Slashdot Mirror

joesao asks: "I've hosted my website and a number of others at Communitech for 4 years now and I've enjoyed affordable, quality Unix hosting that has given me no headaches. Recently they have been bought out and the service has completely deteriorated. The online forums are on fire with people pledging to leave, calling in and taping conversations, and so forth. So now I'm searching for a decent Unix host. My requirements aren't too bad: I need PHP, MySQL, the ability to configure my server somewhat (htpasswd, htaccess), raw log files, SSH, FTP, crontab, decent bandwidth (~10 GB), POP accounts, around 300 MB disk space (I host the bulk of my images/videos elsewhere)... and I wouldn't mind paying what I pay for DSL every month (~$50). That excludes buying a T1 for my house. And I don't mind what flavor of Unix/Linux it runs on, as long as it just works (wouldn't mind XServe, either). I'm having trouble finding credible sites with rankings out there so I ask the Slashdot community for help. Any recommendations?"

zeno_lee asks: "How do people deal with situations like this? Recently, we were cracked because our ISP failed to patch known security holes. They now want us to pay for them to patch up the holes. We are a bunch of dedicated volunteers who run a community web site we are developing using Apache/PHP/MySQL. The volunteers have nothing to gain except the rewards of bringing a national community together. We were cracked twice within 1 week of going live on the site. We are getting service from CommuniTech, who rent us a Cobalt Raq3 server. Part of the reason to go with a dedicate server from an ISP is to outsource system administration. No one amongst us is a full time computer security officer." One would think that when you pay for system administration, that security would be part of the deal. Looking at their FAQ, they give the impression that their servers are secure, so you'd think they would do something as simple as apply patches. Also, there is no mention of any extra charges for security on their pricing page, so does CommuniTech have any sensible reason for charging extra?

"We were cracked first within 5 days of our site going live. After paying communitech.net $62.50 for reinstalling the OS, it was cracked just 24 hours later. After speaking with Cobalt, they told us that our ISP, communitech.net, failed to patch up well publicized security holes on the Raq3. Acknowledging their failure, Communitech is not charging us for reinstalling the OS, but they are charging us $125 for someone to patch up the security hole. How blatantly unfair is that? I wanted the Slashdot community to be aware of the practices of such companies and see if others have had similar experiences and how they dealt with those situations.

We signed a 6 month contract, and we need options and strategies. What are the possible options we have? We just want a website running, we don't need to deal with all this bull."

zeno_lee asks: "How do people deal with situations like this? Recently, we were cracked because our ISP failed to patch known security holes. They now want us to pay for them to patch up the holes. We are a bunch of dedicated volunteers who run a community web site we are developing using Apache/PHP/MySQL. The volunteers have nothing to gain except the rewards of bringing a national community together. We were cracked twice within 1 week of going live on the site. We are getting service from CommuniTech, who rent us a Cobalt Raq3 server. Part of the reason to go with a dedicate server from an ISP is to outsource system administration. No one amongst us is a full time computer security officer." One would think that when you pay for system administration, that security would be part of the deal. Looking at their FAQ, they give the impression that their servers are secure, so you'd think they would do something as simple as apply patches. Also, there is no mention of any extra charges for security on their pricing page, so does CommuniTech have any sensible reason for charging extra?

"We were cracked first within 5 days of our site going live. After paying communitech.net $62.50 for reinstalling the OS, it was cracked just 24 hours later. After speaking with Cobalt, they told us that our ISP, communitech.net, failed to patch up well publicized security holes on the Raq3. Acknowledging their failure, Communitech is not charging us for reinstalling the OS, but they are charging us $125 for someone to patch up the security hole. How blatantly unfair is that? I wanted the Slashdot community to be aware of the practices of such companies and see if others have had similar experiences and how they dealt with those situations.

We signed a 6 month contract, and we need options and strategies. What are the possible options we have? We just want a website running, we don't need to deal with all this bull."

zeno_lee asks: "How do people deal with situations like this? Recently, we were cracked because our ISP failed to patch known security holes. They now want us to pay for them to patch up the holes. We are a bunch of dedicated volunteers who run a community web site we are developing using Apache/PHP/MySQL. The volunteers have nothing to gain except the rewards of bringing a national community together. We were cracked twice within 1 week of going live on the site. We are getting service from CommuniTech, who rent us a Cobalt Raq3 server. Part of the reason to go with a dedicate server from an ISP is to outsource system administration. No one amongst us is a full time computer security officer." One would think that when you pay for system administration, that security would be part of the deal. Looking at their FAQ, they give the impression that their servers are secure, so you'd think they would do something as simple as apply patches. Also, there is no mention of any extra charges for security on their pricing page, so does CommuniTech have any sensible reason for charging extra?

"We were cracked first within 5 days of our site going live. After paying communitech.net $62.50 for reinstalling the OS, it was cracked just 24 hours later. After speaking with Cobalt, they told us that our ISP, communitech.net, failed to patch up well publicized security holes on the Raq3. Acknowledging their failure, Communitech is not charging us for reinstalling the OS, but they are charging us $125 for someone to patch up the security hole. How blatantly unfair is that? I wanted the Slashdot community to be aware of the practices of such companies and see if others have had similar experiences and how they dealt with those situations.

We signed a 6 month contract, and we need options and strategies. What are the possible options we have? We just want a website running, we don't need to deal with all this bull."