Aplus.Net Dedicated Review

Having started at the commercial outset of the internet revolution, way back in 1995, Aplus.Net survived the crash with its customer base intact, and now hosts over 6,000 dedicated servers. This makes Aplus.Net one of the larger dedicated server providers in the USA.

Aplus.Net offers a wider variety of dedicated server bundles than you'll probably ever see anywhere else, with combinations of servers, CPUs, processors, hard drives, RAM, data transfer, and other services and features for every imaginable need and budget. In fact, besides their standard offerings, they also offer Value Plans using excess inventory with less capacity and at a lower cost. Dedicated hosting has never before been so accessible for smaller scale outfits. Simply put, if you can't find the right dedicated server package for you here, then it may not exist.

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Unique Benefits • ALL-NEW hardware and configurations. Premium Intel or AMD processors, all with at least 1 GB of RAM and 250 GB SATA Hard Drive. • The industry’s fastest and most responsive configurations, starting at under $100 a month! • A ton of "smart" add-ons (for monitoring, FTP backup, stats, networking, etc.) allow you to pick-and-choose your extended service options. • Deep discounts on "Value Servers" - great deals on excess inventory (on a first-come, first-serve basis). • First-rate data center facilities in San Diego and Phoenix, with 99.9% uptime guaranteed. • "Test drive" your server before you commit to a payment with Aplus.Net's free server test drive.
Key Features • Only the best equipment: IBM storage, Cisco network, and Intel and Sun Microsystems based servers • Unix, Linux, and Windows servers - full spectrum of choice • Intel and AMD processors - single, dual and quad based processors • Load Balancing (at extra cost) • Smart Monitor for keeping tabs on server availability, load, and performance around the clock ($24.95 setup fee + $9.95-$14.90/month) • Premium set up options, including: initial Control Panel configuration; DNS skeleton configuration; install, upgrade, patch, and add IP addresses; make minor changes to your Firewall, and add YUM systems
Editors' Comments Aplus.Net is one of the premier dedicated hosting companies on the market. Their own data center is located in beautiful San Diego, California - where else would you want your servers! The company provides an array of server and managed support options ideal for those companies with limited IT staff that are looking for assistance when required. Key thing to keep in mind is to map out what support services you think that you are going to utilize in your specific situation to get a full handle on the extended support costs. You can also take advantage of their extended software, monitoring and back-up options to take full potential of your dedicated server. Good news about their extended service packages is that you've got some excellent support engineers available at your fingertips when you require help - and you don't have to put them on your payroll!
Uptime Guarantee Besides a 99.99% uptime guarantee, Aplus.Net also offers a 100% network uptime guarantee. More, they guarantee that their HVAC systems will be functioning running and functioning properly except for regularly scheduled maintenance. For every hour of downtime resulting from an HVAC failure, they'll give you a 5% discount on your bill that month for each extra hour taken, all the way down to 100%. Finally, they have the add-ons Smart Monitor and Smart Console (at extra cost) to help you minimize downtime and maintain optimum efficiency where you are basically in control and can visualize what is happening in their network operation.
Basics - What you need to know DataCenter Aplus.Net owns their own data center on the campus of San Diego Tech in San Diego, California where 10 major carriers meet, including Level3, MCI, Time Warner, SBC, and AT&T. You'll enjoy the smooth, fast, and consistent connectivity of multi-honed redundant Gig-E and OC-3 backbone connections to them all. They guarantee to replace, within 1 hour, any hardware that fails, or give you a 5% discount on your bill that month for each extra hour taken, all the way down to 100%. Power Management Your dedicated server(s) will benefit from a military power grid with 2 layers of redundant power systems. They use overhead data cable runways with power cables under the floor plates. Physical Security Physical security of the datacenter is maintained by fire and flood protection, a diesel backup generator, access cards, fingerprint identification, and closed circuit video surveillance. Server Access by Customer Physical Access: No physical access to the server Root Access: Root access to the server
Service Offerings General Managed Services Basic support is free of charge and available 24/7 via phone, e-mail and a comprehensive library of documentation, known as the Knowledge Base. Higher level technicians are there from 6 am-11 pm for more complicated inquiries. Aplus.Net also offer advanced technical support services for particularly complex operations at $150/hr. Such work includes (but is not limited to): - Advanced configuration of server - Installation of software that does not come as standard with the server package - Scripting - Custom backup scripts - Mail server configuration Service Bundles The sheer variety of bundles is what makes Aplus.Net worthy of its name, with an A+ assortment of packages geared to your needs and preferences. With their standard plans, choose between Intel and AMD processors, Unix, Linux, and Windows servers, 1-2 GB RAM, 160-250 GB hard drive, 1000-3000 GB monthly transfer. And that's just their standard offerings. Their Value Plans provide lower cost alternatives for small scale operations. Beyond that, Aplus.Net boosts the performance of all of their server bundles by offering a slew of add-ons that will make server administrator's life inordinately easier. Tools like Smart Stats, for keeping close track of your bandwidth usage, and Smart Networking, for networking two of more servers together. Security and Updates The only web host with VISA CISP compliance, a process for validating credit card transactions that ensures ultimate security. They have 24x7 NOC monitoring and 24x7 technical support. The add-on Smart Console also provides SSH v2 digital encryption security. Firewall For a setup fee of $99 and a monthly fee of $149, you can have firewall protection for up to 10 IPs, protecting your servers from attacks as well as from being utilized (at the expense of your site's optimal functioning) to wage battle against such attacks. What's more, this firewall will be running all the time at the same time as all you applications by being run on a separate piece of hardware. Stay at 100% efficiency all the time, get personal assistance making the necessary server configuration changes, and enjoy 24/7 support should you ever need additional assistance with your firewall. Backup Services For a $25 setup fee and $10 per month, you can get Smart FTP Backup, which allows you to schedule backups as you see fit. The backup data is held for you on a separate and secure server in the same data center. They also offer a $50 Reinstall, to return your server to its default condition, a $150 Reinstall + Data Recovery which also temporarily mounts the old drive so that clients can perform manual data recovery. Then there's a SmartRecover for $50 which boots your server from a recovery disk and restores system defaults.
Customer Profiles • Data Storage • Extended IT Operations • Mission Critical applications • Application Service Providers • Gaming Servers
Customer Testimonials "Aplus.Net has provided me with an excellent service and product. No longer do I have to stay up long nights worrying about a site going down, or being a victim to an unfaithful company - those who promise features and services that cannot fullfill or supply them. I've been with many, and I mean hundreds of web hosting companies in the past, and the service and product, along with the uptime you've provided and given me is by the far the best I have ever experienced during my six years of being a webmaster. "Your pricing also played a great factor to me becoming a very satisfied customer of your company. I am able to get such a great dedicated server with all the features and uptime I need at, for once, a price I can afford." - Justice McCay, Webmaster Corner Forum

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