I already started a thread on this here.

As Matt mentioned on the other thread, the existing packages are a better value if you include the total bandwidth given with those packages. However, that assumes you are using a certain amount of bandwidth.

I agree the new offering seems strange and maybe even confusing. I think they should pick one price model or the other. I guess we need to wait for more information to become available, I have a ton of questions.

As of right this moment, there are no competing products. There is only Slicehost. Cloud servers has yet to launch. Also, all the $$ goes to the same place. We really don't know what will happen until cloud servers actually launches. Might as well wait until Monday before getting too confused.

Pickled,

Thanks for the response, so I crunched some numbers, and Slicehost is cheaper than Cloud Servers assuming your using significant amounts of the bandwidth.

Slicehost = $20/month includes 100GB bandwith

//Assuming 100% usage at 75GB Upload And 25GB Download per month
Cloud Server: $10.95 + $2 download bandwidth + $16.5 upload bandwidth = $29.45 per month

//Assuming 50% usage at 37.5GB Upload And 12.5GB Download per month
Cloud Server: $10.95 + $1 download bandwidth + $8.25 upload bandwidth = $20.20 per month

So basically it breaks down to getting 1/2 the amount of bandwith of SliceHost for the same cost to use Cloud Servers.

As far as I am aware it is also 10 but you would need to check at mosso for final confirmation.

PickledOnion

Rackspace owns Slicehost, so why would it matter? And wouldn't that be the smart thing to do (from an eng/arch perspective)? :-)

As a Slicehost and now Mosso customer, I'm happy for the flexibility in offerings. Mosso is a great sweet spot for small sites just taking off. If your site is using a ton of bandwidth, the traditional Slicehost slices will probably look better.

Yup, I'm sold. Goodbye Slicehost, hello Cloud Servers. ;)

I'm going to have some work this week in moving away from Slicehost. *wipes a tear*

But yet, I won't actually be moving away from Slicehost.

Weird.

Posted By: artagesw>>plus whatever they end up charging for backups.

Are you saying that backup/restoring/cloning functionality is not yet available for CloudServers ?

For "a limited time" the backups are free. ;)

I just signed up, seems to have all the same functionality that the Slicehost manager has. Though I haven't used the backup/restoring/cloning so I'm not 100% sure about that.

Posted By: mikemac11I signed up when they first opened and do not like them. The UI for the control panel seems a little heavy for my taste and it is pretty obvious to me that it is just a rebranding with different package setups. The control panel also says "slice" in many places which I found funny if they were supposed to be separate.

I agree... I like it for cost, but I think I'll do the DNS management @slicehost. The Management UI is slow and crappy at Mosso.

In a practical sense, it doesn't really matter whether you choose Slicehost or Mosso. Since they're both owned by Rackspace, the net effect of "leaving" Slicehost for Mosso is zero.

Posted By: artageswI wonder if you can get backups on the larger slices as well, since Mosso is charging by the GB?

I recall a podcast where they explained the reason for not offering backups on the larger slices- they can't guarantee the backup will complete in a reasonable amount of time. I expect that's the case with Mosso, unless they allow backups of, say, an 8GB server that only has 2GB space used.

I'm moving a few very low traffic rails sites to my new Cloud Server from Joyent. Even though my Joyent account is free (lifetime), I just can't stand their wacky version of OpenSolaris. These sites get very little traffic, so a Cloud Server makes much more sense than a full Slice.

Thanks to the Slicehost and Rackspace guys for another sweet product!

The logical next step for RackSpace is to bring down Slicehost and merge it with Mosso.

It's just a matter of time until everyone is on Mosso.
I have to belive that Rackspace wanted to fund the development of the Mosso platform with existing Slicehost customers which have historically shown very little
cancellations. So when the base of slicehost customers are moved over to Mosso, it will be one big RAIN CLOUD.

With the new EC2 reserved pricing I'm leaning toward EC2. Servers in Europe and US and soon other locations.

Rain Cloud was too harsh.
I don't think it would be the end of the quality if it did merge, it would however take away from the feeling of "Small town"
hosting, which feels good. I guess I'm still bumming about the sale.

5 months isn't much time to prove anything and it wouldn't die - it would just live somewhere else, in another form, with a different name, and different hardware and run by different people.

Hi,

All we can do is repeat what we have said right from the beginning: We are not going to change.

Since the acquisition we have lowered prices, reintroduced the 10% bonus, opened the Dallas datacenter and so on.

I know 5 months may not be a long time for the sceptical but we have not changed in what we offer. Cloud Servers is aimed at a different audience who don't want known bills, known quantities, pooled bandwidth and so on. As Jason said, some users may find it a more appealing product and that is absolutely fine - just as some of our customers found a managed solution more suited to their needs.

However, we are not going to change our core product which is a bundled VPS solution.

One thing we have coming as a direct result of the acquisition is international datacenters. We have always said this is on the cards and it still is (I don't have a date for you though). That wouldn't have been possible (or any where near as approachable an expansion) without Rackspace.

One thing that you may find of interest is that not one single 'original' employee (i.e. those that were with Slicehost before the acquisition) have left or even professed an interest in leaving since the acquisition. I think that says a lot about what our plans are and what Rackspace's plans are. Rackspace have no intention of watering down what we offer and no intention of changing us.

We have no intention of letting that happen (even if there was pressure to change, which there isn't).

When we first announced the acquisition there was genuine and understandable concern. I hope you can see that although 5 months is not a massive amount of time there is not even a hint of Slicehost changing.

With regard to development, it is not all going on Cloud services, leaving Slicehost behind. Remember that Jason and Matt started Slicehost with passion. I was the first employee and love what we have and what we offer. I can assure you that we all have the same passion and drive that we always had and always will.

If time is the only thing that will ease concerns then I ask that you give us more time. We have not wavered in the first 5 months. Give us another 5 months and you will see the same commitment from us.

PickledOnion

I was told the additional large difference would be the level of support. mosso's offering would be slicehost with support. don't know if that has changed, but I'd pay a bit extra to have someone from RS to help with software issues. I don't need the level of support i was paying for with a dedicated box from RS, but something in between would be awesome. I'd pay extra to have an extra pair of eyes/hands when I get in the occasional pinch.

I'm really not as negative as I may sound - and I am not a big player so it really won't matter that much to me, except I love when the little guy wins.
BUT - If I were running the company (and maybe that is why I am not in a position to) different needs do NOT require different companies.
In fact, it may add to a lack of clarity for the shopper. Kinda like (not exactly) BlueHost and HostGator - confuses more than aligns a brand.
I think this is exactly what Amazon has recognized, so they came out with reserved pricing. It's still cloud, but with a flavor of VPS.
So, I don't think the business side of RS cares about user needs and user administration - they can adjust very easily to any need.
RS needs to make money and serve the customer and having 2 versions of slightly different offerings lacks brand clarity.
Most people don't know what they need. Will they have to go through Google to find either product? Doesn't make sense.
I will stop being the troubled customer and just wait and see.