I've had experience in the dedicated server field with both companies of LayeredTech.com and LiquidWeb.com. With LayeredTech.com (LT), we only had a dedicated server, not managed. With LiquidWeb (LW), we decided to go managed because it wasn't that much more expensive and we didn't want to manage everything anymore. LayeredTech We first ordered our server with LT and everything was running fine. They put up the machine and it ran fine for a couple months. Then suddenly, it rebooted for no reason the response we got from the tech was that "it just needed a reboot". Well, in nearly all of my past experience, I've never had to just 'reboot' a machine because it 'needed' it. while yes, sometimes a system will freeze, it's not likely. They told us to check out logs but there was nothing there. We were a little unhappy...but it wasn't anything to make us want to move. Well, it happened again and then again. After the 3rd time of it happening, we decided it was time to move. Also bear in mind, LT had all the highest reviews from anywhere we looked (including WHT). Another contributing factor to us moving to LiquidWeb was that LT didn't have any phone support and it was all done via a ticketing system. Paying only $93/mo for the server, I guess I couldn't have expected much more. LiquidWeb For starters, I couldn't be anymore happy than I am right now with them. I've been on the phone with them quite a bit trying to sort out PHP and MySQL issues that finally did all get resolved and now everything is working fine. We're getting twice the CPU power, twice the ram, twice the storage, twice the bandwidth, for just about double the price -- managed too. They have been really friendly and they run their own datacenter in Texas. Our server has been up for about 22 days now with LW and I haven't seen anything go wrong yet that hasn't been sorted through immediately. LW was also very happy to provide us with 16 different IP addresses for free -- on 3 separate 3 classes -- which was really helpful. But wait, it gets better. LW has 24/7 phone support for technical and sales support. Always there, always on. They have been really helpful, very supportive, and always knowledgable in what they are talking about. LW is a smaller company, about 30 employees total if I recall correctly from one of their techs. But don't let the size fool you, small can often mean better. If you're looking for a manged solution and want a lot of power, I highly recommend looking at www.liquidweb.com
Thanks. I was going to use Layeredtech but I'll take a look at Liquidweb. The absense of phone support is one thing I don't like about Layeredtech. I have a friend who uses it, but he doesn't have any troubles.
Yeah, the lack of phone support started to annoy me and quickly. I'm really glad I switched to LiquidWeb. LayeredTech is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. It didn't seem like they cared that much about my server so that was another contributing factor.
I've still decided to go with Layeredtech-I'm not in the position to spend that money yet...and it would be a good learning experience for me not to have to rely on tech support. But, if we get those reboots like you are getting, then yes, I will probably go to another server company, perhaps www.theplanet.com or LiquidWeb.
Best of luck to you I had decent experience with them for a while, but then it went downhill. Maybe you will experience better
I realize this is a necro, but it's quite high in the search for reviews of LayeredTech. I am a former customer and would strongly advise against anyone using their services at this point. A lesson, for hopefully any host to learn from: I was in the process of bring 20+ servers over to LT. We add an average of 2 servers monthly to our current setup. I am glad I had only got 2 partially moved to them when they pulled this. I experienced a low level of support, network issues, and great delays in response time. But I put up with it as the price was reasonable, and it was frankly better than the place I was moving from. I wrote them the following in response to their initial email citing 'upgrades' as the reason for the price hike: They wrote me back that the increase was due to increases in costs across the board and there was nothing they could do (even though their email suggested migration and upgrade promotions). They did not address a single FACT that I had listed in the original email (as though they didn't read it at all). They suggest I prepay, which I had already done, but was told earlier the price change would still affect me regardless, so I responded with this and they confirmed (and apologized for the miss-direction). I see that other people were also told the same thing, and it's a shame to see some fell for it. They then replied suggested I go to a VPS because it was cheaper (and they would give me a special price on it), yet 750GB of space is listed at over 7 times the price of what I currently pay them, for 1/10th of the processor and memory! I respond saying it's inappropriate to suggest a VPS as it comes nothing close to our requirements, and not even remotely close to the current server specifications. I wait 4 days for a response, and get I reply with I was literally entering my credit card information at one of their competitors order pages at the time. But decided to wait (as long as I could before the competitors offer expired) and give them the chance. They reply the NEXT DAY with As a result of this price increase, the way they have handled it, and after hearing nothing but conflicting explanations from them, and I am gone. From this day on, I will refer to LayeredTech as a company TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS. W. ---------------- A note, the above is EXACTLY what I had posted on the LayeredTech forums as a paying customer (I still have one server left with them). As a result of me posting the above, they have banned my IP from accessing their site. I guess they forgot I'm still a paying customer (I no longer have access to their support), and they can't take any constructive criticism. I might have to consider legal action. ---------------- I just wanted to add to this my first experience with LT, and the experience of cancellation; ORDERING The 1st server I purchased was ordered without a control panel, and a minimal CentOS installation. I had paid them for their 'immediate' server setup, which was guaranteed in 2 hours. It was provisioned with a control panel and the wrong OS. Apon writing support I was told that it would be 24 hours for re-provisioning. It took nearly 2 days to get the server functional. After that, the IPs for the server had RDNS configured for whomever used the IPs before me, and it took 4 tickets to get them cleaned up. When testing the box, I noted 3% packet loss and odd 'spikes' in the speed, where for 2 or 3 seconds, packets would 'hang' in space, somewhere within the LT network (this was tested from 12 different locations, all results showed hang ups within their network). A ticket was opened, and they basically did nothing but try to shift blame to me. I gave up. 3 days later the issue went away (I'm assuming they fixed it). The second box I purchased with a control panel, this time I didn't order their immediate setup to avoid the same issues. The box was provisioned within 3 days, however, the system was setup with someone other host name (not the one I had requested), and actually had someones (pornographic) sites still configured on it! Again, the RDNS was configured to someone elses domains, and many domains were still pointing to the IPs. I requested they do something about this, box went down for re provisioning, more time wasted. When the box was back up, it was still configured to the wrong hostname. I gave up on their support fixing it and did the work myself. The original owner still had domains configured to point to the IPs as their authoritative DNS, which was causing alot of traffic (and costing me money). Their WHOIS records did not list their information (falsified) so I had asked if LT could contact them on my behalf, and ask them to remove these entries, so I did not have to pay LT for the bandwidth. They flat out refused. I asked for them to just give me an email address on file, and again they flat out refused. I asked for clean IPs if they couldn't do that, they flat out refused. It took a month of my own time to clean up their mess, while footing the bill. CANCELING 1st server. 4 requests. Finally get directed to their ticketing system wherein I ask in writing for them to remove my credit card information from their file immediately (a requirement by law). It gets canceled and they do not bill me, however, the server remains online for 3 weeks after the cancellation time, causing issues with the migration elsewhere. 2nd server. Same number of requests. The payment due date is 3 days after the first request to delete my credit card information. They bill me and charge my card (with information that was obviously not deleted) regardless. I request a refund (with 28 days paid for at this point), they take their time and flat out refuse, after about 6 tickets, emails and phone calls. Guess who's getting a charge back? They took this box offline IMMEDIATELY after I complained, so they basically got 28 days of pay for NOTHING. So, in short. Never, ever, ever, will I have anything good to say about LT. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! I can link to additional unhappy posts at other forums if that is allowed.