A few, no, several questions...

Well obviously what you really want is a response from caker (who is the owner and administrator of Linode) but I will throw my two cents in here. Please note that I do NOT work for Linode.com, I am just a customer, and my answers may not be 100% accurate because of this …

@nautix:

I sent two e-mail messages with pre-sale questions have yet to get an answer.

Before I entrust my customers to your service, I'd like to get some more information:

How long have you been in business?

As far as I can tell, Linode started as a concept in November or December of 2002. I believe that Chris (caker) worked on designing and implementing the system for about seven months, bringing Linode.com live in July of 2003.

Chris also has theshore.net, which was I believe his first venture as an ISP. theshore.net is still running and from what I can tell, has satisfied customers. But it is not directly related to Linode.com (in that none of the Linode equipment or service runs on theshore.net's facilities - except maybe for DNS).

@nautix:

Who are the principals and what are their credentials for operating a hosting company?

How many technicians and engineers are on your staff?

Caker (Chris Aker) is your man. I believe that he is the proprietor and sole employee of Linode.com. I also was concerned about this lack of redundancy when I was considering signing up for Linode.

Thus far, this has not been an issue. Caker has been very responsive (as many emails on this forum will testify) although I think that there can be weekends or a day here or there when he is off doing something else and replies are delayed.

@nautix:

I could find no phone number on the Web site and no one has responded to e-mail yet. Please convince me that this is not indicative of the level of support you provide to your customers.

I'd say that in my experience, and also from the experience of the vast majority of users, whose opinions you can find variously scattered throughout these boards, this is not indicative of the level of support you will receive. There have been people who have posted asking that their question or problem be addressed and have apparently had to wait a day or two, but this does seem to be the exception rather than the norm.

@nautix:

Please describe your data center (location, physical security, disaster mitigation, etc.).

Since caker uses colocation for all of his boxes you can get this information directly from the data centers that host Linode.com. The first 8 host systems (I think that is correct) are at The Planet (theplanet.com). Host systems 9 and up (the new hosts and the ones new accounts are most likely to be added to) are at Hurricane Electric (he.net). I think that the facilities are top notch, and that you are unlikely to find better anywhere else.

@nautix:

Why are there no derogatory posts on the BBS (well, I haven't found any yet)? No one has 100% customer satisfaction. Are complaints censored? How you respond to problem customers speaks volumes more than how you deal with the loyal ones.

Except for the very rare exception, users of these forums are very civilized and so you won't find derogatory posts. There is the occasional thread in which someone is unhappy about something; generally these issues have been cleared up. But for the vast majority of users, there simply haven't been any problems to complain about.

For what it's worth, I couldn't be happier with my Linode. It has been rock solid for me, the performance has been great, caker has been very helpful and responsive, and I can't really think of a single problem that I have had.

@nautix:

I hope these questions don't pose a problem. I'm just trying to be thorough before I chuck my colo box and subcribe with a service provider.

I think it is important to be thorough before choosing a service provider, and that your questions are quite appropriate.

Best wishes,

Bryan

Hi,

What Bryan posted seems correct.

The phone number is listed on every page of the site, at the bottom

Sales Inquires: (615) 293-3169

Adam

@Anonymous:

Well obviously what you really want is a response from caker (who is the owner and administrator of Linode) but I will throw my two cents in here. Please note that I do NOT work for Linode.com, I am just a customer, and my answers may not be 100% accurate because of this …

Whoops I guess I forgot to log in when I made that post. Just to be sure that the right person is credited/blamed for that post, it was made by me, bji …

Thanks!

Bryan

Thanks bji for your response…

@bji:

Thus far, this has not been an issue. Caker has been very responsive (as many emails on this forum will testify) although I think that there can be weekends or a day here or there when he is off doing something else and replies are delayed.
While this might apply to emails and inquiries, it does not for support tickets, as I am "on-call" for ticket requests and regardless of what I'm doing (which I pretty much do nothing else besides Linode) at least will review new tickets minutes after they come in.

Thanks,

-Chris

> The phone number is listed on every page of the site, at the bottom

So it is, right there in white on gray. I think I need glasses, or I need to adjust the tilt on my LCD screen.

I certainly appreciate the responses from all, especially Chris. It says a lot to see such an active user community.

Also, to clarify one of my earlier questions, I meant "derogatory" as in "something that detracts or diminishes". One can make a derogatory comment and still be civil (e.g., notations of late payments on one's credit report are often called "derogatories"; they are stated matter-of-factly but are not personally offensive). Perhaps, bji, you thought I meant "rude" or "vulgar".

I was looking for examples of how Chris handles problems with his customers and the types of problems those might be (user error, UML stability, overselling, etc.).

Again, thanks.

@nautix:

> The phone number is listed on every page of the site, at the bottom
So it is, right there in white on gray. I think I need glasses, or I need to adjust the tilt on my LCD screen.
I doubt you need new glasses as it isn't very visible to begin with. I'll get that fixed. :)

@nautix:

Why are there no derogatory posts on the BBS (well, I haven't found any yet)? No one has 100% customer satisfaction. Are complaints censored? How you respond to problem customers speaks volumes more than how you deal with the loyal ones.
I can tell you I haven't deleted a single post on this forum since day one.

I've been fortunate enough to not get into a bad situation with any customer, not that there hasn't been reasons to drive someone to insanity, you see. But, most of the bugs/quirks have been worked out and things have been running very smoothly across the board for the past few months.

A lot of it has to do with making sure everyone has clear expectations. Linode.com is responsible for keeping the Linodes up and running, the client is responsible for keeping their services within their Linode running. And because of that expectation, we draw clients who tends to be more adept or have aptitude for doing stuff themselves and learning.

I have had two situations where the customer has been irate (both times having nothing to do with me or the service), but what can you do other than think "I've been where this guy is with Company X before" (usually involving banks and their sneaky fees and limits – I hate banks). I'm laid back enough, not egotistical when money is involved, and have enough common sense to not take things personally, that it's not really an issue for me.

Thanks,

-Chris

He speaks the truth :)

The sole concern I have is what would happen to Linode if Chris were drawn away from it for extended periods of time. Aside from that, everything is absolutely fantastic here, I can't recommend the place enough.