For the last several years, I've used the Domino Developer Network to host my personal Notes apps. Overall, I've not had any problems. Support requests weren't answered in 2 seconds, but since they weren't critical, I got decent responses - except for the one time the request got lost entirely.
Last month, however, I created some new XPage apps and moved them up. When I tried them from a browser, they didn't work. A little troubleshooting showed that ".xsp is not recognized" - meaning the Domino server isn't 8+. DDN says it's servers are 8.5 so I put a support ticket in the middle of last month. After over a week of not hearing anything, I put another in. Both are sitting in the queue without response. I gave it more time, then emailed the only other addresses I could find, billing and sales. I got an automated message back that had a phone number. Yesterday I called that. I couldn't get anywhere, the automatic system just bounded me around until it hung up on me (twice).
Since I'm not getting any response from DDN, I'm going to have to look for a new hosting provider, so does anyone have any suggestions? I'm itching to get my XPage apps up.
I'm really disappointed in DDN for this. I've been a quite customer for years, and now it seems I can't get any response at all from them. I think I've given them more than enough time (since we're now talking over a month) to make some response. I know they have different levels of support, and I'm not on the 'drop everything and run' level, but this is much longer than I'm willing to take. And I've been patient. But I've not gotten any acknowledgment that they have seen my requests for help, or asking me for clarification. Whenever a vendor does this type of thing, it says to me, the customer, only one thing "We don't care about your business." Vendors can do something to show they are at least queuing up a request - and I'd take that. My not this silence. They are getting my money, but they don't seem to be interested in it any more. So I guess I'll have to see if someone else is interested in my money.
So, suggestions? Good hosting plans? I actually own a copy of Domino, so I could even use a non-Domino hosting site if I could load it on.
Cheers,
Brian
Comments (7)
I'm not sure what the pricing structure is, but you might want to take a look at GROUP Live:
You can also try the Amazon Cloud thing. Since you're testing xpage apps that's legit I'd think.You just pay Amazon whatever their rate is.
@2 your looking at around USD 600 per year using spot pricing or nearer to USD 1,000 using normal pricing
I've used www.wwow.com in the past. Not sure how their rates compare, but the service was great.
The guys over at Prominic.net are great. Long time specialists in Domino hosting, very responsive. Servers never go down. "Development Hosting" starts at $10/month: http://prominic.net/web.nsf/pages/domino
My blog (www.lotusguru.com) and Notes mail have been running on
Prominic for years with zero issues. About the only time I have to
contact them is when I want them to upgrade the servers. Speaking
of which...
It depends on your hosting requirements. If you are doing a single non-blog database Prominc works great. (we host blogs for free)
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I heard from someone who is also having trouble with DDN. Her company as been without their Lotus Notes email for days and they haven't been able to get a response from DDN at all - trying the support system (which submits a form) or the telephone number.
Brian