1and1: Virtual Private Servers
A few days ago, I was checking a domain’s availability and I noticed some new services being delivered by my web host, 1and1. VPS? I wasn’t familiar with the acronym, but once I clicked through, I certainly understood the big picture. 1and1 has launched virtual private servers!
Most of us here are at least somewhat familiar with virtualization, and if you’re not it’s quite alright. It’s only been a phenomenon for the last year or so. Zealots will say it’s been hot for much longer—but I’m talking mainstream. Either way, it’s fine. Just make sure and get on the bandwagon now if you have not. The VMware player is free. Parallels is killer for the Mac platform.
So what’s a web host doing with virtualization? Well, it’s really a fantastic idea for several reasons:
- Economics - Virtualization keeps costs low by maximizing the use of hardware while minimizing the amount of hardware.
- Speed - In this case, 1and1 is allowing their VPS customers to get a 100 MB per second pipe. Until now, that was only available on their high-end servers. Also, the server itself is allotted the horsepower to get the job done right.
- Reliability - Virtual machines are a cinch to build and rebuild, even under highly volatile environments like the world’s number one web host encounters. I can count on 1and1’s ability to restore my VPS quickly because I know how quickly I can restore a VM—mere minutes.
- Scalability - If my needs as a customer change, modifying a virtual machine to allocate more RAM or even moving the VM to better hardware is very simple.
In fact, there are probably even more reasons why a virtual server would be beneficial. (Feel free to say it loud in the commentary.) But there are also a few drawbacks, at least in the way 1and1’s plans work. You are going to be tethered a bit more on your data quota. For $30 a month, you’ll get 500 GB transfer per month. That may seem like a lot to some folks, especially if you are paying too much for hosting somewhere else, but in reality I get six times that amount (yes, 3 TB) for $20 per month on my shared hosting developer plan. Wild, I know. But I don’t have that 100 MB per second pipe on my shared hosting either. Also, you’ll have much less storage space on the VPS as compared to the other hosting plans. 10 GB of storage on the base VPS plan while I get 300 GB on my developer plan. So you have to weigh those things for yourself.
I like these VPS plans a ton. I’m currently regretting a decision I made to launch an upcoming project with site5. They had a killer deal that I took hook, line and sinker, but in the first eighteen hours with them, our site was completely unavailable for nearly eight of those hours. Thankfully, we are not live with that project yet, but I did have to delay some work until the problem was remedied. There’s nothing more frustrating than that. I’m considering requesting a refund and grabbing a VPS at 1and1. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time there was an outage at 1and1. It must have more than a year ago and possibly well beyond that.
Yes, I do see all the gripes and complaints about 1and1 that float around the web forums and mailing lists. And I’m sure there are some very legitimate issues amongst those. In fact, I’ve been gripey about 1and1 on occasion. I think the reason there are so many people who are vocal about their negative experiences is because 1and1 is a rather large company with a rather large customer base. This alone would escalate the amount of total published problems and it could seem overwhelming to anyone hunting for a good host. So, I have to just take that against my own encounter. My overall experience with 1and1 has been really great. I am very satisfied with the service and I certainly love that price point.
If you’re hunting for a host, check out 1and1. And if you are ready for a supercharged server without the big investment, you’ve gotta see the VPS.
[tags]1and1, web, host, virtualization, VM, VPS, service[/tags]
Addendum: It’s important to point out that 1and1 is not the only good web host on the block. There are satisfied customers with many companies. And I will agree with anyone that you get what you pay for, especially with the issue of support. In the end, it’s most important to find a web host that satisfies your needs for service and support.
Jim Walton
2007-02-12 0938hrs
We have a vps with liquidweb and it is great. I think we currently have 20gb of space that we are able to split up any way we want to, among our clients who we sell hosting to. The great thing about the vps is that we have total control of our server, including command line access and we can reboot anytime we need to. We can more than double our space for a nominal charge, not even double the current cost, which we will be doing soon.
I agree that the bigger the host (or any company), the more negative press they will receive. But the point is the percentage of complaints against the good service. We avoided 1and1 at one point, due to the complaints out there, but it’s good to hear the other side from you.
——-
Mom
2007-02-14 1138hrs
Sooo, what is the BIGGEST news you have heard lately?????
Don Swords
2007-02-21 1517hrs
It’s good to know you have a pragmatic attitude about “complaints”. While I don’t have any serious ones with 1&1, I am sure that by sheer size alone, there are bound to be a few. Also some 1&1 competitors may easily pose as disgruntled ex-customers just to make themselves sound like a reasonable alternative. (Is this being paranoid or just suspicious?)
Unlike you, consumers who are satified rarely take the time to tell others. I guess they are the silent majority. Thanks for your feedback. Perhaps someday, I will grow to need a VPS.
I can understand how some site owners want to spread their sites around to minimize any issues with a single provider.
As for me, I will stick by 1&1 for the forseeable future.
Thanks to David and 1&1,
Don Swords
http://www.kiteplace.com
H Tran
2007-02-21 1711hrs
Well, I’ve been with 1and1 for 4 years now. However, today they just took a major hit. no access to their main web site, my site or the email. :(
David
2007-02-25 2327hrs
Jim: Liquidweb sounds like a great host. Thanks for the feedback.
Don: Thanks for the affirmation.
H Tran: Luckily, I didn’t experience any issues (that I knew of) on Wednesday. Hopefully it wasn’t enough to steer you away after four years.
Yosiska
2007-03-02 2316hrs
:::FYI about 1and1.com VPS Hosting:::
I’ve been with 1and1 for almost a year. I just ordered VPS from them on 02/26/07.
What happened?
- Day 1 after I ordered I got confirmation that the VPS was being set up and instructed should be done momentarilly.
- Day 2 they sent me an invoice that they billed me (dated on 02/26/07.
> My status of the VPS is still pending (being set up), called tech support, and they told me its in queued. (Spent about 1/2 hr b4 reaching a person)
- Day 3—- Still nothing doing (status being set up).
> Called tech support, and they told me its in queued. (Spent about 3/4 hr b4 reaching a person). I reminded her that it’s been 48 hrs since I ordered and pointed her out that according to the VPS hand book if I were re-imaging the VPS it should take up to an hour. What so difficult? Asked her about my queue #. After putting me on hold for almost 5 minutes, she told me that 1and1 VPS is a new plan and they could not tell me my queue # because they don’t have queue status program in place. I told her that how does she knew that I was in queueing process. She told me that she called the Admin. (Can you believe that?). I finally asked her to send me email documentation for what we’ve discussed.
Here is the email that she sent me.
”
Dear My name, (Customer ID: xxxxxx40)
Thank you for contacting us.
With regards to the status of your VPS which is currently still on
processed. I have talked to our Supervisor John De Villa that currently
we don’t have any monitoring system as which number your VPS is on the
queue on the floor. The case has been passed already to the highest
possible department that can work on it and as of the moment there are
no updates on it. We will be monitoring on this case and give you any
updates from our Administrators about this case.
If you do have any complaints with our services you may send an email to
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have encountered.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
—
Sincerely,
Marie Gretchen Abella
Technical Support
1&1 Internet
Day 3
Yosiska
2007-03-02 2319hrs
:::FYI about 1and1.com VPS Hosting::: Continue
- Day 4
David
2007-03-07 2045hrs
Yosiska: So Day 4 everything was solved?
:)
Honestly, this probably isn’t the best springboard for your issue with 1and1. There are tons of blogs and forums out there where disgruntled customers can vent. I do know that VPS is new for 1and1 and that’s no excuse for poor service, but I think I’d give a pass on an issue like this. If you were in a case where you needed service immediately, you probably should’ve looked at their traditional services or sought out a host that could provide immediate setup.
Thanks for stopping by! I would love to have an update on this if you have the time.
Terry Howell Jr
2007-03-08 1615hrs
I prefer mediatemple.net Media Temple offers Dedicated Virtual Servers or grid server. I plan on running 100 web sites on their grid server plan. Their service is great and you get lots of bandwidth and storage starting at 20 per month.
David
2007-03-08 2114hrs
I like Media Temple. If I weren’t with 1and1 on hosting, I’d consider MT. Again, it’s an issue of price. I have no doubt they have quality service. I’ve only heard one negative story (actually recently) about MT and the rest is straight-up solid. Still, 1and1 kills everyone on pricing and since I very rarely experience issues in quality of service, I stay there. :)
riceguitar
2007-03-17 1538hrs
I had 1and1 for 3 years before switching to MediaTemple. Both I have been in shared hosting environments. However MT has a service department miles ahead of 1and1. The server I was on at 1and1 experienced outages of over 12 hours at a time at about 5 times in a single month. That was the last month I left my sites there. However, I do have some of my older customers sitting on 1and1 shared hosting. If I pointed them out you’d be shocked.
One severe problem for me with 1and1 was the 100MB size limit on databases. Good price though at 1AND1. And just like David mentioned, the VPS is very enticing. I may give it a whirl. Has anyone tried MOSSO? Very pricey compared to VPS (1and1) or DV (Media Temple).
Jon
2007-03-18 2136hrs
I would like to hear more about the 1and1 VPS, if anyone has tried it. I used to have a 1and1 dedicated server, then switched to their shared hosting (just couldn’t beat the price for the storage space!). The first thing I noticed is that database driven applications slowed to a crawl with the shared hosting! This isn’t a complaint, I point it out because it would be my primary reason for switching to a VPS. I also notice that 1and1 doesn’t say how much memory is allocated to your virtual machine. Does anyone know the answer to this? Thanks a bunch!