Recently my UGVPS VPS went offline because of a power issue at their data centre, leaving all 11 of my sites offline. All through the next 48 hours, my VPSes were sporadically reachable. Even when the provider insisted that the problems at the DC were over, my VPS continued to become powered off erratically.
When the VPS did become online, I started getting issues starting mysql ("Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2)". The server logs stated errors about InnoDB.
Unsure of whether the server "crash" had corrupted the VPS, I contacted UGVPS tech support, only to be reminded by Alex the Tech support guy: "I could see that your server is online and responding well to the ping. Regarding the mysql error you may need to check by yourself as this is an unmanaged support and we do assist only in the hardware, network related issues."
Sure, I know that I purchased an unmanaged low cost VPS. And I do have a six hourly backup of everything. But my usual recourse in such circumstances, is to do a VPS reinstall, and restore my panel, followed by regenerating the domain configuration and file backups.
However, wait a second..I cant do that now. UGVPS disabled the SolusVM panel a very hours after the first SolusVM vulnerability was discovered, and havent reactivated it even after two weeks. So I prompty placed a reinstall request for the VPS, via ticket. I was planning to finish up everything before going to sleep. However the response to the reinstall ticket took more than an hour, and only after two tickets for the same request did Alex get to it. UGVPS has had a LiveSupport link for eternity, but as far as I know, it has never worked.
So...from a customer's perspective, even though I anticipate that providers will be jumping in to support @UGVPS, I wish to place on record my frustration and discontent in purchasing a service upfront, paying $40 for 6 months for 2 VPSes, and having to go without the Control panel that was part of the bargain, for more than 2 weeks. I purchased this from @UGVPS so that I have the flexibility of installing and reinstalling my VPS as and when I wish to, without having to wait upon a one man support person to respond (Alec seems the only person on their team).
Let me state this outright. I can understand the concern of @UGVPS as a provider. Yes, you did not plan the Data centre power issues. Yes, you couldnt have helped with the SolusVM issues. But when so many providers have re-enabled the SolusVM panel, yours still remains down ever since 16th June. Waiting for tech support to reinstall the VPS is not acceptable to me as a customer. Your response time to a ticket, which though understandable, does not provide me the flexibility of managing a VPS efficiently. Honestly, I consider an hour to respond to a ticket as quick, but for installing/reinstalling a VPS, it is definitely not adequate.
If you plan on indefinitely disabling SolusVM, at least install another panel in the meantime. If you still cannot, kindly help me move on to another provider who has a control panel, and refund the remaining months of service I have with you. I can see a lot of providers around who have control panels up. A control panel is an essential part of the service advertised. Without one, a VPS is crippled.
I know this is a provider centric forum. But as a customer, I thought it appropriate to voice my concern and frustration, so that the provider takes notice. I was quite content with the uptime and performance of my @UGVPS servers, until the SolusVM fiasco. In fact the second plan was purchased recently upfront.