Top Ten Server Rental Mistakes [this week anyway]

1. "Drives can be resized on the fly without a reload." --- probably a misinterpretation encouraged by programs like Partition Magic, which just make use of unassigned space rather than actually moving a partition. Even some virtual server offerings are in specific sizes only, so as to mimic physical servers (as opposed to other storage options which might be by the meg or gig).

2. "The “cloud” is a backup." --- nope. And I have no idea why some believe this. Wishful thinking?

3. "The “cloud” is something new." --- nope. A network's a network by any other meme.

4. "Any form of storage/CPU should be as fast as I need/do what I want." --- nope. You pays for what you gets. And don't get the cheapest storage and then want HA performance or try to run PBX/telephony or video.

5. "The hosting company is my administrator." --- nope. If you aren't specifically paying an administrator, nobody is your administrator.

6. "Reboots shouldn't be necessary." --- depends. Some systems rely on it more than others. And if all you're doing is reacting to preset email alerts and not bothering to log in, who are you to know?

7. "Reloads or backups shouldn't be necessary." --- nope. You or your administrator had better save all data and configurations or at some point it'll all be over but the crying.

8. "Security just gets in the way." --- and that's what it's supposed to do.

9. "I'm in a hurry/don't write anything down/get on with it." --- nope. I'm gonna document and cover my ass, and surprise! We're recording this conversation.

10. "This is easy; you shouldn't have to research it. You should be able to do it right now." --- Dear Reader: I'm not making this one up; I've actually heard it - a logic hole big enough to drive the Hindenburg through.