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l008com · Oct 12, 2011, 04:27 PM

I'm looking for some suggestions. I have a 1U server at a data center that I'm not really thrilled about. Aside from server that is getting slower and slower, I wouldn't mind having a data center that's closer, so I could GO to my server in an emergency.

That said, I've looked around at data centers around Boston, and the prices are crazy. Right now I pay $50/mo for 1TB of transfer and a 100mbit pipe. In Boston, that same service is $775/mo.

I also want really good service. My current place used to be great. But these days, if I need a hard reboot, I can end up waiting 2 days unless I want to pay hundreds for an emergency visit.

l008com · Oct 12, 2011, 04:32 PM

Another aspect of this is that my data center charges 1U rate for tower servers. Right now I have an Xserve, but obviously, eventually I will have to switch to using either mac minis or mac pros, so that could be an issue too. But for the time being, getting a good, close, affordable 1U is more important.

Waragainstsleep · Oct 12, 2011, 05:28 PM

Is it an Intel Xserve? You should set up the LOM.

l008com · Oct 12, 2011, 09:29 PM

If it was, I would have long ago.

l008com · Oct 12, 2011, 09:34 PM

BTW which intel models have LOM? Is it all of them or only newer models like 2008+?

besson3c · Oct 12, 2011, 10:37 PM

Again, not something you want to hear, but I'd be willing to bet that finding affordable co-lo physical console access to servers will be extremely tough if not impossible.

I haven't really figured out why you seem insistent on clinging to this idea of running XServes which require physical access, it just seems like a totally dead end street that is not going to become any less dead end as time goes by.

There are tons of places that will allow you to run dedicated Linux based servers quite cheaply that will provide a wider variety of service plans in terms of reboot turnover time, and with these servers you can run as many VM guests as you wish that would include console access. Or, you can skip running your own VM host and get Rackspace/Linode/Slicehost/Amazon to host your VM guest which would start at $20/month. If you don't need a whole lot of storage you won't find anything cheaper than going this route.

Waragainstsleep · Oct 13, 2011, 04:26 AM

All of the Intel Xserves have LOM. I now recall you have a G5. Sorry.

besson3c · Oct 13, 2011, 05:32 AM

I was referring to console servers (Console server - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) with my assessment that it will be hard to find an affordable host that provided this service. It's too bad the G5 doesn't include LOM, although I would imagine it would be a little tricky to buy that now if it wasn't already purchased.

mduell · Oct 18, 2011, 02:22 PM

When we needed a colo in Boston we used Hosted Solutions, which has now been purchased by Windstream. More details here. We were reasonably happy with the facility and left because we no longer needed a physical presence in Boston and preferred a location closer to one of our offices (NYC).

I forget what the rates were there. Typically a 42U rack is under $1000/mo, power is $150-500/kW (varies geographically), and connectivity (95th percentile billing) is $6-18/Mbps depending on quality (peering, etc).

I agree with the above that colo for a single server is a bit nuts, especially for an Xserve without LOM.