Web host trouble

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Apr 2002

Hi
I joined this forum as a last resort to an email from my web host demanding money for me for 1 gb of space, whereas my disk quota is limited to 25 mb. They claim I'm using nearly 2 Gb of space in all-god knows how, and I have to cough up money for that, or they'll take action against me and deactivate my other sites. They are resellers of Rackspace managed servers.
The site in question is merapatna.com/
I'm worried about the host playing dirty and shutting off dhcreative.net/ and toxinweb.net/
Is it possible that I'm using 1 gig of space while my limit is just 25 mb? Sad
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Aman.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

yes it's possible, though I don't know why they wouldn't set limits on the space available. Check your files -- it might be log files that are filling up the space if your websites don't use the room.

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Tell them about the disceprancy in your accounting and theirs. Ask them to provide you with a summary of your file usage, which would be simple to do. If they refuse to do this, you will need to find another host as they are trying to rip you off.

As Suzanne mentioned, the log files can get quite large but most hosts prune those for you monthly any way. If you have a database on the site, some hosts count the size of it towards your total. I suppose the only other way would be if they were keeping full daily backups of your site. But if they are doing that they are idiots any way.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

They have: 117 posts

Joined: Feb 2002

Gig? Hmmm... sounds to me like the issue isn't space, but bandwidth. Could your site have done enough traffic to exceed your monthly bandwidth allotment?

They have: 601 posts

Joined: Nov 2001

Yep, I agree with you there doublehelix - this sounds like a bandwidth issue, not storage.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

If it's bandwidth, they aren't very clear with their customers, lol. 1-2G of traffic is much different than 1-2G of files.

Which is it, dahlink? Traffic or disk space?

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Apr 2002

They're using Plesk Server Management software, though they refuse to admit it, and they claim I'm using up 1 GIG of webspace-thats including my "stored" emails and site files. [using some command called du/sk i think-personally, I've been using Linux/Unix for ages and have never come across this command. Maybe I need to work on my Linux/Unix skills]

My site files amount to 2.5 mb approx. All emails are directed to my Everyone.net account as per MX record changes I'd ask for right at the outset of our business relationship. Hence, there is no way my emails land up on their servers or are stored there. Everything is on Everyone.net. The total space I'm alloted is 25 Mb. Traffic limits are 500mb a month, which I don't exceed. When asked about how much disk space I'm using, they give me a 6 digit number [906785 for example] and say that amounts to nearly a gig of space, whereas to me, that's closer to an MegaByte rather than a gig [or am I wrong there?].

The best part is that they've put down my site, http://toxinweb.net/ too now. I still have access to my Stargate Inc control panel for my domain. If I change the nameserver settings and password there, will this host get to know? Will I be able to transition to a new host simply by changing the nameservers and buying webspace from them? Can I take any legal action against the current sleazy host-I'm Australia based, the host is registered in India, and has US based servers. Any suggestions?

Help this kid please.Sad

PS: Last week, Toxinweb.net was down, so I raised a support ticket-they replied to it and said they'd fix it up by Wednesday [that's 4 days into the problem]. Then I get another email saying I owe them a couple of thousand dollars and till I don't pay that, my site remains dead. Man, for a couple of thousand bucks, I could get my own managed servers at Rackspace or Exodus. Any suggestions as to what I should do now?

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Apr 2002

The log files do tend to get really big, but its their job to prune them IMHO.
And even if you do something to the log files, the host gets mad and asks you to cough up money to "reset" your account to its initial state.
Either way, the customer loses.

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