Can I trust Comcast to host my business data?
October 7, 2011 2:38 PM Subscribe
Can I trust Comcast to host my business data?
Our company has Comcast for our ISP and email server host -- part of a package deal that also includes a small SharePoint site for one price. I'm trying to evaluate this set up from a standpoint of disaster recovery. I'm aware, as with all cloud solutions, that we'll simply have to trust Comcast to remain up and recoverable if we're going to use them this way. But what I'm trying to do is find out some history, ratings, or reviews on their reliability and recoverability for their hosting of Outlook/Exchange and SharePoint.
They aren't forthcoming in our requests for this info. Basically, this is a small/midsize business solution and support is telling us that until there's a problem, there's nothing to talk about. So, I turn to AskMe.
I'm not looking for critiques of SharePoint or Microsoft, please. Just trying to find if anyone knows any history of Comcast for their uptime, data loss, recovery of the data services they provide.
Thanks.
Our company has Comcast for our ISP and email server host -- part of a package deal that also includes a small SharePoint site for one price. I'm trying to evaluate this set up from a standpoint of disaster recovery. I'm aware, as with all cloud solutions, that we'll simply have to trust Comcast to remain up and recoverable if we're going to use them this way. But what I'm trying to do is find out some history, ratings, or reviews on their reliability and recoverability for their hosting of Outlook/Exchange and SharePoint.
They aren't forthcoming in our requests for this info. Basically, this is a small/midsize business solution and support is telling us that until there's a problem, there's nothing to talk about. So, I turn to AskMe.
I'm not looking for critiques of SharePoint or Microsoft, please. Just trying to find if anyone knows any history of Comcast for their uptime, data loss, recovery of the data services they provide.
Thanks.
We left Comcast some time ago so I can't speak directly to the Sharepoint issue, but I can say that their customer service is, as you have discovered, less than responsive with questions that can't be looked up in their database.
If they'll give you your data in a portable format (i.e., you can turn around and pour it into a fresh Sharepoint / SQL Server install) then you're obviously not locked in. If they won't do that or don't have crystal-clear documentation on how to replicate your environment (from config files to databases to IIS settings) then you're just waiting for a failure to cripple you.
posted by introp at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2011
If they'll give you your data in a portable format (i.e., you can turn around and pour it into a fresh Sharepoint / SQL Server install) then you're obviously not locked in. If they won't do that or don't have crystal-clear documentation on how to replicate your environment (from config files to databases to IIS settings) then you're just waiting for a failure to cripple you.
posted by introp at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2011
I can only speak for Comcast TV and internet... and they're known throughout the area for sucking and having terrible customer service.
In my house (roommate has the account and deals with them), they have come 4 times to fix the fact that 10+ channels variably don't work right (video and audio not syncing or being distorted) -- they have yet to actually do anything.
posted by DoubleLune at 4:53 PM on October 7, 2011
In my house (roommate has the account and deals with them), they have come 4 times to fix the fact that 10+ channels variably don't work right (video and audio not syncing or being distorted) -- they have yet to actually do anything.
posted by DoubleLune at 4:53 PM on October 7, 2011
Availability and durability guarantees are usually spelled out in a service-level agreement. Do they not have one?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 5:50 PM on October 7, 2011
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 5:50 PM on October 7, 2011
I like to have my hosting, registration and ISP all be different. I've had one of those three go down before, and always it's quite nice to know that the other two "legs" of my online *ahem* stool are not in the same boat.
Also comcast is definitely NOT known for its tender customer ministrations. Use a smaller, well-recommended hosting service.
posted by Aquaman at 6:42 PM on October 7, 2011
Also comcast is definitely NOT known for its tender customer ministrations. Use a smaller, well-recommended hosting service.
posted by Aquaman at 6:42 PM on October 7, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks, all for your answers, but I guess I wasn't clear with the specific question I mean to ask.
Specifically, what I'm hoping to find out is if there are any third-party reviews or customer reviews, experiences, etc available with regard to uptime and recovery performance of Comcast data hosting services for business.
posted by buzzv at 6:45 PM on October 7, 2011
Specifically, what I'm hoping to find out is if there are any third-party reviews or customer reviews, experiences, etc available with regard to uptime and recovery performance of Comcast data hosting services for business.
posted by buzzv at 6:45 PM on October 7, 2011
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If they're not being forthcoming about that kind of information, I would simply find a different provider. To me, without any data on what could happen in a failure situation, I would be extremely hesitant to put anything that I would be unhappy to lose on that kind of solution.
Amazon's EC2 would require more setup (i.e., you'd have to deal with obtaining outlook and sharepoint licenses, and figure out the way of backup that makes you most comfortable [probably involving periodically backing up each instance's data to different hosting regions]), but I would feel more confident in such a solution. Pricing, though, I have no idea on the difference thereof. I've been happy with my instance, though, for my own small personal things, and resizing (growing, shrinking is more difficult), backing up, and other similar tasks are all possible and most importantly transparent.
posted by jangie at 3:18 PM on October 7, 2011