I think you're going about this exactly backwards. Try working it the opposite way: What do you need in a provider? For example, I'm now working for an ASP. For the first time in my life I'm the colo customer instead of the runner... Anyway. So my requirements now have less to do with good peering policies and bandwidth, and more to do with latency and price. Phatpipe is phatpipe -- if the 100mbit ethernet going into the cage is the bottleneck, then it hardly matters whether there's an OC12 or OC48 on the other end of it. On the other hand, if you were running a huge FTP server (think cdrom.com), then you'd have different requirements. Also, whether you manage your peering or just need an ethernet drop to plug into comes into play. So work out your requirements, your ideal ISP, then look for someone to match them, rather than looking for what's there and making your selection based on that. Matthew Devney On Fri, 23 Feb 2001, Eric Gauthier wrote:
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 11:29:14 -0500 From: Eric Gauthier <eric@roxanne.org> To: nanog@merit.edu Subject: Choosing a Service/Hosting Provider
Hello,
I'm pretty sure that this question has been picked to death on this list, but I couldn't find a good thread in the nanog archives. If there is one in there, can someone drop me a pointer off-list?
Anyways, here is my question: What should people look for when choosing a service or hosting provider?
Thanks.
Eric