Comment I don't *want* root. (Score 1) 539
I worked for a large ISP that did both managed and colo hosting. The big secret is that I already have root on the boxes we manage, and I don't want root on yours. If you want to send in part of a log file, I'm happy to take a look, but I wouldn't login to your box on a bet.
When your box craps out and you loose [insert valuable service/data here], you send in the lawyers and my boss comes by to ask what happened, one of the biggest thrills of my life is being able to say "Beats me, we don't have a login for that box."
And if we're managing it, you don't have root, and your box won't crap out because we've got 500 others just like it that are working just fine and yours is nothing special.
When your box craps out and you loose [insert valuable service/data here], you send in the lawyers and my boss comes by to ask what happened, one of the biggest thrills of my life is being able to say "Beats me, we don't have a login for that box."
And if we're managing it, you don't have root, and your box won't crap out because we've got 500 others just like it that are working just fine and yours is nothing special.