# Catalyst Host review



## ehansen (May 1, 2014)

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 a heartbleed heartbeat and be happy in doing so.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.


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## ryanarp (May 1, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words!!


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## HalfEatenPie (May 1, 2014)

Thanks!  



ehansen said:


> 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.


Yeah...  Sorry about that, this is all me haha.  I know my way around Debian much better than I know my way around CentOS unfortunately (which isn't too bad per se, but still sometimes is lacking at times).  I'll make sure to study up on CentOS more!


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## clownjugglar (May 2, 2014)

I'm not good at reviews so I'll just add my thoughts here.

I got in on a 96MB OVZ deal with Catalysthost. I run pretty strict SSL settings when I browse at work via SSH tunnel (which was with ramnode at the time), and I noticed that I was getting a certificate warning with Catalyst's website when trying to order. Turns out it had something to do with missing an intermediate certificate? I forget but it was an easy fix once I got them screenshots and such. They even gave a $3 credit which was awesome and unexpected as I was just helping out.

Very very responsive ticket support (the https ticket and one ticket to move from monthly to yearly was all I've done). The network is pretty quick too, makes a good personal mirror for me in Tampa FL for when I can't find a fast mirror elsewhere. We did have to change IPs once, but that's no sweat for me just a few quick config changes and DNS update and good to go.

I use the VPS to run dnscrypt (nice tutorial on vpsboard btw), mumble, prosody xmpp server and as my SSH tunnel for me and a friend. Probably about 5-6 months into my 1 year purchase and so far so good. Keep it up.

edit: I usually lurk logged out, but logged in finally to post this. Yay?


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## ryanarp (May 2, 2014)

clownjugglar said:


> I'm not good at reviews so I'll just add my thoughts here.
> 
> I got in on a 96MB OVZ deal with Catalysthost.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the additional feedback, we really do appreciate it. I am generally pretty bad about being really active on these forums, for sure something I have on my improve list. Glad to see you take the step to make a first post.


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