Gossamer Forum: General: Internet Technologies: Catalog.com

Jul 10, 2002, 1:41 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 1:41 AM

Post #1 of 25

Shortcut

Catalog.com

Has anyopne had any dealings with them? Whats their support like? I am just having a look at their $299/m dedicated server deal. Looks quite nice. I especially like the idea of the Plesk install, which would enable me to administer the server a lot easier than I am at the moment Tongue

Just wondering if anyone had any feedback on them, and prior experiences with their services/support.

Thanks

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 3:01 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 3:01 AM

Post #2 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

You tried: http://www.dreamservers.com/ ?

:: http://www.dreamservers.com/newmoon.html

That's who I'm with and I love them. Their custom web panel is superb to administer your account; users, email, domains, mysql, bandwidth usage, stats, mx records .. etc. etc. Highly recommended.

- wil

Last edited by:

Wil: Jul 10, 2002, 3:05 AM

Jul 10, 2002, 3:07 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 3:07 AM

Post #3 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Yeah..but I've been waiting 15 hours for a reply, and still nothing. So if that is what they are going to be like, I dread to think what their support is going to be like Frown

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 4:16 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:16 AM

Post #4 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Who? Dreamhost or Catalog?

They're working on US times, remember, so they're all still in bed. If it's just a sales enquiry - it will and can wait.

If it's a support request, however, they've got folks on 24/7 and you'll usually get a reply within 15 minutes. I've never had a support ticket taken longer than 10 minutes to respond no matter what time of day it is.

- wil

Jul 10, 2002, 4:22 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:22 AM

Post #5 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Oh, your with them then?

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 4:25 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:25 AM

Post #6 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

I've got one of my servers at Dreamhost, yes.

- wil

Last edited by:

Wil: Jul 10, 2002, 4:25 AM

Jul 10, 2002, 4:27 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:27 AM

Post #7 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Ah..now he tells me. They were cheaper, but I got fed up waiting...so I have already put my order through at Catalog.com Frown

Oh well, I like the Plesk (2.5) interface at Catalog.com. Its far more user friendly than WebMin, although I would imagine I will still use SSH quite a lot, for DMOZ dumps etc.

What time is it in America?

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 4:31 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:31 AM

Post #8 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

At Dreamhost's HQ, it's around 5am at the moment.

Have you looked at a hosting provider in the UK? I know Demon offer excellent service and co-hosting locations in Manchester, too.

- wil

Jul 10, 2002, 4:33 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:33 AM

Post #9 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Nah..I really wouldn't want to co-lo or host over in the Uk, as we have such a poor structure over here for web-servers. Also, it would make my sites very slow to the people in America etc, which could put off a few potential customers.

Mmm...how much is the setup fee for DreamServers ? I know it was $285 a month for the account, and they mentioned a setup fee, which I couldn't find anywhere Unsure

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 4:36 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:36 AM

Post #10 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

BTW. I gotta ask.. do you really need a dedicated host? Seems to me that their top range shared hosting plan would be more than capable. If you're worried about high traffic they give you 35 gig bandwidth / month which is more than I can imagine any non-porn site using ...

- wil

Jul 10, 2002, 4:37 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:37 AM

Post #11 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

And, sorry, I don't have a clue how much the setup fees are ... I'm guessing it would depend on the amount of conguration needed for your server.

- wil

Last edited by:

Wil: Jul 10, 2002, 4:38 AM

Jul 10, 2002, 4:46 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:46 AM

Post #12 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

In Reply To:

Its more the hard drive space I need. I use about 5Gb for my dumps (cos I have the proper content.rdf.u8 file, content.rdf.u8.gz file, all the category slices, and loads of other stuff)....

I also need to host about 5-6 sites, so a single website really wouldn't be able to work for me...especially seeing as I need to share files from site to site Wink

Thanks for the idea though....but I've already pondered over this for a long time Frown

As for the setup fee, don't worry. They just don't seem to show it anywhere that is visable. I may go with them if Catalog.com decline my CC cos its maxed out (not sure how much I've alrerady spent on it...lol)

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 4:51 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:51 AM

Post #13 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Ummmmmmmmmmm..... wow! Stop!

You don't need to fork out loadsa money for a dedicated server, then...

The package we're on with work is great ..

http://www.dreamhost.com/ - it's the shared hosting brother of dreamservers.

This is the kinda stuff I get on my account ...

15 domains, 30 gig disk space, 35 gig transfer, 300 email accounts, permanenet ip addresses, unlimited amount of mysql databases etc etc. la di la all for $79.95/mo.

That'll save you a few dollars. :-)

- wil

Jul 10, 2002, 4:53 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 4:53 AM

Post #14 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Yeah, but I use quite high CPU. About 99% on some DMOZ imports, and a lot of RAM too Frown

I did give it a go with a similar package a while back, but it didn't work out too well (kept crashing the server due to server load). Thanks for the info though Smile

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 10:05 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 10:05 AM

Post #15 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Mmm...it would be nice if Catalog got back to me. I'm assuming its about 10:10am now over there, and still not even a confirmation as to my purchase Unsure

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 10:32 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 10:32 AM

Post #16 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Can I ask why did you choose Catalog?

- wil

Jul 10, 2002, 11:02 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 11:02 AM

Post #17 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Because I got fed up waiting for DreamServers, and I need a server ASAP (my old one is screwed). I also like the GUI that Catalog.com provide (Pleask 2.5).

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 10, 2002, 2:19 PM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 10, 2002, 2:19 PM

Post #18 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

10:20pm over here now...so probably mid afternoon in the USA. Still nothing from them Frown

(Catalog.com or DreamServers)

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 11, 2002, 3:38 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 3:38 AM

Post #19 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Ok..I gave up with those two. I've now got my server with RackShack.

400Gb Bandwidth, 60Gb HardDrive, 1Ghz PIII, 512Mb RAM, Plesk 2, RedHat 7.2 and more.

Its great...support is amazing (I've asked 3 things so far...for which neither have taken longer than 15 minutes to get a reply!), and the addition of domains is easy. They also have quite a few nice little tools, like the ability to limit bandwidth per domain/user, autoresponders for emails, pop3 and smtp servers for emails, which is cool (couldnt work out how to set it up on my old server).

All, I got to say is, go with them if you are looking for a dedicated server. My mate had a problem with his server last month (the RAM failed)...so within 1 hour minutes, they had transfered his replaced all the RAM for free! Hes been with them 6 months+, and absolutrly loves them...

Well, I better go and get adding the rest of my sites, and start transfering over to them Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 11, 2002, 4:00 AM

Paul

Veteran (19537 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 4:00 AM

Post #20 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Quote:

All, I got to say is, go with them if you are looking for a dedicated server.

Andy you've not even got your sites on their server yet, you can't base recommendations on their service so far when you've been signed up less that 12 hours...you are a new customer, they want your money...give it a few months and then you can probably give a fair recommendation.

I'm always dubious of any company that offers high spec servers for cheap prices...

On their main page they advertise:

Intel Celeron 1.3GHz
512MB RAM
256k OBC - 100MHz FSB
60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
400GB Monthly Transfer

....for $99. Why do you think Gossamer-Threads and other established companies are charging several hundred dollars for a server with that spec?....it is because they are sensible businesses who wish to gain a good reputation and keep customers for the long term...they don't want to earn as much money as possible in the short term and then go bust when they realise they can't afford to run their business on the prices they charge.

Would you even know how to check the spec of your server to make sure you are getting what you paid for?

400GB/month....thats like 99 / 400 = 0.25 per GB ....do you think they are making profit on that?....I doubt it.....thats not even including the Plesk license, hardware etc.

Last edited by:

Paul: Jul 11, 2002, 4:05 AM

Jul 11, 2002, 4:08 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 4:08 AM

Post #21 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Paul] Catalog.com In reply to

Paul..I have had 2 mates who are both hosted with them (1 for 6 months, and the other for over a year)...neither of them have had any problems with them, and if the hardware failed, they got it replaced within a matter of hours.

>>>do you think they are making profit on that?....<<<

Do you think people actually use 400GB? Wink

As you will notice there is a setup fee too...of $499 ;)

>>>Andy you've not even got your sites on their server yet, you can't base recommendations on their service so far when you've been signed up less that 12 hours...<<<

I've actually been with them for 18 hours Tongue

And I'mn not giving a complete review of them...just a review of what I think of them so far.

Man...you always like to make an enterance when you havn't been at the forum for a few days...heh heh

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 11, 2002, 4:23 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 4:23 AM

Post #22 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Andy] Catalog.com In reply to

Hm. I'd prefer to have a redundant mirror machine that could be hot-swapped incase of any hardware failiures. Of course, it makes you wonder why there was a hardware failiure after only 6 months of RAM usage ...

- wil

Jul 11, 2002, 4:27 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 4:27 AM

Post #23 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

Yup..that would be nice. I think it was only one chip that went in the RAM, but my mate spotted this, and reported it to them. Thats why they replaced it.

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Jul 11, 2002, 4:28 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 4:28 AM

Post #24 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Wil] Catalog.com In reply to

And for the record: The only dedicated hosting company I'd really recommend at the moment for *ix based servers would be: http://www.sprocketdata.com/ - these guys really know what they are talking about! Seriously consider checking them out.

- wil

Jul 11, 2002, 5:17 AM

Andy

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Jul 11, 2002, 5:17 AM

Post #25 of 25

Shortcut

Re: [Paul] Catalog.com In reply to

Paul, just found out that they are apparantly an 'oldschool' company. This means they get all the excess bandwidth from their connection pipe, so they literally get it for pennies. That means even charging 25cents per Gb, they are making a profit! (just going on what I'ved found out/been told) Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk