Questions worth asking any provider
Everyone's website says the same things. These are the questions whose answers actually differ, including ours.
1. Who owns the network?
Ask whether they run their own routers and their own transit, or resell someone else's. It decides whether a routing problem is something they can fix or something they can only forward.
Us: our own network, our own routing, our own carriers. If a path to you is bad, we can change it.
2. Is the uplink behind unmetered ports oversold?
Unmetered is meaningless if forty ports share one uplink. Ask for the ratio, and watch whether the answer is a number or a paragraph.
Us: no overselling. It is the whole product; see what unmetered actually means.
3. Who answers support, and when?
“24/7 support” can mean an engineer at three in the morning or a ticket queue that opens at nine. Ask who writes the first reply.
Us: engineers, around the clock, in the building where the machines are.
4. How fast is hardware replaced, and from where?
The answer reveals whether they hold stock or order parts when something fails.
Us: parts on site in Amsterdam, replaced by our own people. See hardware failure.
5. What is the actual delivery time?
Ask what happens if the configuration is not in stock, because that is the number that matters.
Us: usually within the hour for a standard build, because we assemble from parts we hold.
6. Where is the data, and under whose law?
For European businesses this is a compliance question, not a preference. Ask for the jurisdiction, the processing agreement and who could compel disclosure.
Us: Amsterdam, Dutch and EU law, a published data processing agreement and a privacy statement you can read before you sign.
7. What is in the acceptable use policy?
Read it before you buy, not after a suspension. A vague AUP is a provider who wants the option to decide later.
Us: the AUP is specific about what is not allowed and what happens if it is.
8. What does the SLA actually pay out?
Most SLAs are a number with no mechanism. Ask how a claim is made and whether credits are automatic.
Us: the SLA is published in full, including how to claim; see claiming service credits.
9. Can you leave?
Ask about notice, data export and what happens to your disks afterwards. A provider who makes leaving awkward is telling you something.
Us: monthly on dedicated servers, no exit fee, and leaving explains exactly what happens to your data.
The meta-question
How long does a specific question take to get a specific answer? If it takes three emails to find out the oversubscription ratio, that is the support experience you have just sampled.
Still stuck? Mail support@novogara.com — an engineer answers, at any hour. Back to the knowledge base