LooseSuits Thread: Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

bitsonewmedia — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 04:38:58

I've heard great things about MT's service over the years but I always felt like they were a lot of hype becuase they got so many "celebrity" endorsements. They've always been the it host. For the first time, I've started seeing some complaints about downtime. Everybody has bad weeks, though. Maybe it's just a fluke.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Chris24 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:03:59

I'm really surprised that (mt) is having this much downtime, and well, slowness. They power a lot of really great sites, and seem to be a great company (for example, this participate in this conversation, they respond to some comments on their blog, etc). I really hope they improve, or get back to what they used to be like (that is, when they had really nice hosting with hardly any downtime or latencies).

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

armen — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:33:29

I bought one month of hosting, before I plan to move over to (mt). After this episode, they haven't really sold themselves to me. I mean, I've had downtime before with other hosts, but never in my life did I witness anything like this from such a 'reputable' company.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

cavemonkey50 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:11:20

Have you guys been following the the system status updates? It sounds like the company they use to handle their storage components (BlueArc) screwed up. Media Temple is in a tough situation with them at the moment and it sounds like they're waiting on them.

If you're really bothered by this issue, I would submit a support ticket claiming how the downtime is affecting you. If you want, contact me, and I'll put you in contact with someone who can help you directly.

I wouldn't really consider this issue an issue worth leaving (mt) over. Knowing (mt), this will either be the end of the storage problems (the main issue over the past few months), or they'll drop BlueArc and find another company. (mt) has done this in the past with datacenters, and I'm sure they'll do it again with something completely affecting the overall stability of their services.

BTW, not that it matters for you, but not everyone is affected. My site is still running perfectly fine on Grid.Cluster.1.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Chris24 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:17:20

I'm really considering switching to another host from (mt). I left my previous host, 1and1, because I had lots of mysql latency issues, and I sent support tickets to them, and ALL the answers were different. Now, with (mt), their darned Nov 30 maintenance is now Dec maintenance.

I moved to the (gs) from 1and1 because if a site got dugg (another, not mine), I don't want mine to go offline. The maintenance was originally scheduled for 9:30-300am PST, which is pretty long. Well, its not 11:15EST (many hours after 3am PST), and my site is STILL offline.

I've also had a really slow WP site. Arrrggghhhh.... I really like the (mt) handles support, and just all their services, but seriously, their MySQL really seems bad... and this is a LOT of downtime.

I don't want to pay $20 a month for hosting, when I could get a better hosting plan for less, with NO downtime. This is not acceptable.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

johnboy44 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:03:33

The Nov 30th "maintenance" was supposed to be 1.5 hours, then they changed it to 6 and now "they don't know" I am seriously pissed at these guys. I wasted over a hundred dollars in PPC clicks going to a site that isn't there.

This massive outage is unacceptable I am definetly moving my servers elsewhere...

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Mike — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:22:34

Jason thanks a lot for coming on here and chatting openly. I don't think any other hosting company (or company in general) cares enough about their users to pop in on web discussions and talk directly to users.

Here at 9rules we've had nothing but great service and support from (mt), our sites load very quickly, always handle Digg stress with aplomb, etc. We're proud to be partnered with (mt) and are just as glad that our site has become an open forum where people can learn more about Media Temple and interact with one of their highest executives, even if he is a surfer ;)

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:51:51

Multiple people had the problem and I tested from home and work which route differently. Also, it went on for two weeks.

I've seen lights in the sky I tell ya! ;)

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Article19 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:56:56

or maybe it's your net connection that's borked!!

both of those forums are running just fine, Invision Powerboard is a tad bloated as well.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:41:40

@Oli- I'm glad somebody else saw it - I was beginning to feel like one of those crackpot's who's seen a flying saucer and nobody believes! ;)

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Oli — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:36:33

publicenergy: it [the (mt) version] was slow as hell when I loaded it first (when you posted it) but it's much faster now. All very odd.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

jmcvearrymt — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:33:18

well..it wasn't me!

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

ericwindham — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:29:53

I really couldn't tell a difference. Good luck and keep us posted. I am actually in the market for a host. Bought the domain a few months back, but I've just been too busy to get started.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

jackosh — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:28:25

I have DH loading about 2 seconds faster...

both are fast

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:23:17

That's really odd! - For two weeks it's been awful and even before I posted that message it was still awful - it is very quick now though. Maybe someone finally took my support request seriously. Took some doing though.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Rich — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:04:59

Yeah, they both seem pretty quick to me, too. If anything, the Media Temple one is actually a tad faster.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

jmcvearrymt — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:02:33

both seem pretty quick to me?

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:46:55

Here are the test versions of a forum - if you navigate around a few pages on each just to cache the common images then note the speed of each you could well see the issue.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/_DEVELOPMENT/forum/ (mt)
http://mtbdev.anvilvapre.com (dreamhost)

99% of the users will be in the UK - at the moment from work and at home on different connections - the mt one is very slow and the dreamhost one flies. MT says nothing is wrong though. It's been the same speed for a few weeks. It's unusable as far as I'm concerned.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Rich — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:13:00

^ That's the kind of thing you're paying extra for when you choose Media Temple.

Shame the response to support tickets isn't as prompt though.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

jmcvearrymt — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:56:48

9Rulers,

We are certainly not going down the tubes..We've definitely had our share of issues with the Grid, have developed some some fairly amazing technology to keep the Grid running at break-neck speed.

http://weblog.mediatemple.net/weblog/

That being said, with 55,000 domains on the Grid (and growing), we are constantly hiring, growing and making moves to smooth our operations.

Regarding Mosso, I can't speak for their service, but we're often compared to them..one thing to keep in mind is the Grid is $20/month while Mosso is $100/month; a vast difference.

http://urbansemiotic.com/2007/03/25/moving-back-to-media-temple-from-mosso/#comment-66889

MikeP, reviewing your email..Sorry i did not reply..did you need a reply? Seemed more like a note/suggestion, which was passed onto our product/bug managers.

Cheers,
Jason McVearry
jason@mediatemple.net

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

explorinlauren — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:19:44

Its interesting because I just posted a review of my experience with MediaTemple vs. my new host MOSSO over at my site explorinlauren.com. I had a terrible experience with them with many of the same issues described here. I would never recommend anyone to them.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Mike — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:55:09

Back before we hosted 9rules on (mt), I had one of my personal sites on Media Temple in 2003. I remember calling up tech support at 2am eastern time and getting to talk to an actual person, one who fixed my problem immediately. 2am! I always thought that was very cool.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Rich — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:18:50

Also, I'd call it a little hyperbolic to say they've gone "down the tubes". Someone infers the exact same thing every time (mt) has a problem. But their problems are no more common than any other host's - they're just that much more noticeable because of their previous outstanding reputation.

Perhaps they're slipping a little, perhaps they're not, but there's still no doubt whatsoever that they're one of the best and most reliable web hosts out there.

Ironic, I know, given my previously mentioned intent to switch to Dreamhost, but there's more to it for me than their currently crappy support. I'm paying more than I need for what I do - host a blog not many people read. And, despite the cost, it's still too limited for me. I don't have enough bandwidth allowance, and only 5 domains and SQL DBs is a problem that I don't want to pay extra to fix. If you really need what (mt) offer, it's a sweet deal, but I don't.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:10:51

It does seem when I visit other sites on Mediatemple that they seem to be as fast as is normal. Ours is so slow that to me it indicates a problem - it's not just database access either - every single image or file seems to trasfer at a snails pace - it's like watching Spectrum games load! ;)

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Rich — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:58:25

Oh, and that said, I've actually found (mt) very good in the time I've been using them, well over a year now. It's only recently the support has seemed a little sloppy, but performance otherwise is still great.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

Rich — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:57:18

Sending support tickets, I've found, is useless if you want a reply within 24 hours.

I needed an auth code yesterday, after trying to transfer a domain to Dreamhost and failing, so I sent a ticket. 24 hours later, I realised my email for that domain was down, so I checked it out, and found out the transfer to DH had been completed, without any warning to me, and thus, my domain without mail account. Still no reply from MT support though. 2 hours later, I get it: they told me my auth code, but no mention about why my domain had mysteriously transferred to DH over night.

This may just be me not really understanding the correct process, but it did seem a little unusual. And waiting 24 hours for a reply to a support ticket, hours after the issue has actually been "resolved", is inexcusable.

Either way, I've resolved to move all my web property to Dreamhost soon.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:36:48

Well, after weeks of them telling me there wasn't a problem and it was performing normally - then telling me that there were lots of problems with the grid system that wouldn't be fixed for a while, I set up a mirror of our site on Dreamhost. Running them side by side, the Dreamhost one runs pretty quickly and the Mediatemple one runs like a dog with no legs.

Considering the reputation Mediatemple once had I'm amazed how badly it seems to work - it's just too slow all of the time - they just said that if I wasn't happy then go elsewhere, so that's it really.

I'm glad I found all of this out before we used it in a live environment - I'd hate to think how fast the server responds when more than 5 or 6 people are using it at the same time.

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

MikeP_ — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:24:43

I've found their support is best if you call them. After working thru any issues over the phone things seem to run better with MT then most other hosts I've dealt with.

Someone from MT came around last time a note was posted about them here on 9rules and he asked people to send in their request issues to him (someone named Jason). I did send an e-mail and never heard back from him. More support for the 'call for answers' idea :-)

Has Media Temple gone down the tubes?

publicenergy — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:17:51

I use Dreamhost for my personal hosting but I help out with a mountain biking web site and they've just moved that to Media Temple in the last few weeks.

During those two weeks, sometimes I go to the site and it's unavailable - other times it's awfully slow - and this is just old static HTML, nothing fancy.

We have a test forum running on it and even though that isn't live so there are only 3 or 4 test users in it, performance of that (php,mysql) is absolutely awful as well.

If it was just awful one day while they were having problems and then it speeded up and became reliable then that would be fair enough. As it is, it's been dreadful ever since we've had the account.

I have filled in a support issue about it but the response to that seems to be slow as well.

It looks like we'll be asking for a refund and moving elsewhere.

Is this experience typical?