datacentercop
10-28-04, 04:48 PM
I have waited awhile to tell my story to try to gain some perspective to the entire situation before I went public. I recently quit working for a popular data center that receives posts regularly on this site due to several reasons. The main reason was the complete lack of professionalism that I witnessed on a daily basis. This provider's claims of no tier-1 technicians, on-site certified experts, fully N+2 redundant UPS, ultra-secure flagship datacenter, multihomed BGP network, A/C Power fed from our outstanding UPS System, just isn't true!!
While I was there, I witnessed customers being lied to on a daily basis. When I was told to lie directly to a customer, and refused, I was repremanded for it.
So to everyone out there researching companies for a good data center, my only advise to you is: do your homework. If you are with a company that has several "outages" or a lot of "downtime" for "reasons beyond their control", please press a little further. Just because a facility is in an area where a hurricane went through, that doesn't excuse any loss of power IF they claim that they have redundant systems. When they say that they "double and tripple" their staff, it really is only one or two extra people. For a good indicator of strength, don't just look how a company performs during an adverse event, look at how they handle the aftermath. They may have all of their staff working during an emergency, but what about after that emergency is over?
If they claim that they have several carriers (not just level 3), then why does the network go down while level 3 does planned maintenance. Couldn't they just switch over to another carrier?
Also, why in the world would you build a data center that is in a level 2 flood area, right next to the water? They may claim that the datacenter is a room within a room, but what about the roof? If the roof comes off the building, wouldn't this particular datacenter be exposed?
Also, they may be able to keep the datacenter up and running during an adverse event, but what about the NOC? If the NOC has no lights and no A/C how can that be an effective operations center?
But the most important (at least to me) factor when considering a service company (any company that provides a service) is to observe how they treat their employees. How can a company provide "...top-notch service to our customers" but yet treat their employees the total opposite?
Haven't you noticed some key employees just "gone"?
Also, what if you (the custoemr) are not an expert in managing a server? Shouldn't the company that you hire to provide you a server, at least try to answer some basic questions? I saw, time after time, one particular tech support person specifically put customers down, not answer their questions and totally belittle them in a service ticket, all because he was their only "expert" on a certain OS. If you are a new user, or you have questions, don't let the tech support person treat you with disrespect; take it up with their supervisor.
And speaking of supervisors, I was totally shocked to find out that this particular company's tech support manager was completely ignorant of the most basic tech support issues. I watched as she hired someone with NO experience, put this person on third shift ALONE, and expected this person to run the shift with no help. How can this possibly make any since?
So, in summary, when choosing a datacenter, do so carefully. Always, I mean ALWAYS, backup your data. (I saw a tech wipe a hd clean, on purpose, b/c the customer pissed him off, and then claimed that it was "an accident").
One final thought, always pay with a credit card or another method of payment where you can dispute the charges. I saw many, many customers taken advantage of, left with no recourse b/c they paid by wire transfer, money order, etc. Credit card (or paypal) customers were treated with much more respect, b/c the company knew that the customer could dispute charges on their bill.
Buyer beware and good luck!
While I was there, I witnessed customers being lied to on a daily basis. When I was told to lie directly to a customer, and refused, I was repremanded for it.
So to everyone out there researching companies for a good data center, my only advise to you is: do your homework. If you are with a company that has several "outages" or a lot of "downtime" for "reasons beyond their control", please press a little further. Just because a facility is in an area where a hurricane went through, that doesn't excuse any loss of power IF they claim that they have redundant systems. When they say that they "double and tripple" their staff, it really is only one or two extra people. For a good indicator of strength, don't just look how a company performs during an adverse event, look at how they handle the aftermath. They may have all of their staff working during an emergency, but what about after that emergency is over?
If they claim that they have several carriers (not just level 3), then why does the network go down while level 3 does planned maintenance. Couldn't they just switch over to another carrier?
Also, why in the world would you build a data center that is in a level 2 flood area, right next to the water? They may claim that the datacenter is a room within a room, but what about the roof? If the roof comes off the building, wouldn't this particular datacenter be exposed?
Also, they may be able to keep the datacenter up and running during an adverse event, but what about the NOC? If the NOC has no lights and no A/C how can that be an effective operations center?
But the most important (at least to me) factor when considering a service company (any company that provides a service) is to observe how they treat their employees. How can a company provide "...top-notch service to our customers" but yet treat their employees the total opposite?
Haven't you noticed some key employees just "gone"?
Also, what if you (the custoemr) are not an expert in managing a server? Shouldn't the company that you hire to provide you a server, at least try to answer some basic questions? I saw, time after time, one particular tech support person specifically put customers down, not answer their questions and totally belittle them in a service ticket, all because he was their only "expert" on a certain OS. If you are a new user, or you have questions, don't let the tech support person treat you with disrespect; take it up with their supervisor.
And speaking of supervisors, I was totally shocked to find out that this particular company's tech support manager was completely ignorant of the most basic tech support issues. I watched as she hired someone with NO experience, put this person on third shift ALONE, and expected this person to run the shift with no help. How can this possibly make any since?
So, in summary, when choosing a datacenter, do so carefully. Always, I mean ALWAYS, backup your data. (I saw a tech wipe a hd clean, on purpose, b/c the customer pissed him off, and then claimed that it was "an accident").
One final thought, always pay with a credit card or another method of payment where you can dispute the charges. I saw many, many customers taken advantage of, left with no recourse b/c they paid by wire transfer, money order, etc. Credit card (or paypal) customers were treated with much more respect, b/c the company knew that the customer could dispute charges on their bill.
Buyer beware and good luck!