:: IMPORTANT Announcement for Customers Options

[Mike O]

Since the company’s founding in October 2002, Elixant Hosting has been devoted to providing affordable, reliable services to its customers. As consumers annoyed by the quality of current hosting solutions, Mike Jacobs and I started this company to offer free hosting that rivaled paid services both in features and support. It has, through the years, evolved into a paid-only web host. Our history is far from a fairy tale; we have made many mistakes along the way, often as the result of good intentions but inadequate forethought. I would ask that you read the remainder of this announcement knowing that we do still genuinely appreciate your business and your loyalty.


The staff and I have grown substantially with this company, but the emotional and physical stress of trying to put our best efforts into both the management of this company and succeeding as students is simply overwhelming. We feel that continuing to run this company as full-time students would require drastic changes, many of which would not benefit our customers in the long run. Though it is difficult for of us (staff and customers alike) to acknowledge, we are convinced that you will be best served by transferring to another provider. Realistically we can only expect the situation to become progressively worse as we continue along our educational and (eventually) our career paths. Therefore, we regrettably must announce our intention to cease operations on March 11, 2007.


Many of you are probably panic-stricken by this point, and understandably so. Let me try to allay your fears by assuring you that we stand by you through this entire process. If you paid quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, you WILL receive a prorated refund for any unused service when you cancel your account. Any domains you bought through Elixant Hosting are perfectly safe as well, and there is a procedure to transfer the domains to another registrar.


Furthermore, we will retain one server to host staff accounts and any customers that wish to stay with Elixant Hosting. Please note that we will not be able to provide script installation services or guaranteed response times. However, you can still request support through the forums, and we will try to get questions answered as quickly as possible.  We will do our best to keep the server running optimally, and it should be reliable. Space is limited, though, and we will be unable to host large/resource-intensive sites on this system. Details will be posted a little later about switching over to this server, for those of you that plan on staying. However, I will suggest that MOST customers who need guaranteed customer support switch to another provider.


The transfer plans, outlined here, will certainly need to be tweaked throughout this process. I would like to apologize for putting you in this situation, but it is better to announce an extended shutdown procedure now rather than wait until it becomes necessary to close immediately. This has been a challenging, but rewarding experience, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have worked with such a caring and diverse group of customers.


For general questions, you may reply to this thread, or send me a PM or e-mail. To arrange an account or domain transfer, please follow the above procedures and submit tickets as directed. As the number of tickets increases throughout the next few weeks, it may take me longer to follow up.


A link to this announcement will appear in CPanel shortly, and e-mails will begin going out during this next week. Reminders will be sent periodically via e-mail.


Thank you,

Mike O'Neill




IMPORTANT DATES:

February 26, 2007 - Last day to submit "Retain Account" tickets

February 28, 2007 - Last day to submit "Relocation Assistance" tickets

March 2, 2007 - Elixant.com and ixolo.com transferred to new server; Solace Two customers please read this important update

March 3, 2007 - Last day for remaining customers to transfer to new server

March 11, 2007 - Solace One, Solace Two, Solace Three, Solace Four, and Theory will be taken offline; DATA CANNOT BE RECOVERED ON OR AFTER THIS DATE



Customers moving to other providers, please be advised: account cancellation/refund and domain release tickets will still be accepted and processed through April 27, 2007. However, if you registered your domain through Elixant Hosting and it expires on or after March 11, 2007, it will NOT be automatically renewed. You should therefore make arrangements to move the domain to another registrar BEFORE the expiration date.

[aSm]

Ummmm, lame

Sad to see Elixant go, its really hard to find anyone that matches on price or support :/

[Jordan]

Well.. What can i say. Gutted really. My time of being on the internet iv always known Elixant for being the best hosting providers around, from the prices, the plans and the support.

I don't really know of any other place to switch to? Can you guys recommenced anything? Im lost

[Mike O]

Jordan,

Well, as I mentioned in this thread, we will be keeping one server to host staff sites and any customers that want to stay with us. Though I no longer feel comfortable with guaranteeing a response time, I will still do my best to offer support to the customers that stay after March 11, 2007.

However, if you need a provider that can guarantee response times, a large number of people seem to be happy with A Small Orange. You can also look at http://findmyhost.com for reviews of the larger providers. Make sure you read through this thread first, just to understand the general procedures for staying with Elixant or transferring elsewhere.

Mike O'Neill
Elixant Support

[Suicide_Guy]

It's really sad to see such a remarkable host go. You guys have always been great. I truly wish you guys the best in your future endeavors.

[Jakob]

I'm sorry to see just a great host go. I guess I am officially open to suggestions about switching webhosts. I'm backing up Hope for Another Day (my educational site) weekly now. Thanks for telling me months in advance Mike.

I'll try to be out of here by the next payment of mine dued.

[route]

Thank you for such an early warning but most of all thank you for all the work, time, effort (blood, sweat, tears?!) you guys (especially you, Mike) have put into this company. Wish you the best in the future, and who knows what will happen then ... I'm sticking around for sure.



Thank you again!

[Isaac]

This is a great way to start off the holiday season.

Seriously though, thank you SO much for giving us a heads up in advance. I'm really thankful you've given everyone ample time to get their affairs in order. Elixant has been the best host I've been with, period. I'm really sad to see this happen, but it's for the best, so I'm not complaining. You all have provided amazing services, and second to none support. A host like Elixant will be very, very hard to come by.

Thanks, and I wish you all the best in what you're doing.

[Artemis]

Ah, this is a shame... well, Elixant is the best host I have ever used, ever; I'll stay if I can. The service and prices and everything has been unmatched, and it's been a great experience. I wish you all luck, and thanks for being the best on the web.

[randomPaul]

Well, I have to say I've found the quality of hosting here top notch, and I'll be sad to leave such a personal service behind.

I wish you all the best for the future, although I had no idea you were full time students.

I would consider staying, but I'm sure I'm one of the most irritating customers (mike.. time's out of sync.. mike.. can I use php5? ooohhh and mike.. can I get errors with that?).. so I shall dump my demanding ways on some other poor sod's shoulders.

One question regarding my free domain - I see from the whois that randompaul.net expires on the 20th of february, can this be transferred to a registrar of my choice so that I may pay for it from then?

Anyway I shall commence the search for a new host, although I must say I'm not impressed with the pricing of UK hosting companies.

[Russ]

Mike and the rest of the crew here at Elixant, thanks for all of your help and support not to mention the fair prices and reliable service. I wish that all of your hard work didn't have to disappear. I know you have already thought out all your options but I'm hopeful that maybe you can find some help or something that can keep Elixant at current level. If not then I must say "GOOD JOB" and watch out business world for Mike O and the crew when they complete their studies and really get serious about a business!

God bless and thanks

Russ

[adamb10]

Even though I'm not a paying customer Elixant sure treated me as if I was one. Elixant has been a wonderful webhost and I have enjoyed every minute.

[svank]

This is very sad news. Elixant has always been a very good host. I'm really sad to see you guys go.

I'd really like to get on the one server remaining, but I don't have a PayPal. I'd have to get my parents to make one and let me use it (I'm not 18+), and Dad said he's not too interested in opening one. Could I reserve space on the server to keep if I can get my hands on a PayPal, or would I have to wait until my parents decide and hope it's not full yet?

[Zoom]

Dear Elixant Family,

I would just like to express my gratitude to all of you who have made Elixant possible throughout the four years. If it was not for you, our loyal customers, we would have never even made it this far. For those who are leaving, I know that I truly will miss the diverse and friendly world-wide community that each of you helped create due to your contributions and comments on the forums. In return, I can only hope that the staff and I were able to positively impact you throughout these years. Additionally, I would like to express my appreciation for your continued support and understanding through this whole process. It has truly been both a pleasure and a reward working with you all.

Best wishes,

-Rajiv Kirpalani (A.K.A – Zoom)

[Adrian]

I'd like to echo Rajiv's comments.

Adrian