1and1's Managed Server sucks!

Why I said so? Because you're not given with a root access on the server.
There are many providers out there that focus on managed service, yet they give the customer with a root access. I mean, you are leasing the server from them. You're the one who's paying it monthly or so, then why can't you access fully? Why are you given with a limited user account?

Uhm, or maybe the customer is not given with root access because they are not using a physical server for it? Perhaps they're using a VM like Xen for that? Whatever!

A true managed service must offer the following:

• root access for the customer
• monitoring of the server (I know this is common, they have this)
• monitoring of the services on the server
• monitoring of the server's hardware resources
• bandwidth monitoring and graphing
• disk IO monitoring and graphing
• mysql monitoring and graphing
• httpd monitoring and graphing
• regular security audit
• vulnerability assessment
• DDOS protection
• highly designed firewall
• and of course, great technical support!

The only thing that's there with the Managed Server of 1and1 is the monitoring of the server.
If you're looking for a Managed Server, there's Rackspace (expensive? sure they are), Liquid Web, Softlayer,Layered Tech and some smaller players like WebNX, Quadra Net and many others.

I would say avoid 1and1's Managed Server.

Windows Server: I want to have MS SQL, do I need to purchase Plesk Power Pack?

As you have know, Windows Dedicated Server from 1and1 comes with Plesk Control Panel.
My client once asked me if he indeed needs Plesk Power Pack license for his MS SQL (Express Edition) to run on  his Windows box. Absolutely not, I told him. However he said that 1and1's tech support clearly said it to him over the phone, that MS SQL won't run on Windows Server if he won't purchase the addon license (Power Pack). Well that's another example of stupidity from 1and1's technical support.


The Power Pack addon license for Plesk is only needed if you want to manage your MS SQL server from Plesk environment. That means having Power Pack license, you will be able create/delete MS SQL database/user from Plesk. You can also to a stop/start/restart of MS SQL from the Service Management function of Plesk.

If you won't buy Power Pack license, you can still use MS SQL in your Windows Server.
Just install Management Studio to manage it.

Tomcat down after reboot

Help! My Tomcat isn't running anymore after reboot!


Eh.. first thing's first. Verify if Tomcat is running or not. Login to your server through SSH and issue the following command:

-bash-3.2# telnet localhost 8080
Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet: connect to address 127.0.0.1: Connection refused

 -bash-3.2# /etc/init.d/tomcat5 status
tomcat6 is stopped.

If you see those results, that means Tomcat isn't running in the first place.
Make sure that it's enabled for start-up. The next time your server will be rebooted, Tomcat should start.

To enable Tomcat for start-up, do:

-bash-3.2# chkconfig tomcat5 on

Why I'm with 1and1?

I know 1and1 US isn't as great as 1and1 DE (1und1 Germany). In fact, many have labeled 1and1 as the worst web hosting provider. Their technical support sucks big time, another example of how bad is outsouring. Their billing team is lazy, they normally reply to emails after 1 day. So I knew it, 1and1 isn't the your direct choice for web hosting if you're looking for a great support.

But why I am with 1and1? Uhm, I'm not. But my clients are with 1and1. I'm only doing the server administration for them. I recommend 1and1 the following reasons:

• 1and1 has a very good route all over the world.
• Their Data Center is in Kansas, that's pretty close to most audience of the various sites of my clients.
• 1and1 is cheap! Yes, you get what you pay for!

I always inform my clients too that 1and1:

• Has a poor technical support. But don't worry, you're paying me as your server admin. So I'll handle those stuff.
• Their service is not designed for mission critical business applications. Talk about enterprise applications that runs on Jboss, Websphere and Weblogic.
• Load balancing? Not 1and1.
• Is not a True cloud computing provider that's highly automated and flexible.

So why I recommend 1and1 to my clients? Because I am very familiar with 1and1. I have use it for my personal needs for 2-3 years and it was great. The bandwidth was awesome, I was bursting up to 100mbps for a couple of days.

However I don't recommend it to everyone.