The term "mind-numbing" was used in the previous review. The only thing mind-numbing about Softlayer is the sheer incompetence when it comes to support. On several instances what should have been 1 hour of downtime resulted in catastrophes that resulted in 24 hours+ of downtime, multiple re-installs of an OS (seemingly because they had some random hardware failures), provisioning problems, multiple HOURS of a machine sitting idle waiting for a tech to "get back to it" during a re-install, etc.

If you depend on your hosting machines and turnaround time is important to you you might want to look elsewhere. While their uptime is generally good the next most important thing is problem resolution, and this is an area where they fail miserably.

My last "support" experience went something like this. A lot of mangled TCP/IP packets were hitting our server, filling up logs and generally pointing out either an issue with the NIC or the network serving it. The "support" person first gave us very generic advice (update to the latest of everything) ... ok, fair enough -- even though the issue started well after our last installation or update -- to placate them we updated. Same problems existed. They then processed to "accidentally" knock the server offline for 20 minutes while testing the NIC (and seeming didn't even know until we pointed it out to them). The root of the issue was incomplete/damaged TCP/IP packets coming into the NIC. Their resolution? They DISABLED TOS (which is the option for the NIC to repair the damaged packets). Why? The tech said "Ok, now you won't see all these errors in your logs."

The problem was not the errors showing up int he logs, the problem was that the errors were happening in the first place. Subsequent trouble tickets have been ignored, stating that this was already "fixed". We are seeing massive packet loss to the server now (25% +). Waiting to see what kind of wet blanket fix they come up with for this one as we are searching for a new hosting company.

P.S. This is not on a "cheap" server, nor is it small time. This is a site that pulls in many millions of unique IP's visits a month, not someone's blog.

SoftLayer is one of those hosting providers that is simply mind-numbingly awesome. They're the only dedicated server provider I've seen that gives you everything from IP KVM to ethernet control, remote power outlet control, automated OS reloads/changes all through the control panel, all with no tickets. They've automated their processes to make it easier for you to manage your business infrastructure with minimal interaction with their tech team, which frees their techs up to handle the more intricate issues on the network and hardware side of things.

Their network is absolutely top notch. You've got the public network, but aside from that there is a private network - all of your servers and services, whether physical or virtual, whether in Dallas, Seattle, or DC are able to communicate securely on your own private VLAN with no bandwidth charges. I have never seen an unplanned network outage affect services in my entire time working with them, and even planned outages generally are set up so well that services are entirely unaffected.

SoftLayer is definitely not for everyone - to take full advantage of their systems you have to be well versed in server administration. They do offer managed services but it's on a per ticket basis with a $3 fee per ticket, so if you're looking for fully managed they're not for you.

Sside from being extremely well versed in what they're doing, the techs some of the most professional support personnel I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Their responses are quick, to the point, and if there's something that needs clarification they're very good at asking the right questions. If you really need to clarify something and typing it out isn't working they're just a phone call away, but tickets are the preferred method of communication. I've only opened up 45 support tickets since 2006 - and while you may think that's a lot, the majority of it was hardware upgrades and just simple questions about the infrastructure to help me better plan my setup. There have been less than 5 instances where support needed to get involved to get something fixed. Whenever I had a problem, working on it with the tools they provide almost always proved to be successful.

Bottom line: If you want a server that you can manage yourself and have fast, fine grained control over, SoftLayer is the host for you. They're more expensive than the competition, but you get what you pay for. Actually, with SoftLayer I'd say you get far more than you pay for!

The only thing I wish I'd known before becoming a customer was that they existed. I'd been through several hosting companies all with several nightmares. As soon as a friend referred me to SoftLayer, I checked it out and was immediately sold. I will not be taking my business elsewhere - nothing compares.