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HostHK

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2013
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NOTE: This is not an advertisement. This is an attempt to obtain feedback on an idea.

We've been looking at ways of making use of some of our older hardware (2007/2008 old). We have considered setting them up to run low end 'cheap' VPS servers. I was hoping to get some feedback.

Hardware:

  • CPU - C2D E6550
  • HDD - 1TB 7200RPM SATA III (New)
  • RAM - 3GB
  • PSU - Seasonic P460-FL2 (New)

Software:

  • Citrix XenServer 6.x

The idea is to sell low end VPS (256MB - 2GB RAM) as a no frills and highly economical service at a lower price than standard VPS/Cloud servers.

Packages would look like the following

Option 1
256MB RAM
40GB Disk Space
Price Target: $20

Option 2
768MB RAM
120GB Disk Space
Price Target: $35

Option 3
1536MB RAM
240GB Disk Space
Price Target: $60

Option 4
2048MB RAM
480GB Disk Space
Price Target: $75

Ignoring bandwidth for the time being, what is the general consensus on this forum regarding service and price knowing the physical server is on the low end side.

The CPU+Mainboard will be old but would of course use a brand-new HDD and PowerSupply.

There would only be 1 HDD so no RAID. But an onsite storage server would be present to take backups. The HDD would also be only 50% provisioned with remaining disk to be used for possible image snap shots.

XenServer would ensure no overselling and given the server's small RAM capacity, the CPU should not be overloaded.

So is RAID 1/5/6/10 important to users when looking for budget VPS?
Would less storage in exchange for an SSD be preferred?

Any other preferences?

Opinions would be welcome. Look forward to reading!
 
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8 comments
Thnx for the feedback. What kind of price would you consider reasonable for 256MB RAM. Or rather, what kind of ram is suitable for $20 price?
 
It's 2013. $20 gets you double resources, brand new enterprise hardware, SAS drives in h/w RAID10, premium bandwidth on premium network blend and premium managed support.
 
Kruno said:
It's 2013. $20 gets you double resources, brand new enterprise hardware, SAS drives in h/w RAID10, premium bandwidth on premium network blend and premium managed support.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not in HK. Hardware isn't expensive in HK (generally speaking), but bandwidth, IPs, and physical storage space is considerably more expensive, and this is the location in which we operate.

I am trying to find a use for these older servers (C2D E6550) and budget VPS is one of the considerations. Is option 1 the only problem or are the other 3 also considered 'too expensive'?

Any other uses for the older machines?
 
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HostHK said:
Kruno said:
It's 2013. $20 gets you double resources, brand new enterprise hardware, SAS drives in h/w RAID10, premium bandwidth on premium network blend and premium managed support.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not in HK. Hardware isn't expensive in HK (generally speaking), but bandwidth, IPs, and physical storage space is considerably more expensive, and this is the location in which we operate.

I am trying to find a use for these older servers (C2D E6550) and budget VPS is one of the considerations. Is option 1 the only problem or are the other 3 also considered 'too expensive'?

Any other uses for the older machines?
Click to expand...

I get it, but this is far from budget in 2013.
See EDIS - KVM VPS, vollvirtualisierte Server aus Hongkong. Edis uses new generation CPUs and RAID10 drives.
 
I get it, but this is far from budget in 2013.
See EDIS - KVM VPS, vollvirtualisierte Server aus Hongkong. Edis uses new generation CPUs and RAID10 drives.
Click to expand...

I find it hard to believe they are able to offer that kind of bandwidth at these prices. Pretty much the cheapest bandwidth you can get in HK is from Hurricane Electric (which is only really any good for North America) and that stuff cost US$25+ /Mbit assuming 100Mbit+ Commit.

Typical cost of international bandwidth is US$100 /month per mbit with large commitments on premium providers going as low as $40 /month.

Assuming this is just US$20 /month /mbit then they would not be able to offer anything close to the bandwidth they are supposedly offering.

If it is local bandwidth they are offering, then sure the costs fall dramatically as that stuff can be as low as US$1 /mbit.

A few things to point out in HK and Asia in general. International bandwidth is considerably more than the US/EU. 20+ times more expensive. IPs, like in Europe, are no longer available and IPv4 is simply no longer issued to existing ISPs, and only small /24 - /22 allocations are being made to new organizations with justification for the need. I guess this is why even the most expensive HK VPS at Edis has just 1 IP address. Land in HK is some of the most expensive in the world which means rack space is also going to be relatively expensive adding more to the cost. Finally, power is more than the US and given the warmer climate, more expensive to operate than EU data centers.

But sure, offering local bandwidth and 1 IP address would reduce the cost by a significant margin. Slash the profit margin too and heck you could sell VPS in HK for a few bucks. Also the options at Edis are for considerably less space.

So if we assume:

100GB Local Data Transfer = $1
1IP Address = $1
Server power/colo = US$30

Sure, you can make it budget server even with a 100% mark-up.

A VPS (256MB RAM, 40GB HDD, 100GB Local BW) could cost just $10 /month then

If you want 100GB international bandwidth then the bandwidth alone would normally cost around US$17. So add international bandwidth to the mix, and it starts getting expensive.
 
Hi Hussie,

That's actually a really good idea.. Could load up a server with hard drives and just sell storage space.

Could easily fit 6 drives in one of our standard 2u cases so we could put in like 6x3TB in raid 5 and have a total of 15TB of storage for very reasonable cost.

Cheers!
 
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