Business host DataGate vanishes

Business hosting outfit DataGate has fallen off the internet today, with customers unable to raise the firm on the phone too. The London-based firm's own website is currently unavailable, as are those of its customers. Reg correspondents say DataGate disappeared at at about 8am. Web developer Robin Tong this afternoon …

[Dug Stokes]

Datagate suck

It doesn't help that both of Datagate's DNS servers are in the same location, so no-one can get to their site.

No-ones been able to contact them, and apparently Nominet have had a lot of complaints.

One of my clients have been trying for ages to move away from them but they wouldn't let him have his own domain. Wish he'd done a Nominet dispute when I told him to, now there's little anyone can do.

Nominet are being helpful. There's Datagate's blog at http://datagate.wordpress.com/ but it's worse than useless. They suggested 15-20 minutes nearly three hours ago.

Dug

[Blane Bramble]

Nominet transfers

As long as he is the registrant, he can transfer the domain directly to another tag via Nominet by filling in the correct form and paying the relevant fee. If he is not listed as the registrant, then there is a lesson there about using a decent registrar in the first place.

[Eccles]

Datagates Blog

A bit more information (not much though) on datagate's blog: http://datagate.wordpress.com/

[Anonymous Coward]

Question

They haven't dissed the Chinese recently have they?????

[Anonymous Coward]

Watergate, Climategate,...

...Datagate. Is there a lesson there?

[Wand106]

Redundancy?

what kind of ISP / host relies solely on one internet provider for service? I am a customer and could not get hold of them by phone or email, just like someone had pulled the plug. If they are not in administration now, I think it won't be long, as customers seek better stability.

[Dug Stokes]

Nightmare day

Thanks Blane. Had tried to get my customer to do this last year when they changed servers due to insane downtime and backups not having been working properly for months.

They're a nightmare to deal with, difficult to contact on the phone, refuse to give up domains when you move to other companies, have terrible uptime and occasionally make changes to servers and unplanned downtime without even bothering to notify you.

Today was indicitive of the typical lazy attitude of Datagate.net.uk and as usual, impossible to get hold of by phone.

They even say on their twitter it was temporary and their blog said it would be fixed in twenty minutes. They've now jumped on the twitter bandwagon to try and clear their name: http://twitter.com/datagate_ltd

Purely from a technical point of view, as Wand106 said, no redundancy, and without properly differently located DNS servers this was inevitable.

Obviously muggings here had to take time out just to help sort out the mess this bunch of amateurs made, for an excellent and understanding client unfortuately stuck with them.

Well, thats my opinion anyway. (hopefully that clears any chance of slander charges...)