So we got an offer from Rackifi, a company I never heard of, but that is nothing new. They’re a provider based in Pennsylvania and have some shared hosting offers.
Let me put the basics out there:
- Shared/reseller/managed WordPress hosting in Pennsylvania
- Plesk panel
- Unmetered storage, unmetered bandwidth
Pricing is not crazy: cheap, but could be sustainable, with the usual we-all-know-what-they-mean caveats about unlimited anything.
But there was one thing in the offer request that I initially overlooked and only noticed when I was double-checking things. In the words of Austin from Rackifi: “I started up Rackifi LLC after I was able to get some amazing deals on equipment, and a 10 Gbit fiber connection! Everything is hosted in our own mini private datacenter.”
Mini private datacenter…?
I can’t imagine any small host actually have a datacenter in the “Tier 4 Facility That Costs Tens If Not Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars” sense of that word. Maybe they mean a dedicated space in an office somewhere, or perhaps they are just putting a spin on what’s really a colo cage.
But no.
They have a…unique network setup.
I checked on the test IP (which did indeed respond very quickly, and I got about 35-40MB/sec from a Seattle VPS on the 1GB test file). The IP block is owned by Comcast and this looks very much like a residential IP.
I also noticed that the reverse DNS is web.gamehostdirect.com.
Which lead me to this video:
Okay, then.
There was also this update from earlier this year, where the Xfinity Gig Pro plan is discussed (Xfinity = Comcast):
All of this is the brainchild of Mad Gigabit, a self-described “online legend”. He describes himself as an influencer. His Twitter is a read. I do like his logos though. I need to find out where he got those done. But I digress.
Seems like he’s got some kind of peering setup but the servers are perhaps in his basement…? If so, it must be like living inside a 747 because servers that have dual E5s with 16x1TB drives are going to be on the loud side.
My conclusion is that he was a gamer, got a deal/bought some gear/etc. and got in the game server business, and now says hey, why not put unused cycles to work with some shared hosting.
Do you like to live dangerously? I guess I’m posting this one for entertainment value.
Read on if you are brave! And if you do take the plunge, you must comment!
Update: As explained here, order links have been removed.
Network Information
Rackifi Private Datacenter – Kittanning, Pennsylvania
Test IPv4: 50.219.136.150
Test file: https://web.rackifi.io/100MB.bin
Test file: https://web.rackifi.io/1GB.bin
Server Info
2x Intel Xeon E5-2648L v3
128GB RAM
16x 1TB SAS Drives
Hardware RAID10
10Gbps uplink
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What the hey, I will give it try. Who would not trust a dude in mirrored sunglasses and two cartoon sidekicks (about section on their site).
SO, I want that managed WP hosting for $3.68 a month from above offer. I follow the link and enter the coupon (there is not monthly option).
Here is best i can get: https://i.imgur.com/rK2bTax.jpg
Total waste of time.
Hard pass.
Can confirm Austin Ayers, rackifi and madgigabit is a fraud
He’s not a legend, not famous. Just a kid with a different scam every few months