Fast Server Management (by Coast Internet)-Opinions?

[beley]

I did a search but couldn't find anything. I'm looking to hire a company to just do some small administration (nothing like crisis-management, more like upgrades and patches). I found these guys:

http://fastservermanagement.com/

It looks too good to be true - the prices are rediculously low for what they claim to do. I wanted to see if anyone here has used them before and if so, what was your experience with them?

Thanks...

[Brian S]

Did you wind up going with them? I'd be curious to hear your opinions about whomever you chose.

Thanks,

Brian

[Dras]

Backend Server Software upgrades (Kernel, Apache, PHP, etc....)
Server Software Installation
WHM/CPanel Technical Issues

Sorry but those you can ALL do in WHM. Just by a couple clicks, If you want to try and do it on your own you can just ask at the ev1servers forums, I used to post there to help me learn, now I know how to run and do all of that for free unless my time is worth anyhting

[Brian S]

Yes, but these guys also login and reboot your server if something amiss (kinda nice not to have to wake up at 4 a.m.). And kernel upgrades and CP upgrades aren't always so easy. Times this by x amount of servers and the value of these types of services begin to become apparent.

Brian

[dynamicnet]

Greetings:

There is an old saying, “if it is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.”

Here are some numbers to consider as part of your analysis, and questions:

In terms of gauging whether it is too good to be true, my belief is you should have an idea of common tasks, the time involved, and going rates.

* Server hardening takes two to three hours per server; even if a system was previously hardened, the review plus catch up’s should be two to three hours.

This time estimate is based on doing the work by hand which allows a good system administrator to ensure nothing is missed, existing settings are not overwritten, and red flags (if any) are caught.

* Most operating systems as installed by data centers can be extremely out of date (and I do mean extreme => one or more score <20> of updates to perform).

Updating from scratch can take up to one hour; maybe two.

If a system is relatively up to date, then doing an update can be as quick as fifteen minutes (of note, where applicable, I’m rounding to the nearest 15-minutes as I don’t know any provider who bills in less increments).

* Upgrading a kernel (upgrade vs. custom compile) can generally be done in fifteen minutes.

* Most common tasks such as install Apache, install mySQL, install bind/DNS can be done in fifteen minutes to no more than one hour.

* Updating firewall policies can generally be done in fifteen minutes.

I can only speak of salary issues as they apply to U.S.-based employment (which may be applicable in Germany and Austria from what I am told).

A system administrator with five or more years experience will be able to command a starting salary of at least (key word) $50,000 per year plus full time benefits which often include two weeks vacation, health care, retirement plan, sick time, personal time, etc.

That makes that $50,000 employee an investment of approximately $67,000 to the company (benefits, taxes, etc.).

That means the employee has an effective hourly rate of $32.21 ($67,000 / 2,080).

Most consultants (including management companies) typically calculate their billable hours for a given employee per year at 1,000 rather than 2,080.

Two weeks vacation is 80 hours, and they generally figure the other 1,000 hours as down time or for internal projects which brings in no revenue.

So at pure base (i.e. break even --- and not to be confused with fully burdened labor rate), that $67,000 employee would be at $67.00 per hour.

Most companies will calculate their rates at fully burdened labor rate (the cost of the employee plus a portion of overhead) plus a profit rate.

So that $67.00 per hour can easily become $75 to $100 per hour or more; it is common to find companies like Ensim (for example) billing out their system admins for $240 per hour or more.

An individual who is doing this on their own (aka self employed) has lower overhead in terms of the fully burdened labor rate; but now they have to pay their own health care, pay double for social security/medicate, etc… so they are typically at $75 per hour as well.

So, for example if you see a server hardening package for $50; and, through questioning you verify it is a two to three hour task (if it is a lot shorter than two hours, something is wrong in my opinion), then you can do the math and see that they are getting paid.

While I can see a person working full time for another company subbing themselves out at their current rate or less; I would question as to the future availability of that person along with other issues.

Thank you.

[beley]

Thank you for the reply dynamicnet. I definately agree with your points. I thought their rates were very low when I first saw the site but being they were owned by a larger company I thought I'd ask around. They don't offer the world but do advertise to do a lot for the price.

[Dacsoft]

I used them for a whille before going with Acunett.com. They actually do a pretty good job. Not always the fastest reponse, but they do seem to strive to stay within the TOS.