Dedicated server hosting - Any suggestions?

I decided to take a look to see if I’m still getting reasonable value for money on my current dedicated server contract. This market is a minefield! There are plenty of people offering dedicated servers at widely varying costs and for each hoster you find that looks reasonable, there are a bunch of people somewhere else knocking them for having poor networks, poor support, etc #-o

So I thought I’d see what the panel of experts here can suggest. I’m looking for something like…

  • Dedicated Linux server, preferably running Fedora Core. The server must NOT have intrusive control panels like Ensim or Plesk. I prefer to have the ability to install what I want, when I want it and not be limited because the CP isn’t compatible with the software I want to install. I’m happy to install Webmin for myself if necessary.
  • Server spec something like P4 3GHz, minimum 1GB RAM, minimum 80GB hard disk. RAID would be nice but not essential.
  • Bandwidth…100/1000Mbps unmetered would be nice :wink: but anything >100GB/month would probably be OK.
  • Good reliable, fast network links to the outside world.
  • Good support when needed (I’ve not had to contact my current hoster for support for 18 months…or maybe longer). Remote reboot (or fast 24*7 support staff reboot) is essential and remote hardware console access would be a bonus.
  • Hardware firewall, FTP backup…nice options, but not something I’ll pay much for.
  • Loads of apps pre-configured on the server…not interested. I’ll install what I need.
  • Doesn’t cost a fortune!

Does anyone know of any hosting companies that seem to meet these requirements. I’d prefer to hear from satisfied customers of a hosting company, rather than just searching out what looks like the best deal. I’ve been trying the ‘search out the best deal’ this evening and I’m glad I don’t have much hair left to tear out.

I’ve been with hostgator for over a year on a shared server with very good results.
Their customer service has always responded to me within 20 minutes or so.

I looked at their dedicated server page and it looks like you can have it the way you want - with extras or not if you like.

In the table, it shows lots of extra stuff, but looking at the second paragraph at the top, it says you can have just what you want.

Just thought I would through that into you “mix”

http://www.hostgator.com/dedicated.shtml

I have a Resellers Gold level shared server with them as well. Also a couple “hatchling” servers for some stuff I need to keep separate. I recently bumped it up to that level as I was running out of space.

Their support is decent.

I’ve not really looked at their dedicated servers much because I don’t need that much control for what I use them for. Mainly basic webhosting with decent access and network connections.

All my custom stuff is done in my home datacenter instead where I have 100% control.

They might have a referral list where you can contact some of their dedicated clients?

All but the cheapest/most expensive options seem to be sold out! I guess that makes them popular, but not very useful if I wanted one of the middle options. I’m looking at unmanaged solutions (I’m a control freak!) and HostGator seem to be managed with control panels installed.

I’m seriously looking into SoftLayer (www.softlayer.com) who seem to have a very nice architecture and they’re getting some good reviews/comments from other users.

How about ev1.net, no control panel is an option with their servers. e-rice uses them, speaking as a end user that’s been very trouble free and I know e-rice doesn’t have a lot of resources to hassle with the hosting co.

ev1servers do seem to get some pretty good reviews as well. They’re a little bit more expensive that SoftLayer. It might sound odd, but the thing I’m not keen on with them is that the only OS choice is RHEL. I know it’s supposed to be Enterprise, but it’s always seemed very conservative in what you can use with it and whilst I’m sure RH provide reasonable support for it, I don’t want to pay for support I don’t need or to pay the kind of rates they want for their support contracts. The SoftLayer architecture looks pretty good though…with inter-server comms and server management on a back-end private VLAN.

I think I’m going to have a trial run with SoftLayer. That’s the good thing about the ‘no long contract’ deals where you’re not tied in for 12 months at a time. I can try it for a month and if it’s not what I want cancel 3 days before the month ends and that’s it.

I have a basic setup with these guys, and must say am very happy with the service.
Not so sure about all the extras and control you want (not that cleaver :oops:), but it may be worth a look (UK based very quick with any problems!)

Rgds Stuart.

streamlinenet.co.uk

I’ve just ordered a couple of servers from SoftLayer. They responded very quickly to my pre-sales questions. A Livechat took place during the ordering process offering me a special on the servers I was going to order (saving me some more money…although I did know about the special before I started ordering). They rang within 5 minutes of me placing the order to confirm that I was who I said I was and the servers should be up and running in about 4 hours time. The level of support so far has been very good. Others say that it’s still as good after you’ve ordered, but no doubt I’ll find out what it’s really like fairly soon.

FWIW, compared to the current server I’m getting approx twice the CPU power, double the RAM, 50% more disk space, 10 times the bandwidth plus a some other extra features (back-end network conenction for inter-server comms and server management, remote serial console, insurance against a DDOS eating up all my bandwidth quota) and all for 20% less than I’m currently paying.

They’re fast 8O The first server has just gone on-line. I’ve not even read the docs on how to access the management side of the servers yet!

How much of that price differential do you think is US vs UK?

Clearly the UK price is loaded with VAT (17.5%) but I couldn’t find anyone remotely near the US prices in the UK. I suspect that big hosting centres in the UK are a few thousand servers but in the US they’re a few tens of thousands so the economy of scale factor applies. I think bandwidth is a big issue here as well. It seems to be very expensive for some reason. The current server has a 100GB/month limit (outbound traffic only). The new US servers has 2000GB/month (in+outbound). To buy that kind of bandwidth in the UK would cost hundreds of pounds per month.

Well, there’s no comparison then. Looks like they are in a nice facility, and I’m sure overhead is a lot less in the Dallas area than the UK.