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Looking for UK based HA VPS with Live Chat support
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Looking for UK based HA VPS with Live Chat support

AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
edited September 2018 in Requests

Not really LowEnd but the specs are in today's terms...

I currently have a service with a well known UK provider. It's been running for over a decade on Enterprise grade hardware, using vmware, with 100% SLA. In the main the service is very good but when the sh1t hits the fan, they really makes a mess! The supposed failover/resiliency/redundancy has failed on a number of occasions.
Recent activity on the server - direct root/console access from them which they initially denied, plus a sneaking suspicion that they are phasing out vmware, has led me to look around (again). It is a managed service but that's more for peace of mind, as I do the server management side. It gives me some support when a real difficult problem arises.

TLDR; HA VPS with Live Chat support and following specs, or better.

UK based
High Availability (a couple of hours downtime per year is pushing it)
Hardware virtualisation
2 Dedicated vCores
2GB RAM
80GB HDD minimum
14 IP addresses (nameservers and e-commerce sites)
WHM/cPanel
CentOS 6/7 'cos Windoze ain't a true server environment :p

Budget < £90/month on a monthly basis
Payment by PayPal

I nearly hit the @Clouvider button but no (apparent) Live Chat Support prevented me. There is no immediate rush, as I have just renewed the monthly charge but I'd like to see what else is available and make preparations.
Any takers?

Comments

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    What do you want live chat for? Those are useless for real support needs.

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited September 2018

    @deank said:
    What do you want live chat for? Those are useless for real support needs.

    I'd normally agree..
    Saves time bouncing back emails. Saves frustration trying to understand each other on a 'phone call, especially when one's hearing isn't good at isolating sounds eg. noisy call centre.
    As for broad Asian English accents... (no racial stereotypes implied)

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    I still avoid live chat like a plague. Good old ticket is the proper way.

    Another major downside of a live chat is that at least two or three people need to sit in front of a PC all the time. They need to be paid and, if they are actually competent, they need to paid proper.

    In other words, waste of wage for little returns.

  • OFC, I do utilise Tickets but sometimes a quick(er) response is required. Chat can be set to alert an operator that's nearby - most take a minute to respond, in any case, which is understandable. If it was me running the show, then Live Chat Support would be limited to a client who has logged into the portal. There are ways and means. ;)

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    Heh, no, support staff will ignore it when they can because they hate breaking their routines which is why you need someone specifically in charge for it.

    Engineers won't even bother.

  • Millennials! :p

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

    Why UK exactly? Latency ? Language?

  • @randvegeta said:
    Why UK exactly? Latency ? Language?

    Latency.
    Plus currency - no variation with exchange rates, which could be more unpredictable as Brexit moves closer and 'mericans choose not to oust a megalomaniac. ;)
    I also have a vmware instance in the States.

  • AnthonySmithAnthonySmith Member, Patron Provider

    If you want dedicated, qualified support during regular UK business hours ready at the drop of a hat to serve you above all else, I can accommodate that for only £2000 p/month, VPS is free.

    Seriously though, clouvider are shit hot, don't worry about live support.

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited September 2018

    @AnthonySmith said:
    .. only £2000 p/month, VPS is free.

    LOL. About my old salary then ;) Now more like per annum!

  • ClouviderClouvider Member, Patron Provider

    We do have live chat but no support is provided through it. Ticket rom an authorised account is the most reliable method providing some sensible security, especially if combined with 2FA. You wouldn’t want to have your server re-installed based on someone requesting it over a live chat...

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited September 2018

    @Clouvider
    Aye but you might like to know immediately what a problem is all about, when three long-standing clients are complaining that their sites are down. Or what the hell is going on, when you've just received an email notification of root access, out of the blue.
    Yes, Ticketing serves a purpose well for the majority of instances but not all.
    Just IMHO, of course.

    (PINs seem to be de rigueur in Live chat, anyway)

  • RazzaRazza Member
    edited September 2018

    If you willing to spend that kind of cash would it not work out better to just get a dedicated server instead.

    The plus side is your going to have alot more processing power as you got the whole processor compared to two just dedicated core.

    The downside it wouldn't be HA saying that out of all my dedicated server even from cheap provider not had any major downtime.

    @clouvider like Anthony said he's shit hot your not going to have any issues if you choose a service from him.

    Thanked by 1Clouvider
  • @Razza
    It's horses for courses.. I have a couple of dedis for my own trials and secondary/tertiary backups.
    When it comes to my clients however, easy management and high uptime are much more important. I'm also a believer in right-sizing (rightly or wrongly) and a sensibly tuned system doesn't need to be vastly over provisioned.

  • ClouviderClouvider Member, Patron Provider

    @AlwaysSkint said:
    @Clouvider
    Aye but you might like to know immediately what a problem is all about, when three long-standing clients are complaining that their sites are down. Or what the hell is going on, when you've just received an email notification of root access, out of the blue.
    Yes, Ticketing serves a purpose well for the majority of instances but not all.
    Just IMHO, of course.

    (PINs seem to be de rigueur in Live chat, anyway)

    Understood. Whoever you go with, I wouldn’t count on Livechat being available during outage. Everyone will want to connect, and I wouldn’t count on there being enough agents to pass on the information to you immediately any quicker than in case of a ticket. :-)

    I’d say go with whoever you feel can provide you the highest uptime of them all, so you don’t need to use this Livechat ;-).

    Thanked by 1AlwaysSkint
  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    I do recall some smartass terminating his competitor's server by brilliantly abusing live chat support.

    That was from WHT.

  • @deank
    Yikes, just yikes!

  • deankdeank Member, Troll
    edited September 2018

    Was painfully easy from what I recall.

    Smartass enters live chat, asking for immediate support.

    Chat rep asks info to locate an account.

    Ass provides email address.

    Rep accepts that and asks what needs to be done.

    Ass demands the server to be terminated ASAP because fraudulent CC was used.

    Rep agrees and the server was terminated.

    =========

    Some hours later, real owner opens a thread on WHT, bashing the provider.

  • @Clouvider
    Valid points and it does depend on server density (who is affected) and how quick people (hosted customers) are to react. I for one, burn the candle at both ends and invariably close to my laptop.

  • @deank
    You'd hope the provider would learn by their pitiful mistake. ;-) Backups, what backups? :open_mouth:

  • It was only a possible suggestions HA VPS will be the right option for your usage, wish you the best of luck finding your next provider.

    Thanked by 1AlwaysSkint
  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited September 2018

    Thanks for all the input; it is appreciated.

  • JamesFJamesF Member, Host Rep

    You could look at UKDedicated as they have cloud services with live chat.

    Thanked by 1AlwaysSkint
  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    @AlwaysSkint said:
    @deank
    You'd hope the provider would learn by their pitiful mistake. ;-) Backups, what backups? :open_mouth:

    Server was restored eventually. But live chat support is risky overall since the chat rep don't often have the full access to customer database.

  • TheLinuxBugTheLinuxBug Member
    edited September 2018

    @AlwaysSkint

    I think you have the wrong idea about how most companies actually staff live chat -- generally the same people are already handling tickets and phone support calls to begin with, especially in smaller companies -- so when you open a live chat, it is really supposed to be for quick billing questions or something simple or asking them to assist you with opening a ticket. Anything past that, be it adding a user, making a change to a site, fixing a problem, these things, at any provider worth their salt, will need to be tracked in a ticket and may even, by the time it is resolved, be viewed by multiple people who may be able to contribute to a faster resolution. This is why having a ticket is important.

    In fact, in a lot of cases, phone support is to be handled in the same way, collect information about the issue and open a ticket. Calling in is supposed to be a way for those who don't feel like they can relay their issue in writing to have it done for them. The issues is still to be handled as a ticket so that any changes / requests can be tracked.

    Those who don't employ live chat as above, but seem to always have live chat available, usually utilize outsourced support which is usually level 1 support, so expecting them to help with anything support oriented is generally an incorrect expectation. They are really there to assist you with opening a ticket about technical issues if you are not familiar or comfortable doing it your self.

    Expecting them to resolve your problem in a chat is actually bad for you as well, this means that while the issue may be fixed for you in an instance, it may not be recorded or logged on your account, so if the issue is encountered again, someone has to start all over instead of referencing a previous ticket or information on the account. This can lead to delays in resolving issues where the correct documentation could have led to a much more efficient resolution.

    Additionally, live chat is usually a third party service and isn't always something integrated in a way where the chats can easily be tracked back through your account / customer ticket system. Instead you would have to open the software and specifically go back and read old conversations, which is usually outside your normal work flow and again would lead to longer resolution times for more common issues. I am not saying what you want doesn't exist anywhere, just stating what is common.

    --

    AlwaysSkint said: Aye but you might like to know immediately what a problem is all about, when three long-standing clients are complaining that their sites are down. Or what the hell is going on, when you've just received an email notification of root access, out of the blue.
    Yes, Ticketing serves a purpose well for the majority of instances but not all.
    Just IMHO, of course.

    Believe it or not, if you timed it out at the company I work at, we will see your support ticket probably 30-60 seconds before you will ever talk to anyone on chat and will probably even start processing it before we get to your live chat. We also tend to react more quickly to tickets as they are usually more easy to read and concise about the issue which leads to quicker processing of the issue. This can also be done more quickly because you are not answering questions constantly, like you would be on live chat or the phone. If you want the truth, using live chat will actually make it take longer to resolve your issue in most cases, as you are asking the person who most likely should be looking into your problem to stop everything they are doing and talk you through the issue on chat. This means the time they could be working on the issue is spent instead talking to you. If your concern is for the most efficient resolution possible to the issue, for most reputable providers worth their salt, a ticket will always be the most efficient means for getting the quickest and most efficient resolution to an issue.

    One thing people can do to help your tickets be as effective as possible is to provide as much useful information as possible in your first reply and not waiting for the support technician to reply asking you to provide additional information. When people complain tickets take too long, usually it is because they are failing to communicate their issue effectively or providing too little information.

    --

    TL:DR:
    Most providers for record keeping and to ensure quality of service will want you to open a ticket for an issue, whether the issue is reported on the phone or live chat as this allows them to keep the best records of your request and their resolutions. Live chat and phone support is really there to help with quick billing/sales questions and assist you with opening a ticket for more technical requests, especially if the request is not something that can not be resolved quickly. If you truly want the best support experience, ticket your issue and make sure to provide as much detail in your initial reply as possible.

    my 2 cents.

    Cheers!

  • @experttechit said:
    You could look at UKDedicated as they have cloud services with live chat.

    Couldn't see any mention of Live Chat.

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited September 2018

    @TheLinuxBug
    Generally, I'm not a verbose person, so my throwaway comment regarding the running of a helpdesk environment wasn't intended to be scrutinised.
    I have actually experienced quite a few different systems, as well as utilised/overseen some. These have been both internally and at client sites. It's par for course when working in IT for decades. ;)
    I was asked why I wanted Live Chat and responded. We then went a bit off piste.

  • TheLinuxBugTheLinuxBug Member
    edited September 2018

    @AlwaysSkint said:
    @TheLinuxBug
    Generally, I'm not a verbose person, so my throwaway comment regarding the running of a helpdesk environment wasn't intended to be scrutinised.
    I have actually experienced quite a few different systems, as well as utilised/overseen some. These have been both internally and at client sites. It's par for course when working in IT for decades. ;)
    I was asked why I wanted Live Chat and responded.

    I understand, but I felt like maybe others reading this may not quite get how these things are handled and to be honest, live chat is probably one of my biggest pet peeves in my daily work. I thought if I could explain a bit better the experience on the workers side as well, it would expose why live chat isn't used like you are wanting by a lot of companies -- for direct support -- it just takes time away from getting the issue fixed!

    I actually feel bad for customers, sometimes, who think the best way to get an issue solved is to do all of the following at once: open a ticket, call the support line and open a live chat. News flash -- this isn't productive at all!

    I thought maybe if I could just explain to people that it actually results in taking more time when using live chat or the phone, maybe it will help a few people to think twice before doing that. Not to mention, maybe it will reduce the amount of broken keyboards from me mashing my keyboard in frustration while I try to answer the phone, click the live chat button and review a ticket all at once.

    I digress.

    Cheers!

  • @TheLinuxBug

    Not to mention it will probably reduce the amount of broken keyboards from me mashing my keyboard in frustration while I try to answer the phone, click the live chat button and review a ticket all at once.

    Heh. Been there.

  • JamesFJamesF Member, Host Rep

    They also own Guru, that also offer live chat and also offer managed VPS.

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