Dedicated Server

1. Do you have an SLA (Service Level Agreement)?

We certainly do, we have both a 99.9% network uptime SLA and also a 2 hour hardware replacement SLA in the event something fails on your server. The 2 hour SLA applies to the time after we have identified what piece of hardware has failed.

2. Can I upgrade my server or hardware?

You certainly can! Just contact us with the server you want to upgrade to, and we will schedule a time with you to migrate your sites to the new server. You can also "add on" additional hardware, software, and features to your server at any time through your client control panel.

3. What is included in the full management of my server?

We will manage all aspects of your server. We have very few limitations and really give every request our best effort. Generally, though, we will start off by setting up your server, hardening and configuring it, migrating your sites, performing any requested work and continuing the maintenance it will need through the years to come. To read more about the specifics of what’s included in the management of your server, read our server management page.

4. Does my server come with a management control panel?

Yes! Every server comes with IPMI, which is basically a control panel, routed right to your motherboard, which allows you to manage all aspects of your server as long as it has power. You can do everything from reboots, operating system reloads, KVM and much, much more from Supermicro's IPMI control panel.

5. What is your uptime guarantee?

We have a 100% network uptime SLA for our dedicated servers and a one-hour hardware replacement SLA. You can see more about credits and compensation here.

6. How long does it take to get my server set up?

Generally, we will have your server online in two-four hours after ordering, if it's a basic server setup of something we already have in stock on our website. If you order a highly customized server, it can take up to three business days in order for us to get the required hardware to build your server.

7. What is Raid and why is it important?

RAID is a method for storing your data on multiple hard disks and mirroring the information between the drives. If one of your drives should fail, the other drive(s) will keep the server running with no data loss. Some raids offer only data protection, some offer only performance enhancement, and some do both. Below are all the RAIDs we support, explained for you briefly.

RAID-0: This type of RAID uses a method of data storage known as striping. The technology divides the data into pieces, and places each piece on a different drive. For instance, data piece A may be stored on Drive 1, while data piece B goes to Drive 2, C is on Drive 3, and so on. Because the data is divided, RAID-0 offers the top level of performance for disk IO. It is usually used for multimedia applications such as video editing and for situations where data loss is not as much a concern as is speed. Raid-0 does not offer ANY data protection.

RAID-1: This type of RAID uses a method of data storage known as mirroring. Essentially your data is written to two or more drives. Should one fail, your server will continue to run fine and no data will be lost. This method has a slight performance degradation on write speeds since it has to write all of your data to at least two drives. However, it does offer a read performance increase since there are multiple drives to read from.

RAID-5: RAID-5 offers both data protection and performance. It makes enough of the data protected so that, even if a drive fails, it will still be able to recreate and retrieve the information. Offering the best performance with data protection, this solution is ideal for high-performance sites or backup servers where throughput is important. Three disks minimum are required for this.

RAID-10: RAID-10 is really the best of both Raid-0 and Raid-1, as it offers both the best performance and the best data protection. It requires at least four drives, however, up to two drives can fail without any data loss or the server crashing. It also offers the best level of data striping, largely increasing the IO performance and lowering your chance of an IO bottleneck (when your drives can’t keep up with the amount of data being read/written).

8. Will I be given full root access?

Of course, what good is a dedicated server if you are not given root ssh access? Many servers block this, in fear of you messing something up and causing them more work. We don’t find this fair, and we are more than happy to fix an issue, even if it is at fault to you.

9. What is the minimum contract period?

We only require monthly commitments, meaning once you pay for your first month of the server, you are free to leave at any time with no cancellation fees or prior notice, other than putting in a simple cancellation request from your client control panel. However, committing to a longer pay period benefits you with large discounted rates.

10. What payment methods do you accept?

We accept all popular credit cards and Paypal. Note that credit card payments go through a thorough fraud check by 2Checkout.com, so we do not proceed with server setups until we get the okay from them.

11. I dont see what I am looking for.

Are you looking for something we do not have already pre-listed above? Just contact our sales and we will be happy to come up with a custom solution for your needs. We do this for many clients, including high-end VPS farms, cloud setups, load balancing and much more.

12. Will you manage my server without a control panel?

We certainly will. Most providers will not manage your server unless you have a popular control panel like cPanel or Plesk, since that is what their technicians are trained to manage. We, on the other hand, will manage your server right from the command line if that is how you need your server setup. Our only exception is a max of five sites, since, after that, it can get very work-intensive.

No. As long as what you are using the server for is legal and abides to United States laws and our TOS & AUP policies, then you can use the server however you please.