#Chunkhost, which is where the #VPS for the USS server (used by N5) and VPS for the !OSP server are hosted, announced an imminent shutdown. Apparently, they've been losing money for a while, even after laying off almost all their staff.
I just paid for another year in July, but will probably not receive a refund.
The timing is bad, because there's no budget for hosting (or anything else) right now.
I will be shuttering the remaining !osp server. Having been without income for half a year, I lost control of the domain and then the #VPS locked up so hard that even remote console tools have not restored control.
I'll relaunch with another name and hosting set up when possible.
I don't have any need for a #Windows #VPS, but I'll send this info to S and K, who are being dragged into $EMPLOYER's cloud-centric future. If they get some hands on with something like this in the next year or so and also something like #MSAzure, they'll be ahead of the curve.
Created a #Friendica account on Libranet.de ... it very quickly asked to add my contacts from here and is in the midst of attempting to do so. !fnetworks will be adding a Friendica instance once I have some funds for another #VPS.
I remember when a Windows #VPS was generally so expensive that you only did it if you absolutely had to fit into a Windows Server + ActiveDirectory + IIS + SQL Server + ... world. At these prices, I suspect they aren't paying the license fees ... the buyer will be forced to pay them on top of whatever they pay for the VPS.
That's like: this car is $20K. If you also want the engine, that's $20K more. For $10K more, we'll throw in the braking system.
LEB is in the midst of their Black Friday blowout. The above "deal" on a #Windows #VPS is an example. They are on both #Low_End_Box and #Low_End_Talk ... but besides not having any budget available, I also remember a few years ago when several #LEB hosts (who all used #ColoCrossing's dedicated servers, if I remember correctly) were shut down a few weeks after a similar sales event. I doubt that any of the buyers got refunds for unused hosting time that they'd paid for.
I have been reducing family Web presence by abandoning domains and shuttering a #VPS here and there. Now I need to reduce my work hours, so I will have some time and energy to devote to both the family’s activities ( including reviving some #fambiz operations) and to building !fnetworks. I have some ideas in both areas, but have been stymied by the feast or famine nature of my employment.
He did, but he kept control of them, so when his funds ran short, most of them disappeared. I've thought about deploying a Federati #Pump.io instance, but it runs atop #Node.js. I'd want to rent a completely separate server ( #VPS ) for it, so nothing else is affected if a poorly understood #JavaScript engine goes haywire.
I saw one that looked like it might make the "take a second look" list. But then I realized their name is a misspelled word, and almost certainly not intentionally so. That completely changed the equation and they are not being considered any more.
(1) #Twitter has millions of users. There is no #ActivityPub nor #OStatus implementation in which an instance hosted on a $5/mo #DigitalOcean / #Linode / #Vultr #VPS could handle the volume of a seamless connection with #Twitter. If they adopted AP OStatus, #Diaspora, or any other current open federation protocol, instances that didn't use firewall blocking would topple once the two userbases had sufficient interconnections (within a few hours or a few days after they started federating).
(2) Twitter's business model is to push ads disguised as tweets. If their users could escape those and still interact with all the same contacts, they would. I'm certain that Twitter's management know this. They also turn all links into tracking links, and sell access to media (images, video, audio) uploads of important news events to news organizations.
(3) Most Fediverse instances are financed out of the admin's pocket. Some have financial contributors, but nothing like Twitter's revenue. As the largest and best-financed instance, they would immediately have to start implementing modifications to make AP or other existing federation protocols useful to them, and those modifications would (as Mastodon's currently do) become unofficially mandatory in order to be compatible.
(4) This isn't the first time that Twitter has considered federation, though this may be the first time they openly discussed it. Back when Identica was still a happening place (during Twitter's fail-whale days), Twitter considered federating. They didn't do it then, and I honestly do not believe they will do it now.
(5) I'd say that Twitter's #BlueSky initiative is more meant to try to get bidirectional connections across #Facebook's moat and wall than it is to surround Twitter with a cloud of #Fediverse instances.
I have to emphasize "disposable". About a year ago, several #Low_End_Box ( #LEB ) #VPS hosting companies suddenly shut down at the same time. Memory says they were renting from an upstream provider ( #Colocrossing ) and missed a payment.
Note: these had all recently had sales, acquired new customers (generally prepaid for a year of service), and then shut down without advance notice.
I'm not biting, and I wouldn't even if I had a little extra cash. But that doesn't necessarily mean you couldn't find a use for an offshore disposable VPS.
Yes, #ChicagoVPS, I know. But you should realize that when I shut down my last #VPS with some funds still in my account and never even tried to get a refund that I was probably more interested in getting away you quickly and putting some distance between us than trying to get a few dollars back.
I still have no desire to do business with you. I’m not saying that others should not, it’s just that you were apparently bought by #ColoCrossing, and I know how badly most of their companies (and clients too, apparently) can be. Remember #123Systems?
@amic @kt And especially avoid almost any #VPS host advertised on LowEndBox unless you're just experimenting with throwaway code & data. When you pay $20-$50/year there's a lot you don't get, usually including reliability.
@mangeurdenuage @sullybiker I ( @lnxw48a1 ) have thought about setting up my own #VPN using #OpenVPN and a #VPS. Just remember what your reasons were for using a VPN. If you're looking to evade geographic restrictions on streaming services, you'd choose differently than if you are just trying to avoid bad guys on the same coffee shop & hotel Wi-Fi you're using.
I used to use #PIA ( and before that #Tunnelr, which closed ), but I do not like what I've read about the new ownership.