Our Largest Disk Space Upgrade Ever, Completed One Month Ahead Of Schedule!
Back in June, we announced that we would be increasing the disk space across our entire VPS line — and that this upgrade was going to be passed along to all our customers, both existing and new, at no additional cost. After weeks of hard work, I’m proud to announce that we have successfully completed the disk space upgrades — and prouder still that we did it more than a month ahead of schedule.
I should be clear — the fact that we performed the upgrade quickly doesn’t impress me so much. What impresses me is the fact that we performed this massive upgrade so quickly, without compromising our exacting standards for uptime, customer care and service reliability.
It wasn’t easy. Before our announcement we had done extensive testing. We had invested a small fortune in new equipment, and had devised the necessary workflow to get the job done right. But no matter how hard you plan you can’t help but worry when the hard work actually gets underway. Over the course of just 58 days, we managed to test each and every box to make sure it met ServInt’s standards and get everything into production without a hitch.
We implemented the change in two phases:
- All new clients were automatically turned up on new host machines (the giant servers we use to host our VPS and SuperVPS products) that were pre-outfitted with the upgraded disk space.
- All existing clients were then carefully migrated to host machines reconfigured with new resources by ServInt’s network engineers.
We made that decision because we wanted to get as many people more resources as quickly as possible, and we didn’t want to make everybody wait. Some of you may have seen your resources suddenly pop up overnight without ever having noticed the transition, and if you didn’t — well, that was the idea!
I’ve got pretty high standards for this company, and I don’t brag about our achievements too often — but in this case I really want to say that this was a fantastic example of intelligent engineering. Our team worked long hours, as long as it took, at all of our data centers to bring you these features in a way that minimized interruption to our clients’ online businesses, and I’m proud of them.
Now that everybody has their free upgrade, we hope you can put it to good use. Look for even more free updates in the future — and thanks again for your business!
Follow Reed Caldwell on Twitter.
Introducing Jim Tricarico, ServInt’s New Director of Managed Services
[Editor's Note: ServInt cast a wide net when looking to fill this role. We received hundreds of resumes and interviewed dozens of exceptionally qualified candidates. We were looking for individuals who were committed to -- and possibly a little obsessed with -- exceptional customer service. I therefore shouldn't have been that surprised when an employee from within our ranks rose to to the top of the pack and convinced us that he was the right man for the job. Jim is a veteran of our Managed Services Team and he easily stood out with his keen understanding of the day to day challenges facing our NOC. With his terrific analytical mind and wealth of ideas to further improve the division, I'm ecstatic that Jim is taking the reins of our MST and look forward to his leadership. -Christian]
I’ve been a computer enthusiast for a really, really long time. I started tinkering with hardware as a child, and by the time I was 14 I was running my own bulletin board, my interests continued on to more complex projects in highschool and college that eventually led me to ServInt. So, I think it’s fair to say that I’m passionate about technology, and as that technology has grown more and more complex over time, so have my personal technological interests.
As ServInt’s new Director of Managed Services, my job is to make our support even better. Here, in story form, is how I’m gonna do it.
I’ve been at ServInt for nearly 6 years, starting as a Tier 1 Support Technician on the front lines of our Managed Services Team. It was there that I got my first taste of the hosting experience. Diving headfirst into UNIX and trying to fix what were sometimes incredibly ambiguous quirks was appealing to me. Needless to say, no two challenges are alike, and helping people overcome technical problems and get back to making their businesses thrive was – and still is – an incredibly rewarding experience.
While the challenge is definitely invigorating, what’s really important is ensuring that our support experience is as pleasant a process as possible for everyone. When it comes to your business, we get that there is no such thing as a small problem. Our clients come in at all skill levels, from hosting novice to server expert. Whether you’re capable of compiling a Linux kernel with a toothpick and chewing gum, or your an aspiring blogger trying to tell your story, our Managed Services Team will help you get up and running.
The ServInt MST is committed to tackling issues as quickly and as effectively as possible. At ServInt, we do everything we can to get it right the first time because for us we take service personally. Overcoming intricate issues is part of our collective DNA.
At the end of the day, my goal is to simply uphold the core tenets of our Managed Services Team. Our job is to ensure every customer experience is efficient, fast, and most importantly, accurate. So sit back and relax, your server is up and running.
~ Jim
Explaining ServInt’s New KickStart Team
When I started at ServInt more than six years ago, one of the first lessons I learned was just how critical first impressions were to the customer experience. ServInt’s new Kickstart Team, a division of our Managed Services Team, is committed to making hosting a website as painless a process as possible. Here’s a little background on who we are and why we do what we do.
ServInt Solo Series Dedicated Server Customers Can Now “Go Gigabit”!
Gigabit speed
Today ServInt is announcing the availability of full gigabit (Gbps) throughput to all ServInt Dedicated Server customers for just $25 a month.
Of course, this isn’t the most revolutionary news. Though ServInt’s pricing on this service is very competitive, we’ve been offering this service on a custom basis for some time. Really, this announcement is a public signal that we see where the web is headed and are reshaping our products to fit those needs.
Happy Canada Day from all of us at ServInt!
All of us at ServInt want to wish our friends up North a very happy Canada Day!
Fire up your barbecues and (safely) light up your (legally obtained, I’m sure) fireworks. ;-)
Supporting Open Source One Download at a Time
We’ve always been vocal about our support for open source software and the communities surrounding the movement. After all, we wouldn’t be around without Linux and the myriad of open source components that help us run our business. This isn’t a simple reaffirmation of the obvious here, we are true believers and we want to show it. Below are a couple of the open source initiatives we’ve been involved in the past few weeks, with even more to come!
In April, we decided to double down and become Silver members of the Linux Foundation. We did it for two key reasons.
First, our entire product line is is based on Linux, so we felt compelled to help ensure that the platform is sufficiently protected and represented in the growing tech world. Secondly, we believe that real innovation comes from a level playing field.
There is no fairer platform than Linux.
A little while later, we also became official sponsors of the CentOS.org. Our VPS, SuperVPS, and Solo Series all leverage the power, and flexibility of CentOS Linux and we’re proud to put our money where our mouth is. We’re also hosting a CentOS mirror on one of ServInt’s Solo Series Dedicated servers, so those interested can download our favorite distro!
Finally, ServInt’s COO, Christian Dawson, will be visiting LinuxCon 2010 in Boston this coming August. If you’re in town, don’t forget to say hi!
In the near future, we’ll be announcing even more open source initiatives so stay tuned!
Questions? Comments? Let us know below, on Facebook, or on Twitter!
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Photo by sidereal.
Announcing the Biggest Disk Space Upgrade In ServInt’s History. Nearly Half A Petabyte, For Free.
Reed’s Announcement! from ServInt on Vimeo.
If the point of virtualization is to make hardware abstract, why do most hosting companies charge for resource upgrades?
At ServInt, we work hard to ensure that our VPS and SuperVPS customers never have to worry about being left behind as new hosting industry technology and service standards evolve.
Sometimes our efforts to stay ahead of the curve are largely invisible: new cooling systems, network operations center enhancements, hiring and training practices, and so forth. We do this kind of thing all the time, and assume you have no interest in keeping up to date on all of it.
But sometimes we make really big decisions, and today’s announcement is one of those.
Let me get straight to the point: today, ServInt announces the largest disk space upgrade in the company’s history. In fact, we’re adding almost a half a petabyte of disk space, across our most popular VPS packages — and, whether you’re a new or existing customer, you won’t pay one cent for it.
There are lots of reasons why we took this initiative, but they really boil down to one thing: when you sign up as a ServInt customer, you’re not buying a server. You’re buying a solution.
You can buy a server from anybody. But very few companies will take the time, or do the hard work, or hire the talented people, or spend the money to make sure that their customers’ online business never falters. At ServInt, we do.
But that’s enough chest-pounding from me. Let’s look at the numbers. This upgrade affects all our VPS products as follows:
- ServInt’s Essential VPS service, priced at $49 per month, now features 50 GB disk space, up from 30 GB.
- ServInt’s Signature VPS service, priced at $89 per month, now features 75 GB of disk space, up from 45 GB.
- ServInt’s Ultimate VPS service, priced at $129 per month, now features 100 GB of disk space, up from 60 GB.
- ServInt’s SuperVPS service, priced at $199 per month, now features 100 GB of disk space, up from 75 GB.
As before, this new disk space is provided on powerful RAID arrays with industry-leading speed and is further bolstered by our exceptional free backup system.
ServInt engineering staff have already begun implementing the disk space increases for existing customers, and we expect to have all VPS subscribers up and running in the enhanced packages within the next 90 days. This upgrade will not require any effort or involvement from our clients.
This isn’t the first free service enhancement we’ve implemented for our customers, and it won’t be the last. One thing is certain: whatever improvements we deploy over the coming weeks, months, and years will be done in order to continue providing you with the solution you bought when you signed up with us as a customer.
That commitment is just one of the things that makes ServInt different, and it’s one of the things that makes me proud to own and operate this business.
Questions? Comments? Let us know in the comments below, in our Customer Forums, on Facebook, or on Twitter!
Follow Reed Caldwell on Twitter.
The 5 Worst Sales In Webhosting Part 2 of 2
This is the second entry in Christian Dawson’s The Five Worst Sales In Webhosting. Check out the original post here!
Sale Type #4: Out of sight, out of mind
I treat new customers better than my existing, loyal ones.
Have you ever been a loyal customer of a company and suddenly noticed them advertising a far superior deal to new customers? How does that make you feel about your purchase?
Banks, cable, and phone providers do this a lot and we see it EVERY DAY in webhosting. Look at the ad above and think about what it says:
“New Customers Get The Best Bundle Prices.”
We’ve all fallen for this at one time or another, and it never stops sucking. Why should a new client be treated like gold when a dedicated one is left to languish? In hosting you see tons of promotions that give new customers special promotions that “double your RAM” or “double your bandwidth” if you sign up right away.
From a business perspective, it can do a lot of damage to your product and your brand. It cheapens your product by revaluing it and ostensibly charges your current clients a “loyalty tax”.
You’re getting something as a new guy they wouldn’t give to a customer who’s been supporting the company for years. How will you feel when YOU are the old customer? Would you rather have a host that spends every day trying to make their whole server farm more robust and powerful — and enjoying the benefits of that investment in infrastructure — or would you rather jump from sign-up deal to sign-up deal, knowing you’re always getting a great price for service at a company that’s clearly spending most of its money acquiring new customers, rather than investing in their business?
Like many of you, I’m ‘value’ conscious. I don’t need the best price, but I do want the best deal. I do want to know that I am not paying too much for too little. And I’d rather not go with a company who has me constantly looking over my shoulder, lest I be left behind.
Sale type #5: The Spaghetti Sale
I throw everything at the wall to see what sticks
We really want your business, so what’s it gonna take? Try it for $1? 50% off? How about baseball tickets?
Baseball tickets!?!?
How is that in any way relevant to what I’m looking for?
Anybody who has ever signed up for a sub-$10 a month hosting package knows that this tactic is rampant in hosting. As far as freebies and add-ons go, they throw the proverbial kitchen sink at you. But how much attention do they pay to your needs? How much attention can they realistically pay to you when it’s clear their number one priority is finding the one thing — or the 15 different things — they need to do to just get you in the door?
Ask yourself: are you buying hosting in order to run a business, or in order to go to the ball game?
It’s easy to become a bit jaded when analyzing these tactics. But there’s some good out there too! Now that we have the negatives out of the way, what is an example of a positive sale? A sale that doesn’t dilute the value of a product, and also doesn’t leave customers old and new out in the dust. I found an example in the most unlikely of places.
Sale type #6: The Up and Up
I have confidence in my product and I want to entice you to try it
I’m not defending the often reckless and underhanded marketing that some gyms are famous for. Please don’t mistake this for an endorsement of gym marketing tactics in general.
But, if you ignore the industry baggage, the ad above is actually a great example of what I think the best type of sale or discount is. It’s a temporary discount – something to encourage people to walk through the door and try things out. If you are confident in your product, and you treat your customers well, it’s the best type of sale out there.
We price our product according to what we believe it’s worth. To get to that number, we take a lot of factors into consideration. What physical resources does this product need? What about power and cooling, how much time does this product require of our staff and how much support, on average, does that product require? That’s a gross over-simplification, of course, but by and large we price our products at a rate that we believe is competitive, fair, and sustainable for our business.
When we do run sales here at ServInt, these kinds of enticement discounts are the only kind I completely approve of. Our sales generally discount the first month or two of service, to help ease people into moving in to our hosting service. We understand that transferring can be time consuming and expensive, and you might even need to pay two places for a little while. We try to help when we can. We’ve actually got a promo like that going right now! Contact our sales department for details! ;^)
What our sales don’t do is discount a select group forever just for signing up at the right time. In fact, when we released the Solo Express a few months ago, we had only intended it to be a limited-quantity promotional product. We never thought it would be as successful as it was, so when we launched it along with a $20 off lifetime promo code and things really took off, we were overwhelmed by the response. A server of that caliber at that price point was truly unique and compelling, and so we decided to eliminate the coupon code, drop the price formally (along with other price drops in the Solo Enterprise line), and bring the Solo Express into regular rotation.
We try to treat all customers fairly, that ensure we have happy clients who stay and grow with ServInt.
Ultimately, we have confidence in our products and our price points, knowing what our service is worth as well as what it costs to offer. We know what investments in service, support, stability and reliability are required to offer top-notch service and we aren’t willing to sacrifice that to try to create false ‘bargains’. If things are a little more expensive than our competitor’s temporary “sale” price, you can be sure they’re worth it.
What we make from our products, we reinvest in making them better. It’s that commitment to bettering our products and services that makes us who we are, and it’s why I’m proud to work here.
- Christian
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
The 5 Worst Sales In Webhosting – Part 1 of 2
We’ve already told you about the 5 worst products in webhosting, here is part 1 of a 2 part series on the 5 worst sales in webhosting.
Everybody loves a sale. The other day I was shopping for birdseed at Lowe’s, a home improvement and hardware store here in the states. As I perused the store, I noticed a sale that just blew me away.
Brace yourself for it — it’s a big one.
WOW! A whole penny off!
The Magic Number is $199: Comparing the SuperVPS and Solo Express
A little more for the piggy bank...
Earlier today, we announced a permanent price drop across our entire Solo Series dedicated server line.
The price drop, while a terrific deal, can also be a tad confusing, since we now seem to be selling two different products for exactly the same amount of money. As consumers, we’re conditioned to think that if two products have different feature sets, the more expensive one must be “better.” Understandably, customers in search of the “fastest” or “most reliable” platforms in our Solo Series range might be confused.
The good news is this: both products are great! They’re both fast, reliable, easy to manage, and much more. But they *are* different, and it’s important that you make an informed choice between them, to maximize the value of your $199/mo. investment.
Let’s start by looking at the engines that drive these two offerings. Many people first notice that the SuperVPS line uses SAS drives in RAID 10, while the servers in the Solo Express line use single SATA drives (without RAID). Although this is true, that doesn’t mean the SuperVPS line necesarily provides better performance — particularly because of the way our SuperVPS and Solo Series servers are engineered. Again: it’s critical to match your server platform to your business. Let’s take a moment to compare and contrast these packages to get a better understanding of how to do that.
