Dedicated server

[James]

I am planning a major site re-launch this year (work has started and I expect it to take months ... expect an autumn launch)

I will need a dedicated server. Not least for the amount of bandwidth I shift, but I need total control over the PHP memory available. Clook has been great with my VPS, even increasing the memory limit beyond what they would normally do, but it's about maxed out.

So...

I want to stay with Clook but their cheapest dedicated server is £300 / month. I'm currently paying £70 / month for the VPS by the way.

Just do a google search on dedicated servers and you will see that other companies are offering them for £50!

Now, I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" but can I really justify £300 / month? Rackspace, another reputable company, quote around £300 too. But all the others are MUCH cheaper.

Any thoughts?

[David]

James, do you think you should try moving to a VZ-3 VPS before committing to a dedicated server? Obviously, I don't know what your projected growth rate is (bandwidth and memory requirement) but it would offer a 50% improvement in memory and 100% improvement in bandwidth (assuming you currently have a VZ-1) at a third the cost of a dedicated server.

I have also looked at the £50 dedicated servers at Fasthosts and the like and wondered whether to risk it - they are substantially cheaper. But you and I both know the difference between Fasthosts and Clook. I am sure the hardware at Fasthosts is just as good as that at Clook, but that's not where the money goes. I don't think it's particularly helpful only to consider the metal box when choosing a dedicated server, I think the service is much more important. Any fool can stick a server in a rack and sell it for £50 but it takes real dedication and skill to properly support that server and the client.

Also, the cost of a dedicated server is an investment and having good service is an insurance policy for that investment. How much income could be lost while you wait for the likes of Fasthosts to sort out a problem over a couple of days - something that Clook are likely to resolve in minutes.

You do get what you pay for and in this case, you're not paying for the hardware.

I guess you could always test the system out though. At £50 per month, it might be worth trialling a cheaper option and just see what happens. If you're considering an autumn launch, there's time for research - the difficulty is that you won't be able to stress-test the system.

[David]

An additional thought: As you know, Fasthosts keep their headline prices down by charging extra for add-ons like backups, off-server mail handling etc. All of these essentials are included in the Clook price so it's worth bearing in mind that the prices are not directly comparable.

[James]

Thanks David,

I priced up the Fasthosts package and it ended up being more like £200/month for what I need. So feel better about the Clook price now.

But my main issue is bandwidth. The site is hovering around 200GB / month already, which is all the VPS3 offers. Fasthosts claim "unlimited" bandwidth.

Fasthosts offer monthly contracts, so the risk is lowered as I could move away without penalty.

One option is to sign up for a monthly contract with Fasthosts and develop the new site exclusively on that server, and leave the current site where it is. This will help me keep the current and live site completely separate during development. I wouldn't need an expensive server option just for the development.

Still not sure though!

[David]

How much bandwidth are Clook including with a dedicated server? The details aren't currently available on the website. Also, does your quote include full proactive management or just reactive?

[James]

Here's what they told me. This was several weeks ago, they still haven't update their site.



----------------------
BASE SPECIFICATION 1:
----------------------

- HP BL460C blade
- 1x Intel E5310 (1.6GHz) quad core CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 2x 146GB 10K SAS HDD (RAID1)
- 80 GB NAS space for daily backups
- Reactive management
- cPanel, Fantastico, RVSkin
- 4 IP addresses
- 800 GB data transfer

�300 p/mth + �100 setup
-or-
�280 p/mth + �300 setup


----------------------
BASE SPECIFICATION 2:
----------------------

- HP BL460c blade
- 1x Intel E5450 (3.0GHz) quad core CPU
- 2GB RAM
- 2x 146GB 10K SAS HDD (RAID1)
- 80 GB NAS space for daily backups
- Reactive management
- cPanel, Fantastico, RVSkin
- 4 IP addresses
- 1200 GB data transfer

�370 p/mth + �100 setup
-or-
�350 p/mth + �300 setup


----------------------
UPGRADE OPTIONS:
----------------------

Upgrade to Proactive management:
- �25 extra per month (if from setup)
- �50 extra per month (if after setup)

Additional 2 GB RAM:
- �150 one off -or- �15 extra p/mth


----------------------
CONTRACT TERM
----------------------

Our minimum contract term is one month but if a longer contract term is preferred this is no problem. We can issue a �200 rebate for initial annual contract terms and �100 for initial six monthly term whereby the server is setup initially as on a monthly term and after one month changed to the new term with account credit processed to apply towards future invoices. We insist on monthly term initially to provide suitable time to judge our services and decide whether being contracted to a longer term is preferred. Please also note that the rebate is applicable to the first contract term only.
---



Bandwidth is huge but not unlimited. If I'm going to take on istockphoto (!) then I'll need more!

[David]

The specifications look very good and I particularly like the flexibility built into the contract. I guess they know they can easily sell dedicated servers - there always seems to be a waiting list at Clook.

Bandwidth is huge but not unlimited. If I'm going to take on istockphoto (!) then I'll need more!

You have to assume that income will rise in line with traffic and in theory, that ought to mean that you will be able to afford the additional bandwidth when it is required. I'm assuming that with the new site will come a new advertising model.

I've been thinking about the Fasthosts unlimited bandwidth thing and the only conclusion I can come to is that because they have such a large client base, most of whom will use very little bandwidth, their average will be relatively low and so they can easily accommodate a few high bandwidth sites.