3 ms·

tl;dr; Didn't back up data/config files, expected hosting company to store data for free

mr_luc 16y ago
I know, I´m an idiot. :P There´s an easy backup option now. A year ago, when I first signed up, the only things I could see were the options to use some of my storage space to make a backup image -- which you have to think of at the get-go, and make your image half or less the size of your storage. I think all my monit and nginx stuff -- the per-project stuff -- is fine, as I keep in in the project repo. It´s just ... other stuff. Lots and lots of other stuff.
- wwortiz 16y ago
  Just so you are aware that storage solution is a bad idea as it is being kept on the same machine and the only real problem it solves is simple and extremely limited version control.
- carbocation 16y ago
  In addition to what wwortiz said, you do not have to create an image using less than half your allotted storage from the get go. So long as you can ultimately get it down to under half the size by deleting files, etc, later, you can downsize the image. In other words, get an 8gb image down to 4gb of actual data and you can resize the thing down to 4gb from the linode CP.
thaumaturgy 16y ago
> expected hosting company to store data for free I've been mocked for my opinion on this before, but ... well, why the hell not? Storage is no longer expensive, and we're talking about not large amounts of data per instance, in an archival situation -- where disk bandwidth isn't an issue and compression is totally doable. So, why not store a copy of deactivated images for 3 months? If anybody's confused about how to do it, they might ask Backblaze....
- lsc 16y ago
  I've actually had customers who've gotten mad at me for storing data after they cancelled. The concern, of course, is one of privacy. If the feds come knocking with a warrant, if I have the data, I'll give it to them. If I overwrote it, then I can't.
  - jules 16y ago
    Cancelling and your account being deleted for not paying is different.
  - martey 16y ago
    Maybe it would be worthwhile to distinguish between customers who had actively cancelled their accounts and those who had passively stopped paying? With the former, there is the expectation that you will not retain their data. As the originator of this thread shows, when customers' credit cards expire, there is sometimes the opposite expectation.
    - thaumaturgy 16y ago
      Right. This could be as simple as, "Cancel and immediately close your account? y/n ALL OF YOUR DATA WILL BE DELETED."
alex_c 16y ago
Actually, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a hosting company to store some data for free. Not in the sense that I'm entitled to it as a customer, but in the sense that it might be in their best interests: if the data is deleted, that's a pretty good guarantee that the client won't reactivate; if the data is saved and it's trivial to reactivate, some percentage of customers will do so.
- megablast 16y ago
  It really depends on the number of people they get doing this. If there are loads of accounts that are just left to rot, then it might not be worth it doing this. If there are lots of cases like the original poster, then it might be.
- cherring 16y ago
  Actually that is unreasonable. You'd like to think they might, but expecting it is foolish, they are providing a service, if you don't pay you aren't entitled to the service. Linode aren't unreasonable, I have gotten an extension for payment in the past when I needed it, but I didn't do it by not checking my email for a month, I did it by reaching out to them and letting them know I needed some time to catch up a payment. As a result they didn't delete my account.
catch23 16y ago
They could have shut off the host, but kept the image file. I just can't see 16GB of storage space worth that much to a hosting company. It's likely that most of that space is empty space anyway. $110 for 2TB on newegg -- that would store 120 customers who may have accidentally have expired credit cards. It's not that expensive for Linode and the word-of-mouth value is probably worth so much more.

I know, I´m an idiot. :P There´s an easy backup option now. A year ago, when I first signed up, the only things I could see were the options to use some of my storage space to make a backup image -- which you have to think of at the get-go, and make your image half or less the size of your storage. I think all my monit and nginx stuff -- the per-project stuff -- is fine, as I keep in in the project repo. It´s just ... other stuff. Lots and lots of other stuff.

wwortiz 16y ago
Just so you are aware that storage solution is a bad idea as it is being kept on the same machine and the only real problem it solves is simple and extremely limited version control.
carbocation 16y ago
In addition to what wwortiz said, you do not have to create an image using less than half your allotted storage from the get go. So long as you can ultimately get it down to under half the size by deleting files, etc, later, you can downsize the image. In other words, get an 8gb image down to 4gb of actual data and you can resize the thing down to 4gb from the linode CP.

thaumaturgy 16y ago

> expected hosting company to store data for free I've been mocked for my opinion on this before, but ... well, why the hell not? Storage is no longer expensive, and we're talking about not large amounts of data per instance, in an archival situation -- where disk bandwidth isn't an issue and compression is totally doable. So, why not store a copy of deactivated images for 3 months? If anybody's confused about how to do it, they might ask Backblaze....

lsc 16y ago
I've actually had customers who've gotten mad at me for storing data after they cancelled. The concern, of course, is one of privacy. If the feds come knocking with a warrant, if I have the data, I'll give it to them. If I overwrote it, then I can't.
- jules 16y ago
  Cancelling and your account being deleted for not paying is different.
- martey 16y ago
  Maybe it would be worthwhile to distinguish between customers who had actively cancelled their accounts and those who had passively stopped paying? With the former, there is the expectation that you will not retain their data. As the originator of this thread shows, when customers' credit cards expire, there is sometimes the opposite expectation.
  - thaumaturgy 16y ago
    Right. This could be as simple as, "Cancel and immediately close your account? y/n ALL OF YOUR DATA WILL BE DELETED."

alex_c 16y ago

Actually, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a hosting company to store some data for free. Not in the sense that I'm entitled to it as a customer, but in the sense that it might be in their best interests: if the data is deleted, that's a pretty good guarantee that the client won't reactivate; if the data is saved and it's trivial to reactivate, some percentage of customers will do so.

megablast 16y ago
It really depends on the number of people they get doing this. If there are loads of accounts that are just left to rot, then it might not be worth it doing this. If there are lots of cases like the original poster, then it might be.
cherring 16y ago
Actually that is unreasonable. You'd like to think they might, but expecting it is foolish, they are providing a service, if you don't pay you aren't entitled to the service. Linode aren't unreasonable, I have gotten an extension for payment in the past when I needed it, but I didn't do it by not checking my email for a month, I did it by reaching out to them and letting them know I needed some time to catch up a payment. As a result they didn't delete my account.

catch23 16y ago

They could have shut off the host, but kept the image file. I just can't see 16GB of storage space worth that much to a hosting company. It's likely that most of that space is empty space anyway. $110 for 2TB on newegg -- that would store 120 customers who may have accidentally have expired credit cards. It's not that expensive for Linode and the word-of-mouth value is probably worth so much more.