Hi!
I think you need to establish a baseline...figure out exactly what you need from a host..and try a few.
What are your priorities?
1) Network Speed/Stability
2) Access to tech support
3) Access to tools to fix things yourself
4) Sales Support
5) Provision Times/upgrade timeframes
I think it is impossible to say...blahblah is better than blah because each of us may want entirely different things.
I will never trust another reseller who refuses to put his "promises" down on paper. Some NOCs are no better.
I think the primary problem is the infamous "Slick McGlick" salesperson.
See...Slick does not care if you get what you want at all. All Slick cares about is making his sales quota/commision. After all..it's not Slick who has to make good on those promises..it's the tech and development team.
I want to show you a clear cut example:
I saw an ad on a certain other board..and it looked very similar to the deal I had already taken advantage of..but not through a reseller..but through the NOC directly.
>>>>* Control! A powerful portal offering you reboots, integration of your KVM/IP and management interfaces, tickets, user creation and management, and Automated OS Loads
Interesting features..but GNAX did not offer any of this..in fact..it wasn't even mentioned.
Fact: The system is "in development"
Fact: There are no automated OS reloads..none. Zilch. Zero.
>>Worse still..no time frame when it might be available.
KVM availability is minimal..and a bit odd. Again..clearly "in development"
I tried to reboot a server through the "control panel" only to get "feature unavailable". I had to file a ticket and two days later..it works.
Unacceptable.
My experience with Softlayer through one of their resellers has been challenging as well.
It seems their idea of "complete" access is a bit different than mine.
Sadly...very,very different. I just don't see how these people plan on keeping customers when they can't make good on all the promises.
My only guess is they really don't care. It's the only conclusion I can come up with.
Bryon