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NexusBytes falling apart? And a LiteServer short review
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NexusBytes falling apart? And a LiteServer short review

jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker
edited July 2022 in Reviews

It's saddening that I have to write this. As most probably know I've been a major NexusBytes / @seriesn fan from early on and for some years.

I largely ignored that @seriesn and his team seemed to have pretty much stopped responding to non-tech tickets and instead focused on the fact that tech support seemed to still work.
But now after experiencing some quite shady business practice (which I didn't talk about publicly) my trust in NexusBytes was shaken. But, oh well, I kept going and paying (in advance), hoping that seriesn would recover and bringing things at NexusBytes in order.

Now, just a week or two later I noticed that my storage/backup server at NexusBytes (Amsterdam) was down again (which sadly had already happened before) and by 'down' I mean the hardcore version of 'down'; it couldn't be booted up or rebooted from the panel. So I opened a ticket, told them about it and asked them to boot it up.
And indeed it seemed to work out fine at first. About one hour later my VPS was running again - but there was a very ugly 'but': their support told me, that my config had been the problem. Looking at it I found that my large (1 TB) data (virtual) drive was empty.

All my backup data - gone.

And according to NexusBytes support my config, precisely, my /etc/fstab was the culprit - which is BS, because that very VPS was running fine with exactly that fstab from the beginning that is, for quite a long time, but also because a flawed fstab doesn't suddenly out of nowhere kill a working partition; if it's flawed a partition won't come up at all, but that wasn't the case.
Short, there was some serious problem with their hardware or config and they simply tried to blame it on me.
So, I sighed, swallowed my disappointment and anger, created the partition again, formatted it, rebooted, and everything seemed to work again.

While recreating the data by scp'ing them from the other backup server (at another provider) the NexusBytes storage VPS suddenly died again after an hour or two. Yuck!
To make things even worse NexusBytes enduser panel also didn't work so I was completely cut off my VPS.
So, again a ticket. About 1.5 hours later I was told that my VPS was booted up again.

So, same game again. And about 1.5 hours later while scp'ing data to the drive - BANG, dead again (and the enduser panel too)!

So, again a ticket and this time I asked them to finally fix their crap for good.
According to their panel 13 hours have passed since then. Without any reaction from them.

So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

Gladly not long before that, after they had, let's say, used a business practice that didn't exactly nourish trust, I started looking for a replacement which is in place now and working fine (from LiteSpeed).

It's more expensive than the NexusByte storage VPS but I don't care. If anything my NexusBytes experience has tought me to be very careful with providers that aren't at least five years old and have a good track record.

My new LiteSpeed storage VPS has a (single) Epyc vCore which is faster (and stable so far) than is needed for a storage server, luxurious and not really needed 2 GB memory and a Raid10'd surprisingly fast 1 TB HDD with 15+ MB/s and 4000+ IOPS (4k4t); I'm amazed by that HDD whose performance comes pretty close to many SSDs I benchmarked and even surpasses quite a few of them.
The network is a somewhat mixed matter but perfect for my purpose (all my storage boxes are in Europe); within Europe it's mostly in the 500+ Mb/s range with Moscow (worst) 180 Mb/s and Frankfurt as well as Paris (best besides AMS) in the 600 Mb/s range (and AMS about 800 Mb/s). Across the ocean and continents it's not that great but still quite acceptable with e.g. NYC and WDC about 85 Mb/s and San Jose as well as Tokyo close to 60 Mb/s.
Price is normally a bit over €100/yr net but using a recurring 25% rebate I pay a bit under €100/yr incl. VAT.

I'm quite happy with my new LiteSpeed storage VPS whose only weak spot seems to be long distance connectivity which isn't really bad but slower than what some other provides in its class provide. And the fact that I'm waiting since 13+ hours for a reaction and solution from NexusBytes and for my VPS working again helps to easily and quickly forget the price difference.
I'll benchmark it more seriously once the situation has stabilized.

«13456719

Comments

  • @alwyzon is another provider who I've had good experiences with. I can recommend them if you need another storage box.

    Maybe you can tell us about the shady experience you've had with Nexusbytes?

  • luckypenguinluckypenguin Member
    edited July 2022

    Let me get it right - were you keeping 1TB of data on a random LET provider
    at rest, without LUKS or any other type of encryption? So they, or anyone else for the matter,
    could mess up with your filesystem and data? Well I don't know what you expected then.
    Number one step after getting a new VPS provisioned - wiping old space, clean install from ISO, LUKS on a dm-crypt volume, and sync (dd) the content to other locations once in a while.

    Thanked by 2desperand MannDude
  • But now after experiencing some quite shady business practice

    Yes please do tell

  • nick_nick_ Member
    edited July 2022

    I thought I was the only LiteServer user who had a slow network speed outside of EU. Thanks for confirming. I'm hosting a Discourse forum with LiteServer and I have to use Bunny CDN to help load images faster. Otherwise, it's noticeably slow for my visitors. Everything else is premium. Hope LiteServer fixes their network speed soon.

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker
    edited July 2022

    @stevewatson301 said:
    Maybe you can tell us about the shady experience you've had with Nexusbytes?

    @acidpuke said:

    But now after experiencing some quite shady business practice

    Yes please do tell

    One day not long ago I got a "3rd overdue notice" re. one of my VPS and one (1) minute later I got a "suspension" notice. What I did not get, however, was a 1st or 2nd due or overdue notice. When contacting them about it I didn't get a reaction.
    But I anyway (you may call me stupid on that one) immediately payed and also payed a year in advance for some other servers I have from them. But honestly (and maybe stupidly) I still had the intention to help NexusBytes / @seriesn to find out of the hole he seems to be stuck in by staying a customer and paying all my VMs in advance.

    @luckypenguin

    Be that as it may but that's nothing to do with the problems I reported. So far I have no reason whatsoever to assume that NexusBytes people have looked into my data on any disk. And I'm not afraid anyway because there's nothing secret or incriminating plus the rather few confidential data are encrypted anyway.

    @nick_ said:
    I thought I was the only LiteServer user who had a slow network speed outside of EU. Thanks for confirming. I'm hosting a Discourse forum with LiteServer and I have to use Bunny CDN to help load images faster. Otherwise, it's noticeably slow for my visitors. Everything else is premium. Hope LiteServer fixes their network speed soon.

    Yes, that's what my somewhat preliminary benchmarking shows. I guess I'll soon have more data for you.

    Thanked by 1nick_
  • NoCommentNoComment Member
    edited July 2022

    @luckypenguin said: without LUKS or any other type of encryption? So they, or anyone else for the matter,
    could mess up with your filesystem and data?

    The only thing this protects you against is from random people stealing drives in a datacenter. It doesn't protect you from your provider.

  • Kiwi83Kiwi83 Member

    X out of your y servers at Hostsolutions are still online. Hostsolutions is definitely not falling apart.

  • varwwwvarwww Member
    edited July 2022

    's/LiteSpeed/LiteServer/g'

    Thanked by 3jsg LiteServer ariq01
  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    @varwww said:
    's/LiteSpeed/LiteServer/g'

    Oops. I apologize, you are right! It's 'LiteServer'.

    Thanked by 2miu LiteServer
  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

  • HxxxHxxx Member

    @Francisco said:

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

    Buy that business. Make it great again.

  • LeviLevi Member

    @Hxxx said:

    @Francisco said:

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

    Buy that business. Make it great again.

    But "the family" is not for sale :( . And Bob probably got covid or just volunteered to war in Ukraine.

  • sonicsonic Veteran

    @LTniger said:

    @Hxxx said:

    @Francisco said:

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

    Buy that business. Make it great again.

    But "the family" is not for sale :( . And Bob probably got covid or just volunteered to war in Ukraine.

    just volunteered to war in Ukraine.

  • VoidVoid Member

    @Francisco said:

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

    Have you tried meeting him in person and perhaps taking a selfie ?

  • @jmaxwell said:

    @Francisco said:

    @jsg said: So it seems that NexusBytes is marching towards and is close to involucration.

    I've been trying to get a hold of @seriesn over the past few weeks/months to talk about nexusbytes.

    I've yet to hear back from him. If he didn't want to talk I would've appreciated the "Fuck off, Fran" like everyone else does :)

    Francisco

    Have you tried meeting him in person and perhaps taking a selfie ?

    Ha!

  • But somehow anyone who dared to say anything about the last topic with the selfies got a ton of shit for it.

    Guy's a fucking moron. Can't reply to tickets etc but somehow has time for some random selfies. What the fuck.

  • Thanked by 1WSWD
  • Great shame has been brought to the family.

    Thanked by 1WSWD
  • edited July 2022

    https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/3439561/#Comment_3439561

    As far as I'm concerned, seriesn definitely deserves a second - and fair - chance at LET and there simply is no need to bash him; he certainly knows that coming back won't be easy and that it'll be really hard to regain trust.

    I for one am ready to give him that chance.

    Naww come on don't be unreasonable! Give him a third chance. There might be another selfie in it for you all and who'd wanna miss that!
    Come on now, lets be reasonable. He needs a personal life and just because he's spending your hard earned dollars on things that make him happy, doesn't mean you should can be upset when your servers go down and all your data is lost. The most important thing to remember is to bat away any criticism leveled at his door, ridicule his detractors, and make more excuses for him. /sarcasm
    That is of course until the problems being spoken about finally impact, you.

    Thanked by 1serv_ee
  • Let's be honest here, he probably got a lot of customers from his time here and finally got a profitable business running nexus byte raking thousands in profit monthly, usually business owners will try to expand the business further with all that profit, but he probably is enjoying his young life with that profit, the more sane business owner would have probably hired some support staff with that profit instead of ghosting his hard work and enjoying that extra cash flow.

    Thanked by 1foitin
  • @Ahfaiahkid said:
    Let's be honest here, he probably got a lot of customers from his time here and finally got a profitable business running nexus byte raking thousands in profit monthly, usually business owners will try to expand the business further with all that profit, but he probably is enjoying his young life with that profit, the more sane business owner would have probably hired some support staff with that profit instead of ghosting his hard work and enjoying that extra cash flow.

    This just shows his attitude towards his "family". Nothing less nothing more.

  • Regarding your witnessed performance on a HDD VPS plan, it's very likely it's SSD cached.

    Thanked by 3nick_ jsg JasonM
  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    @CyberneticTitan said:
    Regarding your witnessed performance on a HDD VPS plan, it's very likely it's SSD cached.

    Yes I also think that it's cached, but I'm amazed anyway.

  • donkodonko Member

    +1 for @alwyzon their storage vps is very fast, i moved from servarica due to low speed with rsync and overall low performance of my vps :/

    Thanked by 2alwyzon maverick
  • miumiu Member
    edited July 2022

    Sure great (and one of the best possible) choice. Best and most stable VPS provider for storage what i know / imo is @LiteServer , never problem with them, working well like charm whole years (uptime is in years, no days), fast non-oversold storage nodes + RAID10 advantage
    (i got several times lost data on other storage VPSes or data corruption (especialy on parity raid systems - and with good providers: HostHatch, UltraVPS, CrownCLoud etc..))

    Thanked by 1LiteServer
  • miumiu Member
    edited July 2022

    @NoComment said:

    @luckypenguin said: without LUKS or any other type of encryption? So they, or anyone else for the matter,
    could mess up with your filesystem and data?

    The only thing this protects you against is from random people stealing drives in a datacenter. It doesn't protect you from your provider.

    Yes, truth, is not hard extract encryption keys from node RAM, when you are going on VPS.
    But is a much harder do it on dedicated server (when u did disable all other free/unused physical ports in BIOS)
    (Then probably only possibility is to freeze RAM sticks in liquid nitrogen (which can extend the deletion of data from few seconds up to 30 minutes) and insert them into another adapted machine that is able to read them.. Imo rather, it depends on who and how much "want you")

  • miumiu Member

    Personally, I don't understand why people destroy an established, functioning and probably profitable business like this (NB)? personal problems? (the only thing I can think of)

  • RapToNRapToN Member, Host Rep

    @luckypenguin said:
    Let me get it right - were you keeping 1TB of data on a random LET provider
    at rest, without LUKS or any other type of encryption? So they, or anyone else for the matter,
    could mess up with your filesystem and data? Well I don't know what you expected then.

    Why do you assume that the data was stored unencrypted? I think it is quite realistic that the backups are encrypted when they are created and that the key is not transmitted to the storage servers at all.

    @jsg said:
    It's saddening that I have to write this. As most probably know I've been a major NexusBytes / @seriesn fan from early on and for some years.

    In view of the current questionable feedback on NexusBytes, I decided a few days ago to move our second name server to the Hetzner Cloud.
    It's a shame that I've now ended up with a large provider again, but for time reasons I can't afford to have to regularly look for a new provider or to be suddenly informed about an upcoming shutdown.
    The risk with NexusByte has therefore become too great for me, even though I haven't had any problems with my server so far.

    Thanked by 1miu
  • IMO cancel and find another provider. I doubt things will return to normal. Either deadpools or sells to someone who will run it into the ground anyway, flip a coin.

    RIP Nexus Bytes

  • miumiu Member
    edited July 2022

    @LTniger said:

    Buy that business. Make it great again.

    But "the family" is not for sale :( . And Bob probably got covid or just volunteered to war in Ukraine.

    You should be notified that that covid circus (yet) is gone and died from 24 feb (at once, quickly and unexpectedly = from day to day :smiley: minimally here, in Europe). Because has been replaced with new "type of current circus & business" (war in Ukraine as you properly mentioned)

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