Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Choosing a dedicated server company.......

QT_ · 12-24-2003, 12:07 PM

Quoted from another forum: (spaces inserted because apparently the original poster didn't have a spacebar on his keyboard. So I offered him a gift for Christmas.)

"I found this dedicated special offer too with IPowerWeb.
So, after searching around, I though it was a good deal.

I first e-mailed their tech support on Monday night the 16th and their reply e-mail said they would respond back to be in 24 hours. I did not receive anything. So I called them on Tuesday afternoon. Talked with tech support, and nobody was able to help me because "it was a new offering". I gave them my number and they said someone who knew more would call me back.

A few hours later I got a phone called from "Warren", he was very nice, and understood the whole dedicated server offering. He told me that IPowerWeb started this dedicated server special on Monday, and they are all new, in a new multimillion dollar datacenter located in Hawthorne, CA.

He answered some questions I had about the server, and I said I would think about it. Well after searching the internet, I thought it was a good deal and I ordered a server on Wednesday evening the 17th. I orderd the 1.3Ghz Celeron special for $49 a month, with a $49 setup charge.

I called them on Friday the 19th to find out when it would be ready, and they said give it a few more hours. I called them back at 6pm Friday and they said your server is ready, and gave me the IP address.

I logged into the new server, and did some ping tests, I got under 7ms ping times to my home DSL (I live in Los Angeles), I was impressed.

But what I didn't know is that it was missing a lot of packages that I would like to get installed. Tried downloading RPM packages for the server, and got over 3Mbps-5Mbps transfers from a Red Hat mirror. For testing, I basically downloaded the whole Red Hat 9 RPM packages (1.7GB) in under 15 minutes.

I talked with a Tech support person on Saturday night, and they told me that it's after hours and he only does web pages, not dedicated servers. I would have to talk with a "level 2" technican who are available from 6am to 11pm. I spent the rest of the weekend setting up the server, installing DNS, Apache....etc..

I called Tech support on Sunday and they told me that they can not give me any technical support over the phone for the dedicated servers. I asked them what if it locks up? they said to open a trouble ticket.

Anyway, after spending the weekend with the server, and reading comments on here, I might cancel the server (IPowerweb offers a 30 day money back guarantee) and I might go with Managed.com instead. I will just need to fnd out if my setup fee is refundable, if not, then I'll keep it until the end of my billing cycle.

Otherwise it's a good deal in a new data center if you know what you are doing."

It looks like (by searching around and reading) that ipowerweb just recently started up their dedicated side, support response is slow, and the network isn't quite as reliable as you'd like to have for a dedicated server. You may want to do a little more research on them before making a decision to go with them...especially if their new in offering dedicated services.

12-24-2003, 12:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
QT_ Contributing Member Join Date: 10-13-03 Location: San Antonio, Tx Posts: 387 iTrader: 0 / 0% Latest Blog: None	Quoted from another forum: (spaces inserted because apparently the original poster didn't have a spacebar on his keyboard. So I offered him a gift for Christmas.) "I found this dedicated special offer too with IPowerWeb. So, after searching around, I though it was a good deal. I first e-mailed their tech support on Monday night the 16th and their reply e-mail said they would respond back to be in 24 hours. I did not receive anything. So I called them on Tuesday afternoon. Talked with tech support, and nobody was able to help me because "it was a new offering". I gave them my number and they said someone who knew more would call me back. A few hours later I got a phone called from "Warren", he was very nice, and understood the whole dedicated server offering. He told me that IPowerWeb started this dedicated server special on Monday, and they are all new, in a new multimillion dollar datacenter located in Hawthorne, CA. He answered some questions I had about the server, and I said I would think about it. Well after searching the internet, I thought it was a good deal and I ordered a server on Wednesday evening the 17th. I orderd the 1.3Ghz Celeron special for $49 a month, with a $49 setup charge. I called them on Friday the 19th to find out when it would be ready, and they said give it a few more hours. I called them back at 6pm Friday and they said your server is ready, and gave me the IP address. I logged into the new server, and did some ping tests, I got under 7ms ping times to my home DSL (I live in Los Angeles), I was impressed. But what I didn't know is that it was missing a lot of packages that I would like to get installed. Tried downloading RPM packages for the server, and got over 3Mbps-5Mbps transfers from a Red Hat mirror. For testing, I basically downloaded the whole Red Hat 9 RPM packages (1.7GB) in under 15 minutes. I talked with a Tech support person on Saturday night, and they told me that it's after hours and he only does web pages, not dedicated servers. I would have to talk with a "level 2" technican who are available from 6am to 11pm. I spent the rest of the weekend setting up the server, installing DNS, Apache....etc.. I called Tech support on Sunday and they told me that they can not give me any technical support over the phone for the dedicated servers. I asked them what if it locks up? they said to open a trouble ticket. Anyway, after spending the weekend with the server, and reading comments on here, I might cancel the server (IPowerweb offers a 30 day money back guarantee) and I might go with Managed.com instead. I will just need to fnd out if my setup fee is refundable, if not, then I'll keep it until the end of my billing cycle. Otherwise it's a good deal in a new data center if you know what you are doing." It looks like (by searching around and reading) that ipowerweb just recently started up their dedicated side, support response is slow, and the network isn't quite as reliable as you'd like to have for a dedicated server. You may want to do a little more research on them before making a decision to go with them...especially if their new in offering dedicated services.