3 ms·

I'm not sure why I got down voted for this. How can you expect a provider to perform their core mission well if they can't even get the basics right?

mahmud 17y ago
EveryDNS has the most atrocious interface, but the best service out there. Anecdote for anecdote :-)
ableal 17y ago
Some professional tools are downright ugly. Pretty is more important in the consumer space. To tell the truth, in some cases, if you make it too pretty, the customer may suspect he's being sold consumer-grade crap ... (I didn't downvote you, btw.)
- andrewvc 17y ago
  I agree with you in general, but that only works when you can objectively analyze a tool before buying / committing to it. The CDN market is tough because things like reliability and service can be impossible to measure till the shit goes down. The problem with providers in the CDN (and hosting) space is they all sell you the same line of BS. We've got the fastest hardware the most reliability, etc. They all have tests that show that they're the fastest in some way, and they'll always tell you that their caching algorithm is more than generous and perfect for you. They may even tell you that their competitors are overselling or cutting corners. You'll have no way to verify much of this really. Basically, what I look for, after I'm sure the essential features are present, is proof that a company is run by responsible smart people with a commitment to their customers. There's really no good way to do this, companies can seem fine when they're trying to get you to sign, then turn into shit afterwards, but I do the best I can with the hints available. That said, the sales guy and sales-engineer I spoke to at CacheFly seemed smart and professional. Their network sounded like it was reasonably constructed. With the absurdness of their admin area, and their lack of larger clients, I just didn't feel like I was going with a first class operation. I could've forgiven one of those two, but put together, that was disconcerting.

mahmud 17y ago

EveryDNS has the most atrocious interface, but the best service out there. Anecdote for anecdote :-)

ableal 17y ago

Some professional tools are downright ugly. Pretty is more important in the consumer space. To tell the truth, in some cases, if you make it too pretty, the customer may suspect he's being sold consumer-grade crap ... (I didn't downvote you, btw.)

andrewvc 17y ago
I agree with you in general, but that only works when you can objectively analyze a tool before buying / committing to it. The CDN market is tough because things like reliability and service can be impossible to measure till the shit goes down. The problem with providers in the CDN (and hosting) space is they all sell you the same line of BS. We've got the fastest hardware the most reliability, etc. They all have tests that show that they're the fastest in some way, and they'll always tell you that their caching algorithm is more than generous and perfect for you. They may even tell you that their competitors are overselling or cutting corners. You'll have no way to verify much of this really. Basically, what I look for, after I'm sure the essential features are present, is proof that a company is run by responsible smart people with a commitment to their customers. There's really no good way to do this, companies can seem fine when they're trying to get you to sign, then turn into shit afterwards, but I do the best I can with the hints available. That said, the sales guy and sales-engineer I spoke to at CacheFly seemed smart and professional. Their network sounded like it was reasonably constructed. With the absurdness of their admin area, and their lack of larger clients, I just didn't feel like I was going with a first class operation. I could've forgiven one of those two, but put together, that was disconcerting.