Feburary of last year I wrote a review on LET of Catalyst Host. Overall I gave them a pretty good recommendation. Now its been over a year since that review, I wanted to post it here as a follow up, mainly since I've added more services to my account.
I'll break this down into the same categories again.
Billing/Sales Support
Late last year Jarland took up a position somewhere else, and left the CH team. At first this was a shock to me, but I eventually got better with it. They brought on another member, Don, while Ryan still handled issues as well.
I've made some rather weird and off-the-wall requests to the team and they have accomendated me the best they could. Probably more than they should have, lol. But, I haven't had any qualms with them.
If Ryan can do it, and its feasible (i.e.: makes business sense), he does it. Don has, for me, filled some pretty big shoes nicely with the leave of Jarland.
They also really try to keep people in the know about service statuses (i.e.: dropping/adding services) and giving ample time to migrate over to something else.
Technical Support
It was just a little bit ago that they got IPv6 support again. They did have it in the Denver DC, but due to whatever reasons they have they weren't able to migrate it over to other centers. Which, for IPv6, I could care less (IPv4 is still the present sadly).
When it comes to routine maintenance, again, they keep you in the know. When unexpected issues happen, however, they like to update when they can.
The only thing "negative" (and I use that term loosely) I can say about it is that they sent me 4-5 emails with new IP details, instead of including it all in one...but I'm thinking that's more of a mass-emailer issue than actual service. Just more of a heads up if you purchase numerous services from them.
Their KVM support is pretty high too. I was having issues in the beginning getting networking figured out (CentOS isn't always a nice OS...). While the team is more of an Debian/apt following, they did try their hardest to fix my issues...even as far as editing the files I needed themselves in some instances.
Speed
I'm on the Dallas DC completely now, and looking to get into their Seattle DC when/if things finalize on that. I haven't noticed any difference since the last review I did. However, with the KVM I have noticed something...
RIght now one of my KVMs (I have 2) is set up running a bunch of LXC containers, each containing separate segments of my business' website. I've noticed no slowdowns in the chaining that has to happen now compared to running it all on one instance.
Control Panel
Can't remember when exactly, but sometime last year (think ~July), after running into numerous issues with VirtPanel, they switched back to SolusVM. While I'm not personally happy with the choice, I understand why.
Pricing
I really think Ryan is crazy sometimes with the deals he gives out.
To give an example, I picked up 5 entry-level KVMs from them for about $15-20/month total. Mind you, the same KVM, standard price, is about $20 (for just one!). It was Thanksgiving and they gave out a 75% off coupon. Even though I terminated all but 2 (couldn't front the bill at the time), I was amazed to say the least.
Response Times
I haven't ran into any hiccups since last on tickets. I don't always get the response as fast as I want, but that's a personal issue, and won't fault them on that.
Cons
This review is shorter than the first, but a lot of things haven't really changed per-say. Still excellent service, personable support and unlike some other hosters I haven't had accidental data loss that was their fault.
I'd recommend them in aheartbleed heartbeat and be happy in doing so.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
I'll break this down into the same categories again.
Billing/Sales Support
Late last year Jarland took up a position somewhere else, and left the CH team. At first this was a shock to me, but I eventually got better with it. They brought on another member, Don, while Ryan still handled issues as well.
I've made some rather weird and off-the-wall requests to the team and they have accomendated me the best they could. Probably more than they should have, lol. But, I haven't had any qualms with them.
If Ryan can do it, and its feasible (i.e.: makes business sense), he does it. Don has, for me, filled some pretty big shoes nicely with the leave of Jarland.
They also really try to keep people in the know about service statuses (i.e.: dropping/adding services) and giving ample time to migrate over to something else.
Technical Support
It was just a little bit ago that they got IPv6 support again. They did have it in the Denver DC, but due to whatever reasons they have they weren't able to migrate it over to other centers. Which, for IPv6, I could care less (IPv4 is still the present sadly).
When it comes to routine maintenance, again, they keep you in the know. When unexpected issues happen, however, they like to update when they can.
The only thing "negative" (and I use that term loosely) I can say about it is that they sent me 4-5 emails with new IP details, instead of including it all in one...but I'm thinking that's more of a mass-emailer issue than actual service. Just more of a heads up if you purchase numerous services from them.
Their KVM support is pretty high too. I was having issues in the beginning getting networking figured out (CentOS isn't always a nice OS...). While the team is more of an Debian/apt following, they did try their hardest to fix my issues...even as far as editing the files I needed themselves in some instances.
Speed
I'm on the Dallas DC completely now, and looking to get into their Seattle DC when/if things finalize on that. I haven't noticed any difference since the last review I did. However, with the KVM I have noticed something...
RIght now one of my KVMs (I have 2) is set up running a bunch of LXC containers, each containing separate segments of my business' website. I've noticed no slowdowns in the chaining that has to happen now compared to running it all on one instance.
Control Panel
Can't remember when exactly, but sometime last year (think ~July), after running into numerous issues with VirtPanel, they switched back to SolusVM. While I'm not personally happy with the choice, I understand why.
Pricing
I really think Ryan is crazy sometimes with the deals he gives out.
To give an example, I picked up 5 entry-level KVMs from them for about $15-20/month total. Mind you, the same KVM, standard price, is about $20 (for just one!). It was Thanksgiving and they gave out a 75% off coupon. Even though I terminated all but 2 (couldn't front the bill at the time), I was amazed to say the least.
Response Times
I haven't ran into any hiccups since last on tickets. I don't always get the response as fast as I want, but that's a personal issue, and won't fault them on that.
Cons
This review is shorter than the first, but a lot of things haven't really changed per-say. Still excellent service, personable support and unlike some other hosters I haven't had accidental data loss that was their fault.
I'd recommend them in a
If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
