Second Thoughts on Bailing

CyberSaint · 11 Nov 2005, 11:55 PM

I'm having second thoughts on bailing from FastMail. Everyone screws up once in a while, no matter how thoroughly the plan is to avoid it.

Yes, I am frustrated I can't access my email. Yes, I think a better system should have been in place to avoid this fiasco. Yes, I think enhanced users are getting screwed with the restore process.

After having cooled down from my initial rage and frustration however, I realize these guys have done a great job overall with this email service. I sense they will be EVEN BETTER and MUCH more reliable as a result of this incident.

As frustrated as I am, I am sure it is only a fraction of the frustration the FastMail guys are experiencing right now.

So, I don't think I'll bail anytime soon. I believe I'll just wait and see what comes of this "learning opportunity" for the Fast Mail folks.

CS

CML209 · 11 Nov 2005, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CyberSaint
I'm having second thoughts on bailing from FastMail. Everyone screws up once in a while, no matter how thoroughly the plan is to avoid it.

Yes, I am frustrated I can't access my email. Yes, I think a better system should have been in place to avoid this fiasco. Yes, I think enhanced users are getting screwed with the restore process.

After having cooled down from my initial rage and frustration however, I realize these guys have done a great job overall with this email service. I sense they will be EVEN BETTER and MUCH more reliable as a result of this incident.

As frustrated as I am, I am sure it is only a fraction of the frustration the FastMail guys are experiencing right now.

So, I don't think I'll bail anytime soon. I believe I'll just wait and see what comes of this "learning opportunity" for the Fast Mail folks.

CS

Would you sign up for an email service that said you'll only get it for 361 days a year and that the remaining 4 would be at the servers' whim? You'd probably call that poor performance.

EdGillett · 12 Nov 2005, 12:11 AM

I'm not bailing per se, but I've arranged my email in a better way now to compensate for any future downtime on FastMail's part.

I'm just lucky that I'm able to do this, and have the technical knowledge to understand DNS and MX records and domain management etc.

God help the FM users that are relying on x@fastmail.fm and are going to be totally screwed if they're on server 4 for the next 2 days.

Again - here's hoping a realisation that redundancy is not up to what it should be from FM.

outthedoor · 12 Nov 2005, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CyberSaint
I sense they will be EVEN BETTER and MUCH more reliable as a result of this incident.

i doubt that. i've been using fastmail for years... since before you had to pay for it. outages are not regular but they are not uncommon. as one fault is fixed, something else is just waiting to fail, and FM do not seem to have the resources, forward planning or staff to cope.

savirr · 12 Nov 2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CML209
Would you sign up for an email service that said you'll only get it for 361 days a year and that the remaining 4 would be at the servers' whim? You'd probably call that poor performance.

Actually, yes. Fastmail has the features I want, and I'm willing to balance that against some downtime. And no service is entirely without downtime (although the current outage is a bit on the long side...). Other people will find their balance elsewhere, I guess.

Generally, I agree with CyberSaint.

Simon

nikyboy · 12 Nov 2005, 12:26 AM

Someone described FastMail as a "sandbox for nerds" earlier - which seems about right to me at this moment in time. It appears that a lot of us are paying $39.95-per-year to allow the nerds to experiment.

All I have to say is that I'm utterly flabbergasted at the incompetence of said nerds.

outthedoor · 12 Nov 2005, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nikyboy
Someone described FastMail as a "sandbox for nerds" earlier - which seems about right to me at this moment in time. It appears that a lot of us are paying $39.95-per-year to allow the nerds to experiment.

All I have to say is that I'm utterly flabbergasted at the incompetence of said nerds.

that was me

...i said it for good reason!

arlomiller · 12 Nov 2005, 12:28 AM

I'm just very afraid that after we wait out these 72 hours, we awake on monday morning to hear that the raid itself is fried and that they need to restore again to a different system. it is very unfortunate that their system only queues our incoming mail and can't also autoforward it to a backup account for us.

jimmm33 · 12 Nov 2005, 01:42 AM

I'm bailing. No doubt. I think that there are more services out there that did not exist when I was researching fastmail and signed up 3 years ago. It's time to move on.

Anyone know of a service that will allow me to host my own domain, check pop accounts and have a powerful web interface?

I found one called fusemail. It looks interesting. I think I'm going to try the demo.

Any other services out there?? I don't care what it costs.

picklepak · 12 Nov 2005, 02:30 AM

There is no other global email provider out there that offers the kinds of features fastmail offers. Period. I have four domains pointed at my fastmail account, and I also use a number of fastmail aliases. Their alias system is brilliant and it's not found anywhere else. When it works, it's really slick.

When it doesn't work, it's really frustrating... and shows that they are still a small company, trying to grow. Nothing has changed on the reliability front in several years... two years ago, I remember all the same old discussions. I've been with fastmail for about three years now, and I'm not gonna bail on them right now. I like the features. But...

For my primary mail account - my most important email - I just signed up with Yahoo Mail, however. If you own your own domain it's only $10 a year and no one beats Yahoo Mail reliability, not even GMail. But it will still take up to 24 to 48 hours for the DNS changes to propagate around the world and accept the switch from Fastmail to Yahoo. Since fastmail isn't accepting my domain's email right now, it doesn't matter that much either way...

I will continue to use Fastmail for my "fun" accounts, and many of the domain email addresses I use that aren't critical. I will still renew my Enhanced account when it comes due, too. I like the features too much to cancel. But for my primary email, it's got to be somewhere more reliable. For another $20 on Yahoo I can get 2Gb of storage too. So in the end I'll be using *both* Fastmail and Yahoo, and my annual costs have almost doubled... [sigh]. But we gotta look after ourselves, email is too important nowadays.

CML209 · 12 Nov 2005, 02:40 AM

Yahoo is notoriously slow, not even being able to get mail from one Yahoo account to another, depending on time sent. Though I have not noted any major outages in the last few years, delays are often the norm. Their spam filters suck as well. I keep several email accounts, including AOL, so that I can get AOL mail from AOL members without delay.
I came here from @mac, which was dreadfuly expensive, and their system seemed to update every morning, sometimes for a few hours, so I couldn't look at what came in overnight until noon.
As I have mentioned, as well as you, all of these issues have come up before. It would be simple to allow those who are afraid to let them have a choice of moving to another server.

It is ALL a server 4 issue, IMNSHO.

Unacceptable · 12 Nov 2005, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nikyboy
Someone described FastMail as a "sandbox for nerds" earlier - which seems about right to me at this moment in time. It appears that a lot of us are paying $39.95-per-year to allow the nerds to experiment.

All I have to say is that I'm utterly flabbergasted at the incompetence of said nerds.

I agree. It doesn't seem to be run by adults who appreciate that a business cannot be without its primary email for a day or two!

Buy bye fastmail!

honus · 12 Nov 2005, 05:11 AM

I'm not on the affected server but I agree this is unacceptable. I renewed recently but wouldn't have if I knew this was their definition of reliable. A fried drive should not result in 45 hours of downtime. Well 45 is the latest figure, it keeps changing. The amount of time to fix a lost server also shouldn't be a complete mystery to those running the service.

**JeffK** · 12 Nov 2005, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jimmm33
I'm bailing. No doubt. I think that there are more services out there that did not exist when I was researching fastmail and signed up 3 years ago. It's time to move on.

Anyone know of a service that will allow me to host my own domain, check pop accounts and have a powerful web interface?

I found one called fusemail. It looks interesting. I think I'm going to try the demo.

Any other services out there?? I don't care what it costs.

Fusemail reliability lately has been exceptional AFAIK. I personally have found the web interface so-so but you may not need that. Also consider Tuffmail and of course Runbox. I personally would not consider gmail a replacement for Fastmail. I've got no real experience with Yahoo or other hosting solutions some have suggested.

Jeff

m5comp · 12 Nov 2005, 06:10 AM

I renewed back in August (whatever the <$20/year plan is called). Next year, no way.

11 Nov 2005, 11:55 PM	#1
CyberSaint Essential Contributor Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Hurricane, WV Posts: 206	Second Thoughts on Bailing I'm having second thoughts on bailing from FastMail. Everyone screws up once in a while, no matter how thoroughly the plan is to avoid it. Yes, I am frustrated I can't access my email. Yes, I think a better system should have been in place to avoid this fiasco. Yes, I think enhanced users are getting screwed with the restore process. After having cooled down from my initial rage and frustration however, I realize these guys have done a great job overall with this email service. I sense they will be EVEN BETTER and MUCH more reliable as a result of this incident. As frustrated as I am, I am sure it is only a fraction of the frustration the FastMail guys are experiencing right now. So, I don't think I'll bail anytime soon. I believe I'll just wait and see what comes of this "learning opportunity" for the Fast Mail folks. CS

12 Nov 2005, 12:11 AM	#3
EdGillett Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Guildford, UK Posts: 88	Sitting in the middle I'm not bailing per se, but I've arranged my email in a better way now to compensate for any future downtime on FastMail's part. I'm just lucky that I'm able to do this, and have the technical knowledge to understand DNS and MX records and domain management etc. God help the FM users that are relying on x@fastmail.fm and are going to be totally screwed if they're on server 4 for the next 2 days. Again - here's hoping a realisation that redundancy is not up to what it should be from FM.

12 Nov 2005, 12:28 AM	#8
arlomiller Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 24	afraid I'm just very afraid that after we wait out these 72 hours, we awake on monday morning to hear that the raid itself is fried and that they need to restore again to a different system. it is very unfortunate that their system only queues our incoming mail and can't also autoforward it to a backup account for us.

12 Nov 2005, 12:26 AM	#6
nikyboy Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: London, England Posts: 72	Someone described FastMail as a "sandbox for nerds" earlier - which seems about right to me at this moment in time. It appears that a lot of us are paying $39.95-per-year to allow the nerds to experiment. All I have to say is that I'm utterly flabbergasted at the incompetence of said nerds.

12 Nov 2005, 01:42 AM	#9
jimmm33 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 26	I'm bailing. No doubt. I think that there are more services out there that did not exist when I was researching fastmail and signed up 3 years ago. It's time to move on. Anyone know of a service that will allow me to host my own domain, check pop accounts and have a powerful web interface? I found one called fusemail. It looks interesting. I think I'm going to try the demo. Any other services out there?? I don't care what it costs.

12 Nov 2005, 02:30 AM	#10
picklepak Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4	There is no other global email provider out there that offers the kinds of features fastmail offers. Period. I have four domains pointed at my fastmail account, and I also use a number of fastmail aliases. Their alias system is brilliant and it's not found anywhere else. When it works, it's really slick. When it doesn't work, it's really frustrating... and shows that they are still a small company, trying to grow. Nothing has changed on the reliability front in several years... two years ago, I remember all the same old discussions. I've been with fastmail for about three years now, and I'm not gonna bail on them right now. I like the features. But... For my primary mail account - my most important email - I just signed up with Yahoo Mail, however. If you own your own domain it's only $10 a year and no one beats Yahoo Mail reliability, not even GMail. But it will still take up to 24 to 48 hours for the DNS changes to propagate around the world and accept the switch from Fastmail to Yahoo. Since fastmail isn't accepting my domain's email right now, it doesn't matter that much either way... I will continue to use Fastmail for my "fun" accounts, and many of the domain email addresses I use that aren't critical. I will still renew my Enhanced account when it comes due, too. I like the features too much to cancel. But for my primary email, it's got to be somewhere more reliable. For another $20 on Yahoo I can get 2Gb of storage too. So in the end I'll be using both Fastmail and Yahoo, and my annual costs have almost doubled... [sigh]. But we gotta look after ourselves, email is too important nowadays.

12 Nov 2005, 02:40 AM	#11
CML209 Essential Contributor Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 328	Yahoo is notoriously slow, not even being able to get mail from one Yahoo account to another, depending on time sent. Though I have not noted any major outages in the last few years, delays are often the norm. Their spam filters suck as well. I keep several email accounts, including AOL, so that I can get AOL mail from AOL members without delay. I came here from @mac, which was dreadfuly expensive, and their system seemed to update every morning, sometimes for a few hours, so I couldn't look at what came in overnight until noon. As I have mentioned, as well as you, all of these issues have come up before. It would be simple to allow those who are afraid to let them have a choice of moving to another server. It is ALL a server 4 issue, IMNSHO.

12 Nov 2005, 05:11 AM	#13
honus Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 79	I'm not on the affected server but I agree this is unacceptable. I renewed recently but wouldn't have if I knew this was their definition of reliable. A fried drive should not result in 45 hours of downtime. Well 45 is the latest figure, it keeps changing. The amount of time to fix a lost server also shouldn't be a complete mystery to those running the service.

12 Nov 2005, 06:10 AM	#15
m5comp Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USA Posts: 54	I renewed back in August (whatever the <$20/year plan is called). Next year, no way.