Easily Offended Man© meets rackspace.com
So I was just poking around for a backup web host.
Rackspace.com has always been a thorn in my side when I wear my mail server administrator
hat; the spam got so bad that I had to block whole sections of their address space many years ago.
But you can't look for a hosting company without seeing rackspace.com. There doesn't seem to
be many complaints about them, so I went to the website.
This is pure speculation, but I'll bet the reasons there are so few complaints about them
is because of who their target audience is. I know for a fact that one segment of their customer
base is spammers. LOTS of spammers. Spammers don't complain, they lay low and move on when needed.
The other reason is that they go after the larger customers. Since the basic server price starts at $383 per
month, there's lots of cash in the budget for extra server capacity. Just image their configuration to a
new server and nobody needs to know there was ever a problem. It's actually a terrific solution if you want
to spend over $4500 per year in rental fees. For a basic server.
The rackspace.com website is about 99% marketing hype and
1% 'live chat' links. Since they don't give pricing unless
you chat with them, that's what I did. It turns out that
'live chat' is also 99% marketing...
Welcome to Rackspace. My name is Thomas and I am a Live assistant. How may I help you
today?
you: Is ssh shell access available?
Thomas: Yes
you: can I install a dns server
Thomas: Sure.
you: and virtually host 441 domain names?
you: what happens if I go over the monthly bandwidth allocation?
Thomas: Just to let you know on a linux box we preinstall/fully support redhat Linux 4, apache,
php, mysql smtp, ssh. We give you full/root admin access, so you can upload/change/run
anything you want onto the server just like the server was in your office and there is no limit to
the number of sites / domains / IPs you can host.
you: will you take my sites down, or preferably, let them stay and bill for the overage?
Thomas: What is the nature of your project? (bandwidth is fully burstable)
you: I'm looking for a backup server that will basically load-balance my existing server setup
you: where do I sign up at? is there a web form?
Thomas: No. Basically my part of the process is getting you to the correct specialist who will
provide you with a detailed quote.
Thomas: I just need to ask you a few more questions to get you to the correct specialist
Thomas: What Is your timeline for having this up and running?
you: one month, but I'd like to start next week
Thomas: No problem. Will you also require a dedicated hardware firewall for extra security?
you: no; I'm a sysadmin with experience; I just need a reliable server and a password
Thomas: No problem. So 1 linux server ready to go in 1 month or less, Sound right?
you: the 'rackspace essetial server' package looks adequate
you: yes, sir
Thomas: Perfect. Our entry level server configuration starts you with a Dual Core AMD Opteron
1212 Series, 1 GB RAM DDR-2, 250GB SATA hard drive, 25GB Managed Backup Weekly, and 1 TB
of out-going bandwidth monthly. All of our configurations are custom built and fully scalable.
Thomas: If you need a more robust solution, we can provide this for you and a specialist can
provide you an exact price and detailed proposal.
Thomas: A price for the specs above will start at $383-Linux per month.
you: great
Thomas: With that we provide 24//7/365 Live FANATICAL Support, Guaranteed 100% Network
UPTIME, Your Own Dedicated Support Team and Account Manager, and a 1-Hour Hardware
Replacement, Guaranteed! Will this be a workable starting price point for you?
Thomas: Great, in order to get you to a specialist,
Thomas: May I have your contact information: first and last name, phone number, email address,
and company name (if applicable)?
you: no, it's more than I need
Thomas: The server is more than you need?
you: is there a more-basic plan/server?
Thomas: This is the essential server package that you mentioned
you: yes, I don't need dual-core, enterprise redhat...
you: sorry, it and premium is all I see
Thomas: one moment
Thomas: Operating System: Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Thomas: Processor: 1 Dual Core AMD Opteron 1212
Thomas: Installed RAM: 1GB DDR
Thomas: Hard Drive: 250GB SATA
Thomas: Bandwidth: 150GB Monthly
Thomas: Managed Backup: 25GB Weekly
you: ideally, 512m of ram...pentium4...50gb disk space
Thomas: This is the essential server as in the specs above
Thomas: Do you require root level access?
you: yes, I want to fully manage everything
Thomas: I see. What are your priorities in a hosting provider?
you: I built, colocated and run my existing server...my current backup is at rackmounted.com with
512M memory, celeron, 50GB disk space...because it's my secondary, it's perfect...I'm looking to
replace rackmounted
Thomas: I see. Our specialty is uptime/reliability and customer service/support. This is why
people come to Rackspace. We are able to guarantee 100% network uptime (0 downtime in the
past 6.5 years!) as well as offer 80% of our 1600+ employees as support to our customers
you: rackmounted gave me ssh and said 'anything you want to do, go for it'
you: I don't need your expertise, I need a server and a password
Thomas: Sure, that is the same thing that we do as well
Thomas: We may not be a good fit for this project
you: and an occasional remote reboot if I get ahead of myself
Thomas: Thanks for your interest, if we can help you in the future, we are happy to help:) Good
luck with your project
you: ...um...wait...what?.... <---paraphrased because Thomas just left.
Home Privacy Policy Terms of Use
© BRENT KEVIN KRKOSSKA
Comments? Good luck!
E-Mail: