When it works, it is ok. When it doesn't work, or you need tech support or information, you are out of luck. Even if you manage to reach them on the phone, the only thing you get is a recording redirecting you to a web portal.
It may be fine for very large customers who spend a lot of money with them and get priority service, but for small and medium sized users they are the pits.
Love this service except for one very critical thing... the quality of their technical support has swirled the drain completely. It used to be one of the best in the business... but now they are the worst.
They took away telephone support from the vast majority of their customers... now you have to be a top-tier client before they'll deign to talk to you on the phone... meanwhile, they have relegated clients like me to the outer reaches of Support Hell.
Case in point. Needed an emergency restore on a database for a client. Client's dead in the water. Tried to upload it using their tools. Failed. Size limit. Submitted a ticket to increase the upload size limit. They wrote back and claimed that it had been done, and for us to test and verify. Failed again, even after rebooting the server (wouldn't they have done that after changing core settings?). This is 16 hours after the request went in. We even uploaded the backup to our server, told them where it was, and asked them if they could at least import it for us, since utilities like pUTTy don't work our dedicated server for some mysterious reason. No answer. They were told the issue HAD to be resolved by 8:00am.
No resolution. No communication. Nothing. No telephone number to call. And yet, if we're ONE DAY LATE on paying for the server, they shut us off.
These guys SUCK!
My dedicated server was moved from fastservers to layered tech through their acquisition of fastservers.
Since then, in the last month and a half, I have opened at least 6 trouble tickets, all requesting the same thing, and update to PLESK, for which they maintain the license and support requirements (according to the PLESK vendor).
It started with a security breach in version 8.6 of PLESK, which allowed malware to be installed on my web sites. Once this was determined (by me), I asked LT to update PLESK to a later version. I never got a reply to my request except to be told it was priority 3.
My site was down for a day and it took more time to track down and remove the malware allowed by the very old copy of PLESK on the server.
Then another incident was opened, asking for a PLESK upgrade. No response.
I used PLESK update to update to version 10.0.0, and had some problems with DNS locating my sites (1 day outage). I asked for help with the new version of PLESK from LT. No response except an automatic downgrade to priority 3.
I had to contact the PLESK vendor and pay for private problem resolution, since I do not have a license to PLESK (layered tech does!). The PLESK vendor resolved the problem rapidly...it was actually their bug, fixed in a later release, but they still charged me $75.
Now, this version of PLESK is doing full backups daily which fill my /backup partition after 4 days so I have to remove them manually via telnet at least every 4 days.
I opened another ticket, explaining that PLESK support, which was installed by the hosting vendor was their responsibility. Immediately dropped to priority 3.
Finally, a layered tech engineer logged into the PLESK panel, didn't fix anything, and has not updated the incident in any way. They have completely dropped the ball.
After about a half dozen tickets, I have to say, they have the worst support I have ever seen in any online business.
I am searching alternatives now...I pay $183/mo, but they don't want my business apparently.
Support has only be helpful to us a few times, once we had to help them, at best I think some of your staff is way below par in how they handle tickets, help with support, etc.
As long as the server has no issues or problems Layered Tech is good but if an issue or problem comes up forget it you have a better chance of getting a roach to do math than support to help
I have been a customer of Layered Technologies since June of 2005. Since then, I have had little to no issues with their service. Pricing could be a little bit better (I’m paying ~$150 for a Pentium 4 with two gigs of RAM and cPanel), but overall, value is great. Support is great – I have rarely needed to put a ticket in, but when I do raise a ticket, response is very quick; within 5-10 minutes, sometimes even less. If you are a customer needing a high-end dedicated server for your corporation, Layered Technolgies is the web hosting provider for you and your company. Whether or not you are experienced with working with servers, they are willing to help. If you have no experience, or even little experience, they offer ‘DEFCON’ services which basically is just management for your server. Layered Tech are also great if you need a dedicated server quickly. They have a service called ‘Rapid Deploy’, which guarantees provisioning within a half hour. And, no matter what service you get, managed, unmanaged, rapid deploy, etcetera, they use high-quality hardware on all of their builds. Overall, I give Layered Tech the best possible rating that I can – five stars across the board.
I have dedicated server from LayeredTech and it's %100 uptime :) When i submit an emergency ticket, there is always some to check it and the action is immediate. I recommend Layered Tech to my valued friends, because there must be some difference between Layered Tech customers and the other ones.
The first time that i got the server, i did sth wrong and the Linux got mad, and i opened a support ticket. The customer support had solved it in minutes.
I have more than 400 online people on my server, that means i need more than 100MBit. Layered Tech offers 1 Gbit line with %100 uptime. You must see the speed of the net.
Layered Tech is probably the best VPS host you can get right now, their support is solid, their prices are fair (though admittedly not the cheapest) and their connectivity is incredible. No issues to date.
Layered Tech is a global web hosting company based in Texas in the USA. It does not offer the usual array of web hosting plans and packages, such as shared hosting. Instead, Layered Tech is a company which specialises in government-compliant, secure cloud hosting services.
Layered Tech Hosting Plans
The Layered Tech website does not provide any plans for customers to choose from. Instead, new clients need to contact the company for a quote. This is largely due to the type of hosting and services it offers: most of its services are specialised.
There doesn’t seem to be any standard shared hosting, just dedicated servers, managed hosting services and cloud solutions.
Layered Tech’s hosting is designed to be compliant with US government regulations, including
● PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards)
● HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
● FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act)
Cloud services offered by Layered Tech range from cloud servers to dedicated cloud data centers and private clouds. Its dedicated hosting allows customers to choose from Linux or Windows based operating systems, along with a range of control panels. The customer can also choose from different levels of managed services to support their business needs.
LayeredTech Uptime/Downtime
The services offered by Layered Tech are at the top of the scale price-wise. As such, they are backed by a comprehensive SLA. This includes a 100% network uptime guarantee and a 100% infrastructure uptime guarantee, each guaranteeing availability at all times, outside of scheduled maintenance periods. This is fairly common for cloud hosting, but it’s nice to see it ‘on paper’.
There is a managed service guarantee which compensates customers who have purchased managed servers if uptimes fall below 100%. There is also a 2 hour ‘hardware replacement guarantee’ for customers who haven’t purchased any managed services. This comepsates them for any unscheduled downtime.
The company’s servers are based in three top-tier data centres in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City in the USA. These are backed up by secondary data centres in locations around the globe, including Asia, Europe and North America. Each data centre has high levels of security and robust monitoring.
LayeredTech Support
The support provided by Layered Tech varies, depending on whether the customer purchases a managed service.
If customers do not purchase a managed service, there is a US based support line (toll-free) and a ticketing system they can use.
Managed services are split into 4 categories. Each provides different levels of monitoring, system administration, database administration and network administration features.
● Layer 1 - Monitoring
● Layer 2 - Active Support
● Layer 3 - Full Management
● Layer 4 - Compliance Management
Layered Tech maintains active Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Staff do take the time to interact with customers on these sites, so the company obviously sees the potential in providing support over social media.
LayeredTech in the News
Despite being a global business providing a wide range of ‘high-end’ services, Layered Tech does not often appear in the major tech news sites. There are several smaller sites which re-publish press releases and blog articles, but these can generally be found on the Layered Tech website or social media sites. As far as negative press is concerned, I didn’t find any.
LayeredTech Control Panel
When it comes to the issue of a control panel, there are a wide range of choices, depending on whether hosting is based on Linux or Windows operating systems. In general, customers who have purchased Windows hosting can choose between Parallels Plesk or Parallels Pro. Linux hosting customers get cPanel and Direct Admin in addition. There is a useful page on the Layered Tech site indicating which of its control panels are compatible with different operating systems.
LayeredTech Extras
Hosting with Layered Tech does not come with the usual range of freebies and extras that usually come bundled with shared hosting plans. This is unsurprising, as the services offered by Layered Tech are designed for large businesses who would not benefit from them in many cases.
LayeredTech Money Back Guarantee / Cancellation Policy
There is no money-back guarantee available to Layered Tech customers. As its services are generally designed for large organisations, this is unsurprising. Very few web hosting businesses offer money-back guarantees for dedicated hosting and Layered Tech are no exception. The promise of 100% uptime should be enough for most customers at this level.
LayeredTech Summary
Layered Tech stand out in when compared to other hosting companies. The company has a very specific business focus and will appeal to large US-based finance organisations and major stores. Layered Tech’s range of support options and compliance guarantees, backed by its comprehensive SLA, will be well suited to this niche. However, if you are looking for a simple hosting plan for your personal or small business website, you will need to look elsewhere.
Fast growing shared hosting provider, BlueHost, offers a plan with plenty of features and unlimited domains.
Read our BlueHost Reviews
Web Hosting Hub offer an incredible deal: unlimited bandwidth & disk space, plus phone support, for $4.95/mo. What's not to like?
Read our Web Hosting Hub Reviews
InMotion Hosting was founded in 2001 and is co-owned by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson. Today, the company trades under the company name of InMotion Hosting.
Read our InMotion Hosting Reviews
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They overcharge, they don't try to sell you what you actually need. We paid $360 a month for a server for years. Godaddy now gives us the same thing for $60 a month and the service is better. The worse thing about Layered, when we were going to leave, they worked out a deal with us to keep us for $90 a month. We signed paperwork that they drafted, we faxed it over, then "the boss" over there cancelled the deal on his fanciful whim. Apparently all their contracts have a clause that says they can waste your time and cancel for no reason whatsoever. Don't waste your time with these jerks. They are the worst company I've ever dealt with online. Godaddy rocks!