Rackspace

[brian]

I had a client recently require what I'd call a "mission critical" online presence, and although I tried them on one of my servers, slight pauses in the network connectivity were enough to cause frustrations for them.

So I figured as they needed a total uptime solution with excellent connectivity and security, that I should recommend we use a server at Rackspace.

Now - there's something about Rackspace that raises my hackles. I think the heavy sales approach is key, from the intrusive chat box that comes up when you visit the site, to the failure to provide pricing information - which is traditionally a sign of working with raising profit margins.

But - they have a superb reputation when it comes to their network and connectivity. So although I knew from the start it would be one of the more expensive options, I felt obliged to recommend Rackspace.

Anyway, the experience has been interesting.

I went for a quote, and the client independently went for a quote. For the exact same server and configuration, we got two completely different figures. Was the same for managed services and upgrades.

AMD 3200 processor
2 x 73 GB SCSI + RAID 1
100 GB bandwidth
1024 GB DDR RAM
12 month contract

Quote 1: £365 + £200 setup fee
Quote 2: £269 + no setup fee

That confirms my suspicions of them trying to inflate their margins through the sales process.

BUT it has to be said, support is good. The client rushed ahead and set up an order for the the wrong configuration - we needed a hardware Firewall and they didn't order one.

Also, I told Rackspace I was after a control panel, and as they wouldn't support CPanel I went with Plesk - but they failed to set up Plesk with the client's order.

So today we've all been running around getting this sorted out, and the client has what they needed on the lower quote.

Point is, if you do go with Rackspace, be very aware the salesman on the phone is charging on a flexible tariff, and it's up to you to negotiate that down. You're facing the hosting equivalent of car salesmen here.

Secondly, so far the support really does look good, and while I don't like the sales process, they are easy to contact and friendly and helpful over the phone - so hopefully this is all going to workout.

I guess this is a review of sorts, but a mixed one.

[TWD_Tony]

I've had "dealings" with Rackspace before - I asked them for a quote once and got a salesperson phoning me everyday for over a week trying to close the deal... I HATE this kind of "hard sell" approach - It is way over the top in my opinion, and I told them right from the start that there services wern't what I was looking for (not enough bandwidth for the money + no cPanel) but they still insisted on annoying me for over a week!

On the plus side - to anyone who is reading this and want's my honest opinion of RS, there support and uptime is excellent... although the uptime is not 100% as some would have you believe