Had been using Server4you (dedicated server company) for a network of web sites hosting needs for a few years (this was around 2006) and at first it worked fine, but as traffic and the number of sites hosted on the unmanaged Server4you server grew (~150 sites including sub-domains) server hosting problems became a daily event.
Prior to dropping Server4you as a server company there were 25 support tickets within the Server4you control panel and many had been on going for months (not sure how I managed to keep going with this server company so long!).
Server4you Unmanaged Dedicated Server Review
I rented an unmanaged dedicated server with 512MB of RAM and 700GB monthly bandwidth, I never come close to using the monthly bandwidth Server4you supplies (99% of the content was text based so low bandwidth usage) but I later realized the 512MB of RAM was causing a bottleneck (which was apparently causing all our dedicated server problems!).
Unmanaged Dedicated Server = Little Server Support
I manage the dedicated server and I’m far from a dedicated server expert (basically learning what I need to know as I need it) so as problems developed with the server that I couldn’t solve I went to Server4you support for help.
Now the server is unmanaged which means when it comes to software issues it’s my responsibility to fix the problem. Hardware issues with the server are Server4you’s responsibility, for example at one point a HD was failing and so they eventually replaced it (took their sweet time about it) another time the server was over heating and so they added a fan!
Since I’m not a Apache server software expert when it comes to changing software on the server it’s a case of don’t change anything unless it’s needed (shouldn’t create problems then). This means the dedicated server software had barely changed since I managed to persuade them to switch boxes about a year ago (was after adding a fan didn’t work and I said new dedicated box or I leave). About the only thing I do is update Plesk when a new version is available.
Server4you Support Review
So if something goes wrong with the server software it isn’t because I screwed up. This has led me to believe any problems with the server are either hardware, bandwidth, DDOS i.e. not me :-) related.
The dedicated server was using under 50GB of bandwidth a month of the 700GB allotted by Server4you and so in my understanding of how dedicated servers work it shouldn’t be struggling as it is. The problem as I had to discover on my own with the help of various server forums is the hardware isn’t up to even 50GB of monthly bandwidth!!
I might have high expectations, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask of experienced server support to be able to determine that when RAM usage is max’d out at over 99% all the time (I didn’t realize that could cause problems with Apache, but not other areas of the server which is what I was experiencing) it’s going to cause intermittent server problems. But all I got from them is it’s not their problem, it’s an unmanaged server!
Server4you Support Staff Quotes
I am sorry, but we are selling unmanaged servers, which means what we do is provide hardware and OS installation, and after that you are on your own. We do take care and support things, such as OS that we have installed and Plesk.
Funny thing about this quote from Server4you is since I haven’t made any significant changes to the server software if Apache is part of the issue (the OS they installed) and the other problem is the lack of memory (hardware) doesn’t that mean they have a responsibility to offer support?
Wasn’t asking them to update software which would be part of a managed dedicated server hosting plan, but to determine the dedicated server they supplied wasn’t up to the task of hosting my websites!
So, at least the server was running and accessible via the network. This is where our responsibility vanishes. Rest things like proper server management, monitoring and acting upon software failures are up to you as we don’t provide the management service for our servers.
Well with that attitude towards helping paying customers I’d had enough and changed server companies.
David Law
Dedicated Server Company Reviews
Used a number of companies for dedicated servers between 2005 and 2016, here they are in chronological order. The last link is the review of the company I’m using in 2016.
- Server4you Review
- Hivelocity Hosting Review
- 123-reg Review
- EsecureData Review
- GoDaddy Server Review
- GoDaddy VPS Review
Website - SEO Gold
Unmanaged Dedicated Server Reviews
Update on my search for a reliable unmanaged dedicated server.
After a lot of research finally found a dedicated server company that looks trustworthy, so after a friendly live chat I rented the following unmanaged server from them-
2.4 P4 533MHz FSB
160 GB SATA HD
2GB RAM
Bandwidth: 1000GB w/10Mbps port
6 IP Addresses
Operating System: CentOS
Fedora, FreeBSD or Debian was also an option for free. And Windows Web 2003, Windows Standard 2003 or Windows 2000 was available for an extra monthly fee.
Control Panel: Webmin (basic control panel)
Could have had cPanel, Direct Admin, Hosting Controller, Helm or Hsphere for an additional monthly cost. Since the server will only hold our sites I only needed a basic control panel so went with Webmin.
All for $95 a month with no setup fee ($99 setup fee was waived). This server is much better than the one I’m currently renting from Server4you. The only thing I’m loosing is Plesk and that was costing me $20 a month extra anyway and was really overkill for what I need in a servers control panel.
Not going to post the name of the server company until I’ve added all the domains to the server (not looking forward to that task!!) and had the server running for a while. Don’t want to recommend a dedicated server company until I’m sure they are good.
Good riddance to Server4you who have really gone down hill.
Wish me luck on a smooth transfer :-(
David Law
Update: The above was regarding a Hivelocity Hosting server, see Hivelocity Dedicated Server Review.
Unmanaged Dedicated Server Reviews
Dedicated Server Company Reviews?
So now can you say the name of the “dedicated server company that looks trustworthy” ?
eNom Inc Domain Registrar
Now I’m having problems with eNom who do domain registrations.
Basically Registerfly screwed up it’s customer services and 30+ of my domains got transferred to eNom Inc.
Now they are sending me through hoops to gain access to MY own domains that I’ve spent thousands of US$s on!
David Law
Hosted DB Dedicated Server Review
My 2 cents on dedicated servers..
Never had a problem with dedicated servers at Hosted DB they have simple rates.. 1 rate for both managed and unmanaged. basically, if you want help, or need something setup or installed, then it is free for any of their customers.
Unmanaged Dedicated Servers
If your going to run unmanaged server be prepared to pay out the wazoo for support.
I use Dedicated managed servers, saves me the pain of having to try and fix any server issues. Support is 100% worth every penny you pay, never again will I run unmanaged servers.
Server4You Review
In 2014 it is pretty much impossible to run anything but the most trivial web application with just 500 MB of RAM. These days you need an absolute minimum of 2 GB.
That said, Server4You is *atrocious*. Just search for comments about them on Twitter ;p