Server status updates
Just in case you didn’t know/notice, this website and tny.im are no longer hosted on a VPS provided by FreeVPS. Due to issues on the node where that VPS was hosted, that made it become network-unreachable, I needed to buy a new server to avoid a longer downtime.
I ended up buying a KVM-powered VPS from BlueVM because they accept Bitcoin and had a good special deal at the time. It’s my third day with the server and so far, so good. It has better specs than the server I had, and after config optimization tny.im is now able to handle more concurrent requests than it did before. I will keep readers updated and post a detailed review of the server, later.
Moving away from sponsorships is be better in the long term (less worries, proper support…), even if it means that tny.im is now unprofitable (temporarily, hopefully).
luis123456
April 15, 2014 - 06:04
Pal, sponsorships are good if you have a longtime friend, who owns a VPS node and make an exception for you and only you, or someone who sells vps and gives you some free resources.(I’m writing this post from a sponsored Windows KVM VPS that lasted 1 month and 1 day and still looking for more).
But if the sponsor sponsors more than 5 VPS and to companies that keep giving them out for free, whell sure something is gonna always happen: A) They can and will get abused, or b) they pull out the sponsorship at any time. If you have great contact with your sponsor, you have nothing to worry for.
While this is in abstract, there’s more to it. Some people just do conduct a research then close their free program, and some do it for the lulz and they disappear overnight. If the hosts is not prepared for the free VPS (ie has restristions, limits etc), and just give the equivalent of a paid VPS things gonna always happen.
Hope to shine some light over your small darkness, and good luck with your paid-for VPS!!!
Seeya.
luis123456
April 15, 2014 - 06:13
Forgot one thing: If there is a middle man, like a company that needs to get contacted before the sponsor, you now have something to worry for. Contact might get lost somewhere, as the sponsorship is in name and responsibility of the middle man, and he can cut you out too. Remember, third parties are never good, as they have their own lives, feelings and thoughts. What this means is that they have the power to do any action they think redeemable to you (like pulling the plug, reinstall your VPS without even asking, reboot/shutdown it etc). It is always recommended to cut out the middleman and do the first contact and work by yourself (that way you get to know the sponsor and they can build trust in you).
This happens with sim cards here, they are registered in someone’s business name, they remove all credit from it and then sell out to supermarkets, grocery stores, etc., and then if you don-t put it in your name I heard cases of people who lost their phone numbers due to the former owner reporting them as lost (while they just registered it and you legally purchased your simcard on a supermarket)
Enough ranting here, seeya later.
gbl08ma
April 15, 2014 - 23:53
Hi Luis,
In fact I received two sponsorship offers from people I trust, once they knew I was having problems, and this happened *before* I even asked for anything. I said thanks, put the offers on hold, and finally turned them down, as I really wanted to move away from sponsorships, to cut the middleman as you say. Paying for a server gives you and the provider different rights and responsibilities. The provider now has the responsibility to provide a good service, I have the responsibility of paying, and the right to ask for support, just to name some examples.
Moving away from sponsorships is better because it gives me and the tny. internet media group more independence, gives me a big piece of mind (no links to put up, no posts to make, no favors to ask people for, and hopefully the server reliability will be better) and doesn’t require as much time investment that some sponsorship schemes sometimes require.
I am now the rightful owner of a BlueVM server, and as such I no longer have to worry about meeting post requirements or asking for favors. I do not have to bother people (other than the BlueVM support eventually – let’s hope not) to keep my server. I can go offline for six months if I wish, as long as there are no technical problems or support requests to attend, my websites will keep running. So far I think my bitcoins were well spent, especially because this server was a bargain for the specs and newly-found peace of mind.
You can choose to invest time, money, or both. For years I invested a ton of time and effort and no money, and I can’t say things did not work out – well on the contrary, I’m still amazed at the amount of things I achieved without investing a cent. Due to many factors including personal life and funds availability, I decided it was time to invest less time and more money, and so things went this way.
In fact, it’s not the first time that I choose to spend money to get more time and stability: long ago, I stopped relying on free domains and on people to pay the domains. I’m still very thankful to those who paid, and who got basically nothing but a friendship in return.
All I can hope is that some day I’ll be able to pay those people, my poor-man’s-venture-capital investors, back. Right now, however, I’m more worried about how I can turn tny.im into a “profitable” “business” which can make $60 a year in revenue for $0 profit.
See you.
luis123456
April 16, 2014 - 03:29
Well that’s a nice route to choose, but with each dollar costing neatly $10 of my local currency, I have opted for free VPS until my economy betters out (right now I don’t have a credit card, a bank sccount and much money). I also need a girlfriend, and have to eat, cloth and other basic need. Nothing justifies an AR$ 400 bill for a vps with 50 gb space, 200 gb bandwidth and 768 mb ram. If you still wonder, I live in Argentina.
Bad presidents, bad foreign policies. inflation and corrution makes bills impossible to be paid, so I must choose the free way out.