Hivelocity, Reg-123 (Managed) and Server4you Dedicated Server Hosting Problems

Some information about our problems with Hivelocity dedicated server and Reg-123 semi managed dedicated server hosting at the bottom as well.

We’ve been using Server4you (dedicated server company) for our web sites hosting needs for a few years now and at first it worked fine, but as traffic and the number of sites hosted on the unmanaged Server4you server has grown (~150 sites including sub-domains) server hosting problems have become a daily event: there was 25 support tickets within the Server4you control panel and many have been on going for months (not sure how I managed to keep going with this server company so long!).

We rented an unmanaged dedicated server with 512MB of RAM and 700GB monthly bandwidth, we’ve never come close to using the monthly bandwidth Server4you supplies (99% of our content is text based so low bandwidth usage) but we’ve recently realised the 512MB of RAM is causing a bottleneck (which is apparently causing all our dedicated server problems!).

Server4you 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 our 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 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 we leave). About the only thing I do is update Plesk when a new version is available.

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 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 realise that could cause problems with Apache, but not other areas of the server which is what we were 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 supplies wasn’t up to the task of hosting our 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.

Hivelocity Dedicated Server

Have found another dedicated server company (Hivelocity) and have transferred about 70% of the sites. Had a big delay caused by eNom (domain registrar) when they wouldn’t give me access to 36 of my domains, so couldn’t update nameservers!

The new unmanaged dedicated server from Hivelocity was working much better, so was glad to be on the verge of dumping Server4you forever!! I explained the problems experienced with Server4you and the level of service required and they said that shouldn’t be a problem.

Hivelocity Dedicated Server Support Problems

Been using the Hivelocity dedicated server for a while now and at first was happy with it’s hosting performance, but after using Hivelocity for about 6 months I’m no longer as impressed unfortunately (especially unimpressed with Hivelocity support).

When the dedicated server worked it was fine, but I was finding it down every so often and there’s no remote reboot with an unmanaged Hivelocity server (at least Server4you had remote reboots with their servers) and their support staff on live chat (who have to order reboots manually!) are far from impressive at supporting their customers at times when they really need support!

I’ve had to order roughly half a dozen server reboots through Hivelocity’s live chat interface and the fastest was around 15 minutes from the live chat support tech person saying they have ordered a server reboot to the server working again!

The most recent server reboots have ranged from 15 mins to over 30 mins from the Hivelocity support staff saying it had been ordered. This does not take into account the time taken to log into their website (once it was down for over 10 mins slowing the process further) so reboots are taking on average 30 mins to occur!

I’ve also noticed low quality English from Hivelocity support staff, for example one said this-

Andrew: David..I have informed the senior tech to reboot your server
Andrew: He will do the needful shortly

Now I understand what he is trying to say, but “He will do the needful shortly” is clearly from someone who doesn’t understand written English very well and that makes their technical support basically a paste a response service!

With all my recent live chats with Hivelocity I’ve asked reasonable questions that are at first ignored, then after repeating several times answered in an unhelpful way.

Hivelocity use this info in emails-

Hivelocity Impressive Support is not just a slogan. If you feel we have not lived up to our name or if we have exceeded your expectations, please give us the opportunity to correct the problem or commend a tech by submitting feedback to Management. If you experience was negative, expect a call or email within 2 hours during normal business hours so we may discuss your issues.

I’ve submitted a comment with several of their comment forms that pops up after a live chat and so far not received a call or an email in response to those. So in my experience of Hivelocity support the above is nothing more than a slogan.

Basically not impressed with Hivelocity support at all, really lets them down and so AGAIN I had to look for a new server.

Hivelocity Server Update

Since it takes over a week to backup and transfer my sites from one server to another and even then it won’t be all done I decided to hold out in the hope Hivelocity support would improve. Yes I was being damn lazy and I’m now paying the price big time.

Had the Hivelocity server going on a year now and a couple of weeks back it became unresponsive and needed an OS reload. What this means is the entire server needed a new operating system (Apache etc…) reinstalled from scratch and all my sites would no longer work!!!

I’m no server expert, but know there’s ways to recover sites and databases on a server after a server disaster like this and so asked for the same OS versions to be installed that was running prior to the server hosting crash so as to make the recovery less painful.

To cut a long story short Hivelocity support screwed up big time. The dedicated server was running Apache 1.3.37 prior to the problems. Hivelocity’s first OS reload installed Apache 2.2, they did however supply me with excellent instructions on how to recover the sites and databases, but this would have only worked had I been running Apache 2.2 at the time of the crash or they reloaded Apache 1.3.37 on the server. So the first try failed since Apache 2.2 is not compatible with Apache 1.3.37 configuration files that I recovered!

In their defence I couldn’t log into the control panel to create the OS reload ticket myself and the Hivelocity support tech who created the reload ticket forgot to include the instructions (load the same OS versions I had running before the crash so I can recover the sites) to the ticket, so there was a mix up and Apache 2.2 was loaded by mistake.

OK mistakes happen, got a little irritated since wasted over a day on waiting for the server reload and recovering files and my sites was offline for going on 2 days, but mistakes happen.

After determining the server was unusable in it’s current state I again requested a OS reload on the server, making it clear to use the same OS versions that was installed at the time of the server crash (Apache 1.3.37 for example). The Hivelocity support tech I was communicating with to carry out the OS reload was fully aware of my plans to recover the sites and MySQL databases and he must install the same version that was running on the server before the problem (Apache 1.3.37 etc….).

Unfortunately for me instead of installing Apache 1.3.37 which would have made recovery of my sites relatively easy he instead installed Apache 1.4* and when I recovered my websites and databases it resulted in Apache not loading because Apache 1.4 doesn’t run with Apache 1.3.37 configuration files. Making a mistake once is forgivable, making the same mistake twice is bordering on incompetence!

I feel sorry for Hivelocity customers on managed dedicated server hosting (I paid for the OS reload, so wasn’t free support) because this is ridiculous.

After a few hours they managed to bodge the installation in a way that partly worked. There was errors coming out of Direct admin (control panel software) and email didn’t work at all because the old server software used vm-Pop3d but the new server OS used Dovecot. Hivelocity couldn’t fix this problem and had to call in experts from Direct Admin support who after a couple of days got email working.

Since that time the server has pretty much not run for 24 hrs in a row without problems. Three times the firewall has managed all on it’s own to blocked access to everything except root access, PHP service has stopped, HTTPd has stopped, MYSQL has stopped, Named has stopped. I’ve had to issue a reboot at least once a day over the last 10 days and one day made at least 5 server reboots (at least Hivelocity upgraded their servers to have remote reboots now, for a fee though).

During this time I’ve tried countless times over Hivelocity’s live chat system and through their ticket support system to get help, but I’m met with similar wall I came up against with Server4you. Basically as time passes on a problem they become less helpful. Their support and technical staff appears to consist of a handful of people (4 or 5 I’d say), so when they get fed up of a problem your stuck with no where to go for real assistance.

Managed 123-reg Dedicated Server

I’ve been using 123-reg.co.uu for .co.uk domain registrations for years since they are cheap and Godaddy doesn’t handle .co.uk sites (at least you can’t transfer a .co.uk domain to them!). So after a lot of dedicated server research and still not finding an unmanaged dedicated server I liked I looked at 123-reg managed dedicated servers. I’d read some positive and negative feedback on their managed dedicated server support, but it couldn’t perform any worse than the Hivelocity server currently is (sites are down a lot now!!) so getting desperate for a new server.

For a little bit more than I paid Hivelocity for an unmanaged server I could have a managed dedicated server as long as I did not request full root access. Sent in a support request for information about what you can/can’t do on the server (without root access) and though there were restrictions since I use a dedicated server for hosting sites and changes in the past to get all my sites working have been minimal (edit php.ini, edit httpd.conf and I’m good to go) I should be fine. So paid for the first month and the setup fee for their best managed dedicated server.

Unfortunately after over a week of trying to get the access I need (chroot access) I’m stuck!

Biggest problem is their online support is so slow I’ve not had an accurate response to a simple question for 5 days!!

I was told I get chroot access, but documentation on their in house control panel (which is really bad, you get no bells and whistles at all, so basic CP!) is next to useless so had to go to support for instructions.

Five days ago I ask amongst other questions (at this time 05 Mar. 2008 03:42) how to get access to php.ini and similar configuration files. No answer so 27hrs later (06 Mar. 2008 06:30) post again (just a single question)-

“I can’t get my sites working correctly without mod_rewrite so need chroot access ASAP, how do I get it?”

The Apache module for mod_rewrite is turned off (or at least I hoped it was turned off and not completely left out), so needed it turning on (I know how to do this. very easy).

Still no response that day so 17hrs later (06 Mar. 2008 23:56) post demanding an answer or I’ll do a chargeback on my credit card. 10 hrs later (54 hrs after the first question) I get this response (on 07 Mar. 2008 09:18)-

You can request chroot access via the 123-reg control panel –> Login and go to manage servers –> Request Access

You can not access the php.ini file without chroot access at the very least, you could probably upload your own php.ini if needed.

Please confirm what you mean by the following:
You mentioned before chroot access. What settings do I use?

Little concerned over the last question, I was asking for the username/password etc… to gain access to the server.

First part sounds straight forward, however when you do this it does not go to an option to gain chroot access but root access for the server with a warning-

Request Root access to your 123-REG Dedicated Server.

If you require Root access to your server you may request this here. However, please read the extract from our Terms and Conditions below and tick the box to confirm that you agree to these conditions before submitting your request.

“The Client will have the option to request root access to this product. The Client acknowledges that if root access is given the Client will no longer be eligible for security patching, software upgrades, hardware maintenance or technical support. PIPEX will have no obligations to the Client other than to provision the service in line with the standard specification.”

– I have read and agree to these conditions

There are no links or anything to a chroot access option so I can’t gain chroot access that way. So I update the support ticket with this-

When I do what you suggest it says root access not chroot access and gives warning I loose managed support if I proceed.

So how do I get CHroot access not full root access?

I need to be able to:

edit httpd.ini
edit php.ini

enable/install mod_rewrite (other modules that might be missing that I use, hoping they are on the server and just need enabling in httpd.ini).

I made it clear I needed this at the start (see the very first question in this thread below before paying for the server) and was told I can have chroot access without voiding your managed server support. Please read the answer one of your support staff gave.

That was posted on-
07 Mar. 2008 15:17
and I waited and waited and no response so made a follow up on-
09 Mar. 2008 00:20
and I waited and waited and no response again so made a follow up on-
10 Mar. 2008 03:09

That last follow up is no longer asking for chroot access, it’s asking for a full refund as these delays are totally unacceptable! How can anyone work with support for a managed dedicate server that takes over 5 days to answer a simple question (never gave me the correct answer). Imagine if this was something important and it takes them days to respond!

I had problems with Server4you and Hivelocity support, but Reg-123 is by far the worst of the 3! At least the other two tended to respond in under 24 hrs (other than Hivelocity at the end who started to ignore my support tickets!).

I can’t really tell you how the managed Reg-123 server performed since I only uploaded one test domain with a WordPress blog installation and I couldn’t get it to work correctly since the rewrite urls mod is disabled (what are they thinking disabling that module!).

The server comes with 2 IP addresses, now I assumed I could add more (can with other dedicated servers so didn’t think to ask). I was wrong, you only get 2 IPs and what’s worse only one of those is used for your sites, the other is used for their control panel! So if you have a lot of sites they will all be on the one IP.

So still looking for another dedicated server.

123-reg Update

Not a big update since less than 24hrs has passed, but this is so irritating (while amusing) I had to post it here.

You will note at this time 10 Mar. 2008 03:09 I gave up on the server and asked for a full refund. 7hrs later I receive a response-

Dear David,

Thank you for contacting 123-reg on the 10th of March 2008.

I can confirm that if you log in to the control panel and request root access you will have the chroot password and access but not full root access.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

—————
Kind Regards,
Nina
123-REG Technical Support Advisor

OMG not only has she completely ignored the last post (which does not ask for chroot access asks for a full refund or I’ll do a chargeback) but dates my request for chroot access as the 10th March!! Lets completely look over the fact I asked for this on the 5th of March, took until the 7th to give the first answer (which any reasonable person would not apply for root access under those circumstances) and then takes until the 10th until I get a full** answer.

** What the hell are they thinking calling chroot access root access and warning you you’ll loose managed support on the managed dedicated server if you request chroot access (which to get you have to apply for root access)! Talk about badly setup managed dedicated server software, what a bunch of retards.

Another 123-Reg Update

Your going to like this one.

Made the following post in their support forum:

Customer (David Law) 11 Mar. 2008 04:32
Sometimes I even amaze myself with how good I am at SEO, number 1 over night-

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPEA_en-GBGB242GB242&q=reg-123+dedicated+server

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPEA_en-GBGB242GB242&q=reg-123+server

14th for-

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPEA_en-GBGB242GB242&q=reg-123

4th for-

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPEA_en-GBGB242GB242&q=reg-123+hosting

9th-

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPEA_en-GBGB242GB242&q=reg-123+domain+registration

Wasn’t even aiming for the last 2 above and they should improve over time since that’s how Google works.

A quick refund would be highly appreciated and a nice end to the article.

David Law

10hrs later I get this response:

Response (Farhan S) 11 Mar. 2008 14:19
Dear David,

Thank you for contacting 123-reg on: 10th of March 2008

After going through all the correspondence between 123-reg and you.
You have 3 options here.
1. If you need a refund please remove the postings on your fourms, cancel the server from your 123-reg control panel and confirm the last 4 digits of your card.
2. If you need CHROOT access then you can order this from 123-reg control panel. (we still support you with the changes you need to make, OS issues in the server including failing hardware).
3. If you need full root the confirm to me and i will give you full root password which will give you access to the partition. ( We still support you for hardware but no support for Software).
Choose the one you want and i will action that for you kindly.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

—
Kind Regards,

Farhan S

123-REG Technical Support Advisor

ROFLOL

So I have to take down one of my web pages to get a refund! I don’t think so, but I can play the game, so temporarily removed the 123-Reg dedicated server information from this page including moderating the 123-Reg server comments I made until I could confirm a full refund.

Have cancelled the server and asked for a refund which has been made.

I’m sorry 123-Reg support, but I’m not going to remove this true information forever since others should know how slow your support is. Just in case you wish to take this further (though I don’t see how) you said

“1. If you need a refund please remove the postings on your forums, cancel the server from your 123-reg control panel and confirm the last 4 digits of your card.”

All of which I did. It was not a requirement to remove the information permanently.

Just in case 123-Reg is vindictive I’ve transferred my .co.uk domains from 123-Reg domain registration to Fasthosts just in case they get lost or something :-) allowing me to reload this information with no worries about my domains being deleted by accident or anything. That’s a shame as didn’t have a problem with Reg-123 domain registration services.

Phew, really shouldn’t be this hard to find a good dedicated server company!