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Central Backup
Alright so after reviewing our server policies as far as how many VPS we put on each server, we've found (and have known for some time) that we will have over 300 GB of extra storage space on each server. So my question to the community is what should we do with the space... obviously we could just let the free space be unused, but we would rather do one of the following: we could do what other providers do and sell it as backup space, we could offer it for free upon request, we could offer our clients 5 or 10 GB of additional free storage or we could host some extra projects for non-profits, etc...
We understand the profit/loss side of the idea so now we'd like to get some feed back from the community as far as what you think the best use of this free space would be. We'd prefer objective ideas (aka why you think your use is the best use of the free space).
Comments
I say sell it as addon storage. Backup space is useless - who in their right mind hosts their backups with the same provider?
My backup space is a folder on my desktop.
The obvious choice might be to add a few GB of disk allocation to each of your VPS plans, but otherwise, I'd say giving it away as gifts to your clients would be a simple solution.
I wouldn't recommend using spare disk space on VPS nodes for backup - you absolutely need a separate and isolated server (or SAN, preferably) for that.
It's not a bad idea because the restore speed would be faster than off site backups but hosting backups on the same hard drives as the data you're backing up makes no sense to me.
Hey @KuJoe my laptop weighs too much so I was wondering what all should I delete to make it not weigh so much?
@KuJoe, I guess, but I still would recommend that backups be copied to another provider too.
If I did offer backup space for free (or paid) I'd alternate the servers so that S1 backs up onto S2, S2 onto S1, etc... It'd be almost pointless to save the backups on the same node...
@BlueVM That's still not advisable, if for no other reason than because running the backups will degrade performance for the clients on that particular node. You need a totally isolated environment to work with.
I agree with @vps6net.
Good point... OK so I'll eliminate backups as part of the options...
Addon space seems like the best solution, if you set the price right you will earn a few extra dollars and your customers will be happy wit the extra space.
Since you are running a business, giving something for free would be a bad solution.
I think all providers know that the majority of Customers do not even use 1/2 of the allocated resources, Say we have a Full VPS Node ( 30 VPS ) and the main node has 16GB RAM. Typical usage will never go past 6GB RAM.
The same goes for the disk, We have hundreds of GB of data spare on multiple nodes but it is best to keep it available.
Agreed but you could use it for a provider provided backup. That's what we do with our servers but we put the backups in a different rack. Rack 1's backups go to rack 3. Rack 2's backups go to Rack 4. etc.
{humour}Could always do what some providers do and put in more clients.{/humour}
That's a thought as well. All clients after the first 3-6 months or so. A plus for staying with your company maybe?
If we think of backups only as protection again harddrive failure, then it's true that using the same drive for backups make no sense.
But backups can also protect against failures that happen between the chair and keyboard, in which case having a readily-accessible backup on the same drive is a bonus
Honestly? If you're not doing a little overselling already and your resource usage is low enough, go ahead. Add more clients.
Recently I noticed a provider selling backupstorage (not buyvm), low on ram but pretty much disk.
Thats an idea to copy if you have that much diskspace over.
I'd rather not oversell... that's what gets most hosts in trouble. As for the low ram, high storage idea could always offer it preinstalled with ftp and a upload client.
https://kiloserve.com/billing/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=12
@Naruto ~ Ha Ha... nice. No actually we don't oversell guaranteed ram or storage. We do "technically" oversell our bandwidth, but we can upgrade our line at any time if we see a large enough usage to warrant it.
ftp and/or rsync.
or as a vps
I'd suggest you offer it as an upgrade, for a fee.
Why? All clients don't need it. I'll bet many don't come near using their current allocation. Giving them more is meaningless.
Charge a one-time fee. e.g., a 10GB disk upgrade for a one-time fee of $10 (adjust the numbers to you're liking).
A one-time fee can be attractive for clients. If I think I need it, and I have $10 in my paypal, I'll go for it. No worries about paying more per month.
It'll bring a bit more cash revenue into your company, and it'll take only a few seconds to adjust OpenVZ's disk allocation, so it's little work. No problem with that is there?
As a customer I'd see this as a valuable offer. The facts that you have the disk space sitting empty and it'll take you 10 seconds to give me 10GB more don't matter. What matters is my perception as a client.
@sleddog - Actually I like your idea the most (thus far)... I can definitely see how a client would enjoy that and we'd still make a profit.
@BlueVM
Your site isn't resolving.
Indeed.
Works for me.
We had a planned network outage lasting roughly 15 minutes. So by the time sleddog got here it was long over.
You can run a package mirror for Debian & ubuntu
would also save you bandwith if you tell them about it
Super noobs think hard drive space makes better hosting. Upgrade all your plans.
BlueVM hosts their website and both nameservers on the same IP, thats why it wouldn't resolve. facepalm