[background: "Dedicated Hosting" is the practice of
leasing an entire web server exclusively to a single
customer]

I am currently shopping for a low-cost dedicated webserver
lease. I have an offer from Communitech.net for one
300Mhz/64mb/5GB Linux server plus 30GB per month transfer,
for $75/month.

The problem is, they have a punitive policy for customers
exceeding the allocated 30 GB transfer limit: If you go
over the limit even slightly, they charge you for another
30 GB block at $2.50 per GB (total $75). They will let
you pre-purchase bandwidth at $1 per GB, but it's on a
12-month contract, "use it or lose it" basis and "offer
is only good thru May 15th".

I would like you to find a competitor with a better deal.
The three requirements for a "better deal" are:

- The server is the same or better (300 Mhz CPU, 64mb RAM, 5 GB storage).
- The price for server plus 50GB transfer should be similar or lower
than a Communitech.net pre-pay contract (total $95 per month). 
- A constructive approach to data transfer charges: if I exceed
the 50GB any given month, I want to pay a flat and straightforward
charge of $1 per GB, or less.

Please state in your answer how much time you spent on it.

Hi there!

Sentris Network offers the following dedicated hosting packages that
meet or exceed your criteria:

500MHz CPU 
128MB RAM 
10GB HD
15GB AVERAGE Transfer per day (about 450GB total per month) (48kbps) 
Windows 2000 Advanced Server or RedHat Linux 7.1 
$59/month 

600MHz CPU 
256MB RAM 
20GB HD
30GB AVERAGE Transfer per day (about 900GB total per month) (96kbps) 
Windows 2000 Advanced Server or RedHat Linux 7.1 
$79/month

1 GHz CPU 
256MB RAM 
40GB HD 
Web ControlPanel 
50GB AVERAGE Transfer per day (about 1500GB total per month) (173kbps)
Windows 2000 Advanced Server or RedHat Linux 7.1 
$99/month 

[ http://216.71.5.232/latest/dedicated.shtml ]

The Rack Shack has one that's a little more than your stated price,
but still better than what you've listed:

Pentium III 1GHz
512MB RAM
40 GB Hard Drive / 7200 RPM
400GB Monthly Transfer
Plain Red Hat 7.2
$119/month

[ http://www.rackshack.net/specscompaq.asp ]


You can also get detailed comparisons from host quote, but you'll need
to answer some questions about whether or not you require backups, how
much experience you have, and exactly what you plan to use the server
for (none of which you've mentioned here):

HostQuote
[ http://www.webhostdir.com/hostquote/google/dedicated2.asp ]

How much time did I spend researching this?  Hard to say.  Both of my
kids have been in and out, so even though I've had the question for
nearly an hour, I think I've only spent about 25 minutes actual
searching time.  Most links came up for as much at $300/month, but
these seem to be the jackpot.

Good luck!

missy-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by atr-ga on 07 May 2002 13:32 PDT

The answer was very good, but my question was incomplete :-)

I should have added: high-speed transfer rates required.

Sentris' numbers are an interesting gimmick... In order to
get 450GB out of a 48kbps link, a website would have to be
pegged at 100% utilization all day long, every day. Typically,
however, traffic patterns are such that this inflated total 
will never happen with such a slow link.

To REALLY get 450GB/mo, a website must transfer 5 GB during "rush
hour",
which would require 500 kbps, not 48 kbps. My numbers are not exact,
but hopefully you get the idea.

If I still have some credits left, could I please get a clarified
answer
which will exclude providers using this "unlimited total transfer,
limited
transfer rate" gimmick?

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 07 May 2002 15:12 PDT

Doh!  You caught me at supper time again!

I'll gladly look into transfer rates for you (especially since you
were so kind and rated my answer so well!).  Check back later tonight
or tomorrow morning, and I should have a bit more information for you!

missy-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 07 May 2002 19:10 PDT

Taking into account the need for speed, I found:

OUCH!

From $249 at RackSpace to a whopping $735 at LogicWorks!  Best bet?

HostQuote 
[ http://www.webhostdir.com/hostquote/google/dedicated2.asp ]

Get a custom quote from people who know from servers, for free (all
you spend is a few minutes and a little extra information).

Good luck!

missy-ga

Answer was right on target for what I asked.

Just from personal experience, I would recommend you look into either
verio or rackspace, as while they are both more expensive than what
you are looking for, the level of service they provide is worth every
penny. The people working there actually have an professional level of
knowledge on many topics. Plus, the uptime guarantees are very nice as
well, because downtime really does hurt. Five minutes down a day can
be one less customer a day, which can cost you a lot over the course
of a month.

I would agree with passive-ga with their comment about Verio and
Rackspace, but based on what you are looking for they probably are not
going to do.  http://www.hostcentric.com/DedicatedHosting/Special_402.asp
is a decent deal for a 667 MHZ processor with 128 megs of RAM, 20 Gig
hard drive, 150 Gig of data transfr per month. It is dedicated like
you are looking for, however I wonder if you really need that much
data transfer a month.  If you are going to be having more then 30Gig
of data transfer a month, you may need a host that gives you a faster
processor and more RAM, with a good backbone connection. More then
likely communitech is a reseller for Interland and not even actually
the host provider.

Netmar offers dedicated hosting for $49/month:
http://www.netmar.com/

I don't have their dedicated option - I have the cheapo shared option
- but I've been really happy with their level of cluefulness and
uptime.

No bandwidth restrictions at all. They'll put together custom servers
with arbitrary amounts of drive space and RAM.  They're pretty close
to your specs - 4G of space for the $49 option. (If you're willing to
pay $99, you get 512M/80G.)

I have looked into dedicated hosting myself, and I settled on a Compaq
Proliant DL320 at RackShack (http://www.rackshack.net).  The specs of
the box are a PIII-1Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB (7200rpm) harddrive, and
400Gb of transfer per month.  The connection is at least a 10Mbps
connection, as the net card and switch I am connected to are both
100Mbps.  I say at least 10Mbps because I have not been able to find a
source that can transfer to me or from me any faster than that.  The
bottle neck seems to be other servers and not my machine.  I pay
$119.00 per month, which is a little more than you wanted to spend,
but I feel it is definately worth it.  I paid $1 (yes, one dollar) for
setup.  Whatever system you decide on, make sure it has at least a
7200rpm drive.  The transfer times on any 5400rpm drives will
definately work against you if what you want is a fast connection.