New Colo Box
I’ve had a colo box with ColoPronto for over a year now. Its been a great, inexpensive box to play on. Since I’ve been in Boston I’ve been trying to locate a reasonbly priced local colo option, so I can be more ‘hands on’ with the server and upgrades. Unfortunately for the last year my search results have been pathetic. The best I’ve been able to find is around $100/mo for 1U with 1/4Mbit/sec (80GB/mo). That is just totally unacceptable, considering I get 500GB/mo with ColoPronto for $20/mo.
I recently received a reply to a post on WebHostingTalk where I asked for Boston Colo Options. Through this I learned of Prospeed.net. They offer 1U in their Cambridge, MA facility, with Level3 Communications, with generous bandwidth allowances. I’ve contacted Prospeed, and began the process of getting some space there. I ordered a Core2Duo 1U from AntOnline which arrived today; and I hope to get it live in the next few days.
What will I do with this box you ask? Well — for starters, it will run gentoo, and run vmware-server. I will then be able to run a number of VMs inside it. One of them will likely be a DekiWiki 5-User VM. I will also continue to expand my knowledge by being able to run servers and experiment with new OS choices, etc.
A broader goal — which I’ll write about in more detail later — is to offer VMs on the box to interested High School and College students who do not have the resources available to them — but would like to experiment with running a server, hosting sites, and the learning that comes with offering such services.
Update 4/24/08: I’ve been very pleased with ProSpeed.net for the time I’ve been with them now. I’ve had very little downtime, service has been good and they even didn’t have an issue when my CC expired, and they weren’t paid for 5 months – they called me up and we cleared it all up. I had a friend who was looking into colo services contact them however, and I don’t believe they’re offering this deal at this pricepoint anymore.
on April 26th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I hope you continue to blog about your Deki experience(s). I look forward to hearing how the deployment goes.
on April 24th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Good afternoon,
Funny how people stumble across posts and such, sometimes much later, isn’t it? I’m currently at Colopronto and have a lot of the same feelings as you. I’m actually a Miami Beach resident, so while it’s nice having them local, their support couldn’t possibly suck any more. Well, I’d love it if I worked there, I’d just do nothing. Not go into work, not reply to customers, etc. It’d rock as far as that goes. But, I think I’d grow kinda bored with it, you know?
So, while looking at alternatives, I wanted to hear of your experience but noticed that you hadn’t updated – will you share with us, your adoring audience, please?
on April 25th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Actually, here’s your answer to the price point for Prospeed.net:
from — http://www.prospeed.net/colo3.shtml
Prospeed.net Server Colocation Monthly Recurring and Setup Charges
* $100 monthly for 1U + $200 Setup * special 1 U server with 2Mbps included
* $160 monthly for 2U + $200 Setup
* $240 monthly for 3U + $200 Setup
* $320 monthly for 4U + $200 Setup
* $400 monthly for 5U + $225 Setup
* $480 monthly for 6U + $225 Setup
* $560 monthly for 7U + $300 Setup
Prospeed.net Internet Access Recurring Charge
* 1 to 4 mbps $90 per mbps
* 5 to 9 mbps $75 per mbps
* 10 to 19 mbps $55 per mbps
* 20 to 49 mbps $45 per mbps
* 50 to 99 mbps $39 per mbps
* 1/2 mbps minimum charge per month
* Invoiced based on the 95th percentile
* SLA (Service Level Agreement): 99.999%
* Prospeed.net cross connect at no additional charge
* Unlimited IP addresses with justification, Additional Info
* Installation takes 1-5 business days to complete
* All data centers have battery backup and redundant power generators
* Real-time MRTG and 95th percentile reports
* Free technical support Carrier
* Level(3)™ Connection Type *Direct Connection to Level(3)™ equipment via
Fast Ethernet or Fiber burstable to: 10, 100, or 1000 mbps