Would a free sub-domain be of any use with a VPS?

GetKVM_Ash

We have been working on a side-project for the last couple of months and i suddenly thought hey, why not include a free subdomain with each VPS.

I dont see many providers offering this service, but i just thought it would be good for people that dont have a domain for there VPS, its also easier than remembering the IP.

What do you guys think? If this was provided, would it be of use to you?

jhadley

Potentially, yes. When I was at NuBlue they did that and a lot of customers found it useful and were even asking for additional free subdomains.

eastonch

Yes, but you'd have to ensure it was a different subdomain to your own, for example, "randomvps.getkvm.com" could start hosting viruses and malware, giving the primary domain a bad rating with google once it's detected.

Having something like "randomvps.gtkvm.com" or something, something that shortens it, but still relating to your own Domain, that's prefferential.

GetKVM_Ash

We have both the .net and .com extensions for the side project, so i was thinking of just using the .net for the main site and .com for the subdomains.

This shouldn't effect ranking i don't believe, but i could be wrong, SEO isn't a strong point of mine so please let me know if this is wrong.

joepie91

Yes, I would definitely recommend offering subdomains - preferably something auto-generated that can still be remembered (like a dictionary word), or of course something that can be chosen freely. It can be really annoying to have a new VPS, and have to copypaste the IP everywhere every time because you haven't gotten around to setting up some DNS entry somewhere yet.

telephone

+1 for the idea. It would be cool to tie it into the ordering process, and just have an input for a 'custom subdomain'.

GetKVM_Ash

@joepie91

I was thinking of naming them with the username, so for instance;

vz01.domain.com

This way its easy for us to manage when a client cancels, we just remove the associated domain by looking up the username.

craigb

Nice bonus to give a free sub-domain...i personally wouldn't want my username as the default, rather the name I provided for the hostname when ordering

joepie91

@GetKVM_Ash said: @joepie91

I was thinking of naming them with the username, so for instance;

vz01.domain.com

This way its easy for us to manage when a client cancels, we just remove the associated domain by looking up the username.

That could work, but it will become a problem when the IDs start to go into 5 or more digits. Kimsufi hostnames, for example, are quite hard to remember.

GetKVM_Ash

@joepie91 said: That could work, but it will become a problem when the IDs start to go into 5 or more digits. Kimsufi hostnames, for example, are quite hard to remember.

Very good point. Back to the drawing board :P

Maounique

freedns.afraid.org It gives out free subdomains some very funny like mooo.com. you can get a free account there and point to your IP, problem solved. If you do like getkvm.mooo.com prometeus.mooo.com buyvm3sj.mooo.com you also have a clear idea about which is which. The free subdomain some provider will give will not work with others and most ppl here have many boxes in many places :D M

GetKVM_Ash

@Maounique said: freedns.afraid.org It gives out free subdomains some very funny like mooo.com. you can get a free account there and point to your IP, problem solved. If you do like getkvm.mooo.com prometeus.mooo.com buyvm3sj.mooo.com you also have a clear idea about which is which. The free subdomain some provider will give will not work with others and most ppl here have many boxes in many places :D M

That's true enough, but some customers wont know about that nor be bothered to set it up (Its just another login to remember). If they can get something that works right off the bat, i think they will appreciate it.

Night

If you don't understand how to configure a subdomain, how would you understand how to configure a vps? With that said, I wouldn't personally use a subdomain, but for some it may be beneficial.

GetKVM_Ash

@Night said: If you don't understand how to configure a subdomain, how would you understand how to configure a vps? With that said, I wouldn't personally use a subdomain, but for some it may be beneficial.

I didn't say in all cases people would not know how, but there will be some. I have seen the question get asked plenty of times "How do i point my domain to my VPS etc".

Im just saying people like to avoid having too many logins etc, so a sub-domain that works out of the box may be appreciated by some.

Zen

@GetKVM_Ash said: This way its easy for us to manage when a client cancels, we just remove the associated domain by looking up the username.

Or you could just hook it into the cancellation/termination function >.>

Either way, using their VZID is best - then you can quickly track down abuse via search.

GetKVM_Ash

@Zen said: Or you could just hook it into the cancellation/termination function >.>

Where not using WHMCS for this project :P

That was another reason why we must use either VZID or username.

Zen

@GetKVM_Ash said: Where not using WHMCS for this project :P

Custom?

GetKVM_Ash

@Zen said: Custom?

Custom order system with a Curdbee back end :)

Zen

@GetKVM_Ash said: Custom order system with a Curdbee back end :)

Can't wait to see :)

GetKVM_Ash

@Zen said: Can't wait to see :)

I have everything in place. The whole project was actually a test to see how little it could cost to open a VPS company whilst still keeping the key aspects. It started out just out of interest what with all the overnight company's.

But the end result is rather clever and cost effective, which in turn means we can crack out some superb deals.

I might give you a shout if you fancy taking a VPS for a spin :)

Zen

@GetKVM_Ash said: I might give you a shout if you fancy taking a VPS for a spin :)

Go for it :) PM me whenever

joepie91

@Zen said: Either way, using their VZID is best - then you can quickly track down abuse via search.

That's going to pose a problem when you have multiple nodes, where each has their own VZID index starting from 100.

GetKVM_Ash

@joepie91 said: That's going to pose a problem when you have multiple nodes, where each has their own VZID index starting from 100.

Yep, that was what i thought. Its still looking like either the VMID or username is the best process. But with the username comes the issue of a client having multiple servers.

So maybe VMID is the only way to go.

GetKVM_Ash

@Zen said: Go for it :) PM me whenever

PM Sent :)

joepie91

@GetKVM_Ash said: Yep, that was what i thought. Its still looking like either the VMID or username is the best process. But with the username comes the issue of a client having multiple servers.

So maybe VMID is the only way to go.

[hostnode]-[vzid].domain.com ?

GetKVM_Ash

Nah, i think im settled on [vmid].domain.com. Since all VMID's are set by SolusVM and are unique throughout the cluster, regardless of what node they are hosted on.

So it would be a three digit number; 101.domain.com

Zen

@joepie91 said: That's going to pose a problem when you have multiple nodes, where each has their own VZID index starting from 100.

Not if you're using SolusVM :)

mpkossen

@GetKVM_Ash said: for there VPS

their, not there. FTFY

MannDude

I'd register a domain completely separate from your existing company. It'd be a shame if someone used the domain for something malicious to make it seem like a part of your site / company. Not all clients are ethical people...

At the very least, make it setup so obvious words like billing.getkvm.net / clients.getkvm.net / contact.getkvm.net / etc etc etc can not be used.

I'd just register something like myvpsurl.com (available) and use that for your client's subdomains instead. That way no one will ever mistake your client's site or content with your brand.

japon

And don't use a token that can be associated with an internal variable (ID, Username etc.). Not only that it might interfer with client's privacy (search engines will crawl all possible subdomains and some clients might not want their VPS automaticalle be exposed to $search-engine and create a link to the ISP, eg. web-designers, resellers, service-providers etc.) it will also be a security risk at some point.

gbshouse

What do you think about some automated generator for subdomains: log to your new VPS, download small script (wget wrapper), run it and check your mail (added as parameter to the script) for your brand new subdomain?