · 30th April 2008

Well if you think that is a bad name, RapidSwitch used to be called 49p...

I have been a RapidSwitch customer for a few months and I am very happy with them. I looked at PoundHost too and their offerings were very similar but at the time RapidSwitch had more bandwidth for less money. I think they both have a data center within the Blue Square complex so you can expect the network to be similar too, RapidSwitch's is certainly excellent.

There was a problem at Blue Square today that affected quite a lot of providers but this is the first issue I have had with RapidSwitch and they recovered very quickly - less than 5 minutes without power.

Jim

damien_ls · 2nd May 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueroomhosting

There was a problem at Blue Square today that affected quite a lot of providers but this is the first issue I have had with RapidSwitch and they recovered very quickly - less than 5 minutes without power.

Less than 5 minutes without power is definitely good, but shouldn't it be zero minutes due to the wonders of UPS etc.? DCs are supposed to spend a lot of time, money, and effort ensuring that power outages basically don't happen - so I presume they have a good reason for why that didn't work this time?

PaulB · 2nd May 2008

edited

JamieBeeston · 2nd May 2008

Arent Node4 all the way oop Narth in Derby though? (Just spent the last week on the Stand next door to them at Internet world!)

PaulB · 2nd May 2008

They are. Just noticed my link never came up - I am staff at Node4 and was also on the stand next to you. Derby's not so bad you know!

JamieBeeston · 2nd May 2008

If you work for Node4, you're breaking the core forum rules by recommending or even mentioning them

Was a good show, but my feet really hurt..

Derby is fine, but it's like apples and cheese comparing Derby hosting with Reading hosting (except in that they're both non-London)

Enjoy.. and go read up on those rules

PaulB · 2nd May 2008

Thanks for the heads-up on the rules - apologies if I've upset anyone. The show was a real killer on the feet - 3 days is a longtime standing up. Cheers

damien_ls · 2nd May 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulB

Might also be worth considering Node4 - 2U colo space is £60 per month and that gets you space in a fully N+1 data centre that opened in November2007.

Sounds like advertising? http://www.webhostchat.co.uk/forums/...aq_advertising

damien_ls · 2nd May 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

Derby is fine, but it's like apples and cheese comparing Derby hosting with Reading hosting (except in that they're both non-London)

Well I just can't decide... do I want to host my server in an apple or cheese? My I enquire what kind of cheese it is before making my decision?

freethought · 2nd May 2008

Well I can whole heatedly recommend Node4. We installed some kit in DC-2 there last weekend after a last minute change of plan and their staff are very helpful. They bent over backwards to accommodate us, particularly considering the late notice (we ordered it on Thursday and installed everything on Sunday).

blueroomhosting · 2nd May 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by damien_ls

Less than 5 minutes without power is definitely good, but shouldn't it be zero minutes due to the wonders of UPS etc.? DCs are supposed to spend a lot of time, money, and effort ensuring that power outages basically don't happen - so I presume they have a good reason for why that didn't work this time?

The problem with UPS is that they can go wrong too. They have four of them running in parallel just in case, but even so one managed to die so horribly that the others were overloaded and there was a subsecond brown out. There was also enough smoke to set off the fire alarms for added fun.

The UPS company is sending over a technician to examine this never seen before failure. You are quite right that this should never have happened, but no system is perfect. As long as something is learnt from this experience and that knowledge is used to improve the system then it hasn't been for nothing.

Jim

othellotech · 3rd May 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueroomhosting

The problem with UPS is that they can go wrong too. They have four of them running in parallel just in case, but even so one managed to die so horribly that the others were overloaded and there was a subsecond brown out

Not possible in a bus-master system - and reading the "announcement" made by a number of BSq inhabitants, the problem was overloading the *incoming* feed - which IMHO sounds like the blame is actually due to dodgy wiring ...

lfelton · 6th May 2008

Thanks for the comments.

PaulB:

I did look at Node4, but (a) they are a little further away from us (b) they had no colocation prices on their web site.

Speaking as someone who is involved in running a pretty successful B2B business with significant on-line sales, I have noticed that we get a big jump in sales when prices for a product are clearly stated, rather than a "call us for a quotation" type call to action.

It's "just psychology" I guess, but it works for our products which are in the £100 - £3000 price range and my guess is that it has something to do with the mental "shortlisting" process people go through when evaluating similar products that are available through multiple potential suppliers.

Put some prices on and I bet you a beer that your sales will have a significant spike.

-L

JamieBeeston · 6th May 2008

Just to make a suggestion..

You might find that Renting a server isn't that much more expensive than Colo, and will give you much more protection, resilience and upgrade options.

J