Welcome Providers

uptime

You know how when it starts to rain ...

Sometimes you might feel a change in the wind.

Sometimes it's very calm.

But then it starts ... maybe just a few big drops,

saying "Hey! It's gonna be really coming down here soon!"

We are ready. We are thirsty.

We are ready to dance naked in the rain.

ITLabs

Come To Mama
 

uptime

hey playa, hey O.G. what's up what's up? what you need?

you know @MikeA is all about the superior potassium - and everyone can use an ExtraVM, ammirite?

and @freerangecloud has been cultivating some healthy IPv6 support with flexible services for a good little while now

I see @LaunchVPS keeping a low profile but I can smell the Spirit of 76 from a mile a way

MikeA

The ad campaign on Pornhub for LowEndSpirit worked well.

I just never knew so many providers used it also!

uptime

so, while we're all here singing in the rain ...

some real talk here:

I am sure that any ideas for making this forum a happy, healthier place for good providers will be music to @AnthonySmith's ears

Please feel free to use this thread and/or the dedicated https://talk.lowendspirit.com/discussion/80/friendly-feature-requests-ideas thread to share whatever comes to mind along those lines.

ITLabs

If you build it, he will come.

InceptionHosting

I will be starting a public register of hosts page pretty soon for all hosts they get their provider tag.

LES is going to have to be more buyer beware and less nanny state than "the other place" obviously not a complete free for all, some common sense and checking is being applied but I don't yet have the time/paid resource to be able to fully validate so hopefully having a public register for the user base to put under scrutiny will keep things honest (as possible).

seriesn

@AnthonySmith maybe a vetting system? Where a handful of seasoned forum members (let’s say 10) becomes the jury and if majority says go for it, you go for it?

Would be an unique touch, makes it community driven and takes away the blame game when things go south.

ITLabs

@AnthonySmith said:
I will be starting a public register of hosts page pretty soon for all hosts they get their provider tag.

LES is going to have to be more buyer beware and less nanny state than "the other place" obviously not a complete free for all, some common sense and checking is being applied but I don't yet have the time/paid resource to be able to fully validate so hopefully having a public register for the user base to put under scrutiny will keep things honest (as possible).

We (community) can verify WHMCS/Blesta licenses from new providers. And there's nothing better than public scrutiny and reviews/benches to keep things under control.

seriesn

Or maybe 2 tags, one for new provider and one for vetted providers? This I personally would think, benefit the community and providers alike?

freerangecloud

@uptime you're on the ball for keeping track of who's joined! Thanks for the warm words

seriesn

@ITLabs said:

@AnthonySmith said:
I will be starting a public register of hosts page pretty soon for all hosts they get their provider tag.

LES is going to have to be more buyer beware and less nanny state than "the other place" obviously not a complete free for all, some common sense and checking is being applied but I don't yet have the time/paid resource to be able to fully validate so hopefully having a public register for the user base to put under scrutiny will keep things honest (as possible).

We (community) can verify WHMCS/Blesta licenses from new providers. And there's nothing better than public scrutiny and reviews/benches to keep things under control.

I meant for newbies (refer to LEB, where it is still “vetted” but newbies won’t know much better ).

ITLabs

@seriesn said:

@ITLabs said:

@AnthonySmith said:
I will be starting a public register of hosts page pretty soon for all hosts they get their provider tag.

LES is going to have to be more buyer beware and less nanny state than "the other place" obviously not a complete free for all, some common sense and checking is being applied but I don't yet have the time/paid resource to be able to fully validate so hopefully having a public register for the user base to put under scrutiny will keep things honest (as possible).

We (community) can verify WHMCS/Blesta licenses from new providers. And there's nothing better than public scrutiny and reviews/benches to keep things under control.

I meant for newbies (refer to LEB, where it is still “vetted” but newbies won’t know much better ).

Ah yes, ok.

poisson

I think a vetting system is going to run into problems of different opinions and LES shouldn't be judging aside from weeding out clear cases of summer hosts. Also, I don't want to disadvantage bona fide new providers.

I would say that long as there are no clear indications of summer hosting, the a provider can be listed on the public register. Individuals can maintain their own recommended list in their signatures or on a separate site like I do, and it is up to people to decide who they want to go with.

What can be also be done is a plain English consumer guidance advisory that is stickied. Some examples of the content:

1. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
2. If you choose to disregard point 1, you give up your right to complain about your experience.
3. Read the LES review section. Read the threads of past offers. Use the search function. Knowledge is power.
4. Read the TOS and AUP of the provider BEFORE you commit. If you do not understand or agree, DO NOT buy.
5. Exercise patience. If your ticket is replied in 5 minutes, you are lucky.
6. Write clearly in your tickets. If your English is not good, ask politely for help on LES.
7. File tickets appropriately. If you have a billing problem and a technical problem, file them as two different tickets.
8. Do not file unjustified charge backs. If you abuse good providers and make them go bust, you will only be left with shit providers to choose from.

uptime

@poisson

while I might find a few minor quibbles with some of the points you make above (as one does) ...

I would definitely agree that following these guidelines will make for a happier experience for all parties involved.

I wonder if there might be a good way to present solid translations in various languages - it could be a helpful starting point to welcome many of our bros who find this forum via baidu (etc.)

EDIT: also might be interesting if I can find a better use for https://summerhosting.com ... suggestions welcome!

poisson

@uptime said:
@poisson

while I might find a few minor quibbles with some of the points you make above (as one does) ...

I would definitely agree that following these guidelines will make for a happier experience for all parties involved.

I wonder if there might be a good way to present solid translations in various languages - it might be a helpful starting point to welcome many of our bros who find this forum via baidu (etc.)

EDIT: also might be interesting if I can find a better use for https://summerhosting.com ... suggestions welcome!

I don't sweat the small quibbles. I do applied statistics in research, and as long as p < 0.05 that's good enough. I just think that as long as we can cover most key points on how to be an informed consumer, most problems can be avoided and providers can better spend the time creating better value for everyone else.

uptime

@poisson - really the only one I would finesse a bit is #2 - a gentle reminder about the intended purpose of the Rants category might suffice to get the point across.

Thanks for organizing a succinct "how to lowend" syllabus for us, Professor!

ITLabs

Point #3! We need an extensive tutorial on how to search.

Edit: on a second thought, most people are too lazy to search. It's easier to ask.

uptime

searchin' ain't easy

eventually we might enjoy having some better (organic, real) SEO juice leading people to trustworthy VPS provider reviews

in the meantime, encouraging people to ask and answer questions about providers will make for a strong repository of relevant content on this very site

so let's do that LES DO THIS!

TheDP

LES Host Of The Month

vyas

@uptime said:
searching ain't easy

eventually we might enjoy having some better (organic, real) SEO juice leading people to trustworthy VPS provider reviews

in the meantime, encouraging people to ask and answer questions about providers will make for a strong repository of relevant content on this very site

so let's do that!

OR

we could start with a FAQ/ template for providers to provide as much information (without overburdening them - they have other sites to cater to as well!)
E.g. Information template
e.g.
Do you allow "X" (Torrenting/ adult content, etc) Y/N
TOR/VPN Y/N
what are the CPU limits? ( __ %)
Is the discount recurring?

These are a few of the common questions/ themes I have seen in my (limited but growing) time at the "Other place" as Anthony puts it. The good part is, it leads to engagement between providers and potential customers, or between posters. The bad part is, many providers follow a "Post and Fly" policy with no questions answered, or no engagement. Of course that also becomes a good way to identify the rif raff. Or rather separate the chaff (?) from the wheat.

Same, in a FAQ format

a. What services can I typically run on a KVM v/s OVZ /vs... ?
b. What does a non DMCA provider mean?
c. What does GFW blocked mean?
d. What does virtual CPU core mean? what does 30 % limit on CPU mean?
e. What does Fair use mean?

Tie that in with provider reviews and BMs, we get a nice little LESpedia

Each of the above published natively on here - forms a nice KB (we have our in house KB pro @mic-hael to probe and prod on this). Ironically it was one of the older tutorials on LEB that was my first intro to LEB which in turn brought me to the O-P. (not the how many sites on 64 MB RAM one)

Finally,
**something that might need an encyclopaedia of its own:

What does Don't be a dick mean? **

edit: A question specifically to support @uptime's noble cause
Q. I am willing to dance naked in to welcome provider X. Will I get a 1 year plan X at a discounted rate for that?

poisson

@vyas We need a wiki. I wanted to do that for a while but I need time as these are all side projects and I have main projects to do.

uptime

@poisson said:
@vyas We need a wiki.

I can set something up as a first draft (aka, the wiki way)

Give me a couple hours to get it sorted

dahartigan

@uptime said:

@poisson said:
@vyas We need a wiki.

I can set something up as a first draft (aka, the wiki way)

Give me a couple hours to get it sorted

I have been pondering this for a long time too, the problem is implementing it in such a way it doesn't become a popularity contest. Especially if number of likes/votes somehow becomes a metric one might judge a purchase by, to level the playing field for the next generation of providers. Just my stoned ramblings, you may proceed :-)

uptime

@dahartigan - no worries about the wiki - can consider this one a scratch pad and we can figure out the gory details as necessary

I just did the simplest thing that could possibly work - here it is: https://lowend.wiki

Neoon

Welcome Providers, please continue dropping offers which are healthy to my wallet.
Thank you.

AlwaysSkint

@uptime said:
EDIT: also might be interesting if I can find a better use for https://summerhosting.com ... suggestions welcome!

URL forwarding to LEB

uptime

@AlwaysSkint - yup. Actually it's been redirecting to "the other place" for a few months already ...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

uptime

I see @Abdullah has entered the building! Welcome welcome.

Also now there is a sticky provider register post. (This link here will probably break eventually, as that post gets updated, but that's where it is right now.)

Anyway it's a sticky post at the top of the main so shouldn't be hard to find! Hoping people will be taking a close look at that list - the provider registry post is closed for comments so maybe this thread will be as good a place as any to meet and greet.

seanho

Ooh, just in time for some nice BF storage deals in Chicago!

poisson

I see @SpryServers_Tab here as well. I am currently using his free Nextcloud service to sync my work documents and it's been rock solid.