Frequently Asked Questions
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:44 pm
OK, reading some tickets, I saw that some of the questions and requests are far more frequent than others. As such, will try to outline them here as well as the general reply to them.
1. Please enable TUN/TAP in my OpenVZ container so I can setup my VPN !
TUN/TAP interfaces are already enabled in the kernel but they are not loaded in your container since would use some resources and would be a waste if not required for the VPS usage. You can enable them in your Solus Panel, just log in there using the credentials in the provisioning mail you received from us and there click manage near your VPS and in the next page at the bottom, you will find the "Controls" Panel which has the "Settings" tab. There you can enable/disable those interfaces.
1.1. Please enable x iptables module to make my VPN work !
Unfortunately, not all iptables rules work with OpenVZ. Please see this for an example of what it doesn't work and an example of a workaround. We have guides under the General Assistance forum about how to setup a few VPNs under any type of VPS we are offering, including OpenVPN.
2. I want to setup an rDNS record but I get error A record not found !
We allow customers to setup their own rDNS records in SolusVM, but we are checking if the record exists and points to that IP in your domain's DNS. We can't let you setup rDNS such as mail.microsoft.com, can we ?
So, please, before setting up the rDNS, make sure you updated your DNS so that the record exists and points to your VPS's IP.
IPv6 AAAA records work the same way. Make sure your DNS supports it, create the record and then update rDNS in SolusVm control panel.
For further information on how to host your DNS and even use free subdomains with your VPS, check this tutorial: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13
2.1 Where i can find my IPv6 IP(s) ?
Please use this link: http://prometeus.net/returnipv6.php?IP=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IPv4 you were assigned.
3. My networking performance is poor! I have heard good things about Prometeus/Iperweb network, what is wrong?
You are probably using a distribution optmized for low ram such as debian and even ubuntu to some extent. If you do, please use these commands to tweak the network for performance (ram over 256 MB, under, network will go well, but you will not like the ram usage)
Then load them with
The first 4 do the most improvement, if you have good ram and cpu, the others usually dont hurt.
3.1 Another issue which can give poor network performance is the preference of IPv6 network when the other end you testing to, does not have IPv6 or the IPv6 connectivity is worse than the IPv4 one. If this is the case, please edit your /etc/gai.conf accordingly (the comments are self-explanatory)
4. My new complex password does not work !
This is a bug in SolusVM control panel. Some characters are not welcome there, for example %,#, (, ), space and perhaps others. To set any password you want, please do so from the shell (ssh, putty, console) using this command: passwd. you will be prompted for a new password twice, pay attention as you will not see it. There is no restriction there on what characters you use, however, make sure your keyboard is matching the language you use, otherwise your password will not work on other machines...
5. I want more IPs for my VPS !
You can have them most of the time, but sometimes it is not possible because the particular segment you are on is full. You need to ask before.
Currently they cost around 12 Eur/year and you can have up to 3 more, but after that a justification form to RIPE must be filled and submitted. In general, having more IPs for a VPS is not justified, but there can be exceptions. No, monthly payment is not possible due to abuse and paypal fees, however, the customizable VPSes can have more if ordered at start with monthly payment.
6. May I use the VPS as personal media vault ?
We will not search your VPS for illegal content, we will not ask you for proof of legal ownership and all. If you want to make it personal, no problem, but make sure it is personal ! Protect it with a password at least. Any complaint will be investigated and your VPS suspended if the complaint is justified. We will fully cooperate with the authorities also, if the necessary conditions are met.
7. May I use x application/game server ?
Short answer: YES
Long answer:
Some applications are using a lot of resources and, as such, it is either impossible or very stressing for some plans to host these applications. For example, a Minecraft server cannot really be run in a 256 MB VPS. It will also be very laggy if only the minimal conditions are met or if you have many players on. It can also abuse the resources in some conditions. So chose the right plan, we will help with that !
A side note: Your application must be legal. "Cracked" game servers will not be allowed, for instance.
7.1 May I use the VPS for filesharing/torrent downloads ?
Filesharing as such is not illegal, sharing copyrighted content, is. If we receive complaints, your VPS will be suspended. If those complaints are proved right, your vps will be cancelled without refunds.
Additionally, filesharing in a low memory VPS can lead to significant disk operations which can add up and slow down a lot the node and as such impact many other people. So, please take care and do not download more than 1, maximum 2 torrents at a time. Repeated heavy abuse will force us to suspend your VPS to protect the other customers on the same node, but will be restored after you promise to correct the problem. You won't break your promise, right ?
8. I want to use my VPS as an open proxy/Tor node or similar software.
We are sorry, but this can't be allowed. You do not know what will go out of the node and nobody can predict that. As such it is certain your VPS will be used for illegal activities and we will receive abuse complaints.
A relay only Tor node or similar software which only allows traffic to other nodes is OK. For example, Freenet is allowed.
9. I want to be hosted with Prometeus since my last provider kicked me because I received DDoS attacks.
We are sorry you were the victim of internet terrorism. We believe you when you say you were not guilty, but we have a duty towards all the customers.
That being said, the network here is very strong, we have our own datacenter so we do not fear being kicked because of you, the attacks must be fairly substantial to be noticed by us, so we will not kick you for a 200 MB flood.
We are also planning some isolation of the people with these problems and mitigate the attacks. As such, if you hear from us, it means the attacks are either fairly big or fairly frequent to raise concern, so we will try to find a solution together. If everything fails and the other customers suffer, we have to part ways. We are really sorry if that happens, check back from time to time to see our future solution to the problem.
10. Is my data safe, do you keep back-ups ?
Short answer, NO.
Long answer:
All servers have RAID storage of some sort, meaning that at least one hard drive can fail and no data is lost. A disaster might come, even the best raid controllers can fail and, in general, any thing made by a human can. We had an instance when we had to restore from back-up and some data was not current as the back-up was about 12 hours old.
Some plans come with some back-up space, but this means you have to take care to back-up your data, it is not automatic. If many requests will come, we may offer some plans with automatic back-ups. In any event, PLEASE take care of your data ! Nobody knows better than you what is important there.
Even if there are some plans and servers where we take back-ups, please take it as we do not and keep your own sets. We have no obligation to restore your data in case of raid failure unless otherwise stated in the offer.
We offer for every customer free 10 GB FTP back-up space and Biz customers can receive for each Biz plan 20 more located in another country for extra safety. You cannot say you did not have the necessary conditions to do your back-ups.
Here is a basic tutorial on how to order and use it with Duplicity: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1048&p=1426#p1426
11. Which plan is better for my needs ?
Oh, we are sorry, but can't reply this question without further data.
However, this forum is made for this exact purpose, to help you choose the best experience for you. We will assist you with advice, but it is not sure we can choose what is best and, at times, nobody can.
You can be sure, though, that we will offer the resources to make an informed choice regarding the virtualization method, the level of each resource needed, etc. Make a topic here, read other similar topics, various experiences and share yours to help others choose correctly.
Look here for some hints: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=851
12. I want you to do x task for me.
While we might and we frequently do various tasks upon request, please take into consideration that these plans are currently offered without management.
If you need a lot of these interventions, we might ask you for a small fee for each. We plan to introduce some managed plans, but won't be the cheapest around because they will come with the Prometeus customer service, and we hope that counts for something !
13. I don't find the Windows plans (solved)...
We plan to offer Windows plans too, but they are not yet out, in fact this is the most advanced plan of those outlined here. We are already testing a server. Done ! Windows plans here: https://www.prometeus.net/billing/cart. ... roduct&i=1
14. My 50cents plan shows very bad io...
If you mean the standard dd test that writes 1 gb of continuous random data, then you are right. Because of the low memory and high latency of vSwap it is much delayed. You can try ioping to test latency or adapt the dd command to use lower memory or bypass it completely with dsync.
15. What is vSwap and how is it different from burst ram ?
vSwap is a newer ovz feature. It uses RAM usually but it slows down access to warn you you are approaching your memory limit. So, before starting to fail silently because processes are killed, you will have plenty of warning.
It is also almost guaranteed. If the machine does not have enough ram to give to all vSwap requests, will go swapping on disk (Prometeus will take measures to prevent that), while burst will not be available all the time and you may hit the wall at any time and your app fail abruptly.
Admin
1. Please enable TUN/TAP in my OpenVZ container so I can setup my VPN !
TUN/TAP interfaces are already enabled in the kernel but they are not loaded in your container since would use some resources and would be a waste if not required for the VPS usage. You can enable them in your Solus Panel, just log in there using the credentials in the provisioning mail you received from us and there click manage near your VPS and in the next page at the bottom, you will find the "Controls" Panel which has the "Settings" tab. There you can enable/disable those interfaces.
1.1. Please enable x iptables module to make my VPN work !
Unfortunately, not all iptables rules work with OpenVZ. Please see this for an example of what it doesn't work and an example of a workaround. We have guides under the General Assistance forum about how to setup a few VPNs under any type of VPS we are offering, including OpenVPN.
2. I want to setup an rDNS record but I get error A record not found !
We allow customers to setup their own rDNS records in SolusVM, but we are checking if the record exists and points to that IP in your domain's DNS. We can't let you setup rDNS such as mail.microsoft.com, can we ?
So, please, before setting up the rDNS, make sure you updated your DNS so that the record exists and points to your VPS's IP.
IPv6 AAAA records work the same way. Make sure your DNS supports it, create the record and then update rDNS in SolusVm control panel.
For further information on how to host your DNS and even use free subdomains with your VPS, check this tutorial: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13
2.1 Where i can find my IPv6 IP(s) ?
Please use this link: http://prometeus.net/returnipv6.php?IP=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IPv4 you were assigned.
3. My networking performance is poor! I have heard good things about Prometeus/Iperweb network, what is wrong?
You are probably using a distribution optmized for low ram such as debian and even ubuntu to some extent. If you do, please use these commands to tweak the network for performance (ram over 256 MB, under, network will go well, but you will not like the ram usage)
Code: Select all
echo 'net.core.wmem_max=12582912' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.core.rmem_max=12582912' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_rmem= 10240 87380 12582912' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_wmem= 10240 87380 12582912' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_timestamps = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_sack = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_no_metrics_save = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 5000' >> /etc/sysctl.confCode: Select all
sysctl -p3.1 Another issue which can give poor network performance is the preference of IPv6 network when the other end you testing to, does not have IPv6 or the IPv6 connectivity is worse than the IPv4 one. If this is the case, please edit your /etc/gai.conf accordingly (the comments are self-explanatory)
4. My new complex password does not work !
This is a bug in SolusVM control panel. Some characters are not welcome there, for example %,#, (, ), space and perhaps others. To set any password you want, please do so from the shell (ssh, putty, console) using this command: passwd. you will be prompted for a new password twice, pay attention as you will not see it. There is no restriction there on what characters you use, however, make sure your keyboard is matching the language you use, otherwise your password will not work on other machines...
5. I want more IPs for my VPS !
You can have them most of the time, but sometimes it is not possible because the particular segment you are on is full. You need to ask before.
Currently they cost around 12 Eur/year and you can have up to 3 more, but after that a justification form to RIPE must be filled and submitted. In general, having more IPs for a VPS is not justified, but there can be exceptions. No, monthly payment is not possible due to abuse and paypal fees, however, the customizable VPSes can have more if ordered at start with monthly payment.
6. May I use the VPS as personal media vault ?
We will not search your VPS for illegal content, we will not ask you for proof of legal ownership and all. If you want to make it personal, no problem, but make sure it is personal ! Protect it with a password at least. Any complaint will be investigated and your VPS suspended if the complaint is justified. We will fully cooperate with the authorities also, if the necessary conditions are met.
7. May I use x application/game server ?
Short answer: YES
Long answer:
Some applications are using a lot of resources and, as such, it is either impossible or very stressing for some plans to host these applications. For example, a Minecraft server cannot really be run in a 256 MB VPS. It will also be very laggy if only the minimal conditions are met or if you have many players on. It can also abuse the resources in some conditions. So chose the right plan, we will help with that !
A side note: Your application must be legal. "Cracked" game servers will not be allowed, for instance.
7.1 May I use the VPS for filesharing/torrent downloads ?
Filesharing as such is not illegal, sharing copyrighted content, is. If we receive complaints, your VPS will be suspended. If those complaints are proved right, your vps will be cancelled without refunds.
Additionally, filesharing in a low memory VPS can lead to significant disk operations which can add up and slow down a lot the node and as such impact many other people. So, please take care and do not download more than 1, maximum 2 torrents at a time. Repeated heavy abuse will force us to suspend your VPS to protect the other customers on the same node, but will be restored after you promise to correct the problem. You won't break your promise, right ?
8. I want to use my VPS as an open proxy/Tor node or similar software.
We are sorry, but this can't be allowed. You do not know what will go out of the node and nobody can predict that. As such it is certain your VPS will be used for illegal activities and we will receive abuse complaints.
A relay only Tor node or similar software which only allows traffic to other nodes is OK. For example, Freenet is allowed.
9. I want to be hosted with Prometeus since my last provider kicked me because I received DDoS attacks.
We are sorry you were the victim of internet terrorism. We believe you when you say you were not guilty, but we have a duty towards all the customers.
That being said, the network here is very strong, we have our own datacenter so we do not fear being kicked because of you, the attacks must be fairly substantial to be noticed by us, so we will not kick you for a 200 MB flood.
We are also planning some isolation of the people with these problems and mitigate the attacks. As such, if you hear from us, it means the attacks are either fairly big or fairly frequent to raise concern, so we will try to find a solution together. If everything fails and the other customers suffer, we have to part ways. We are really sorry if that happens, check back from time to time to see our future solution to the problem.
10. Is my data safe, do you keep back-ups ?
Short answer, NO.
Long answer:
All servers have RAID storage of some sort, meaning that at least one hard drive can fail and no data is lost. A disaster might come, even the best raid controllers can fail and, in general, any thing made by a human can. We had an instance when we had to restore from back-up and some data was not current as the back-up was about 12 hours old.
Some plans come with some back-up space, but this means you have to take care to back-up your data, it is not automatic. If many requests will come, we may offer some plans with automatic back-ups. In any event, PLEASE take care of your data ! Nobody knows better than you what is important there.
Even if there are some plans and servers where we take back-ups, please take it as we do not and keep your own sets. We have no obligation to restore your data in case of raid failure unless otherwise stated in the offer.
We offer for every customer free 10 GB FTP back-up space and Biz customers can receive for each Biz plan 20 more located in another country for extra safety. You cannot say you did not have the necessary conditions to do your back-ups.
Here is a basic tutorial on how to order and use it with Duplicity: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1048&p=1426#p1426
11. Which plan is better for my needs ?
Oh, we are sorry, but can't reply this question without further data.
However, this forum is made for this exact purpose, to help you choose the best experience for you. We will assist you with advice, but it is not sure we can choose what is best and, at times, nobody can.
You can be sure, though, that we will offer the resources to make an informed choice regarding the virtualization method, the level of each resource needed, etc. Make a topic here, read other similar topics, various experiences and share yours to help others choose correctly.
Look here for some hints: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=851
12. I want you to do x task for me.
While we might and we frequently do various tasks upon request, please take into consideration that these plans are currently offered without management.
If you need a lot of these interventions, we might ask you for a small fee for each. We plan to introduce some managed plans, but won't be the cheapest around because they will come with the Prometeus customer service, and we hope that counts for something !
13. I don't find the Windows plans (solved)...
We plan to offer Windows plans too, but they are not yet out, in fact this is the most advanced plan of those outlined here. We are already testing a server. Done ! Windows plans here: https://www.prometeus.net/billing/cart. ... roduct&i=1
14. My 50cents plan shows very bad io...
If you mean the standard dd test that writes 1 gb of continuous random data, then you are right. Because of the low memory and high latency of vSwap it is much delayed. You can try ioping to test latency or adapt the dd command to use lower memory or bypass it completely with dsync.
15. What is vSwap and how is it different from burst ram ?
vSwap is a newer ovz feature. It uses RAM usually but it slows down access to warn you you are approaching your memory limit. So, before starting to fail silently because processes are killed, you will have plenty of warning.
It is also almost guaranteed. If the machine does not have enough ram to give to all vSwap requests, will go swapping on disk (Prometeus will take measures to prevent that), while burst will not be available all the time and you may hit the wall at any time and your app fail abruptly.
Admin