My Elite Dedicated Server @ Hostgator down for over 48 hours now

[clumberman]

Unless you were on vacation, what took you so long to get hold of Hostgator and let them know there was an issue? If our site is down more than 5 minutes, I'm checking our host's system status board and, if nothing is there, I'm on the phone finding out what's going on (=ass=uming it's not our ISP). We've not had the luxury of a dedicated server, but I would still think that any host worth its salt would include a backup program as part of their package. It would be a requirement on our end if we did move. Having been through a total meltdown ourselves a number of years ago, on a shared server, with the most recent backup being about 2 months old, I feel your pain. In our situation, the host was =supposed= to have a once-a-day backup script running, but failed to implement it. After we were back up and running, we got a bill for several hundred $ for the restore, which we simply did not pay, and immediately terminated our agreement and moved to a new host. We go no argument about it as the hosting company knew they effed up, big time, and were lucky we didn't go after them for lost revenues and expenses incurred. Our current host, albeit a shared server, is on a RAID box, so is backed up in real time. In addition, about once a month I simply FTP the whole kit and caboodle down to my computer, which is backed up by 2 different programs onto a 2 TB NAS =and= Carbonite off my local HD. Belt, suspenders and super glue; I'm not getting caught with my pants down again!

[a53mp]

We've not had the luxury of a dedicated server, but I would still think that any host worth its salt would include a backup program as part of their package. It would be a requirement on our end if we did move.

That's the difference with dedicated servers and a shared or VPS.. you are basically getting a harddrive that you own.. it's your responsibility to maintain the server, applications, set up your servers, backups, etc. If you can't handle doing all of that you should stick with a VPS or hire a server administrator to do it for you. If you go out to the store and buy a harddrive and it crashes, will the company restore all of your data for you? Not without charging you out the (_(_)... they will tell you that you should have made backups.. What they WILL do is to replace your drive for free. It's the same with a hosting company if you have a dedicated server.

[Tech Manager]

If you are on a dedicated server, the responsibility for monitoring hardware falls to you...unless you have specific hostgator support requirements/responsibilities written into your contract.

As mentioned previously you need to have adequate backups in the event of disaster. You should have altering software monitoring your dedicated server so in the event of a potential failure you are notified well in advance. But, some disasters come with no warning and you need other methods of preparedness. Running a RAID array on your system can be a lifesaver. Run RAID V with three matching drives, a drive goes down and you simply swap out the drive and rebuild the array. Fairly simple.

If you can afford it, switch to a company like Rackspace. They are not cheap but but they offer generally excellent service.

The bottom line is always have a disaster preparedness plan. Then compare that plan with what you are getting through hostgator or any company offering hosting or dedicated (virtual or otherwise) servers.

[a53mp]

And remember... when it comes to hosting, you pretty much always get what you pay for (unless it's a shady company ripping you off)

[Llib]

I have a dedicated server with LiquidWeb and I am VERY HAPPY!! They monitor the server and I get an auto message if something goes off kilter. They monitor my server and all has been well for the 4 years I have been with them. I host my own sites and my customers sites with either shared or dedicated ip's. I learned a hard lesson several years ago about not having a back up and I pay for a backup hard drive "just in case".
Best of luck in the future.

[NJ]

It's great to have information about good/bad web hosts to pass on to my students! My only other experience with HostGator is when a scraper site grabbed an article I had written and used it, can you believe it, for lots of ads One of the site advertisers was HostGator. So, I thought I would see how seriously HostGator takes advertising on scraper sites. So, I sent them an email with a screenshot. Did they respond with, "Oh, my gosh, thanks for letting us know that our advertising agency is following bad practices?" Nope, they sent me a link to a form I could fill out and have notarized to file a complaint. It's a great example for my classes! The irony is that the article was titled, "Your Web Host, Friend or Foe?"

http://www.thecomputergal.com/WebMar...icleMisuse.htm

[SuperMan]

That stinks man - happens to all of us sooner or later. I now have local backups of my sites on my computer and use a backup utility as well. But I had to learn the hard way as well - hopefully Hostgator can save your data...

[alphaomega]

What surprises me is that you run on single hard disk. All servers I ever built or worked on had RAID. If you have disk failure on RAID, you just replace the failed disk and RAID rebuild itself after. And of course you must have backup system. There is just no excuse not to have it.

[deepsand]

Depends on the RAID level used. RAID 0 provides for error detection only; other levels have varying degrees of fault tolerance below which self-correction is possible.

[joshuayip]

Hello there my first post.

I joined to reply to your post. I dont have a dedicated, just a VPS with another host, but I was quite impressed with WiredTree claiming 100% uptime and hardware replacement in one hour, plus proactive monitoring. Perhaps that may be something you like to look into.
I never had a good feeling about hostgator, I tried them before. They look good, sound good, but are they really that good? ... I moved out many providers ago...