5 ms·

RocketCloud - Like DigitalOcean but outside US legal jurisdiction

5 points by RocketCloud 13y ago

We are fans of what DigitalOcean have accomplished. They have shown that SSD clouds, with their huge advantages in speed and power usage, are the future. But with recent US Gov activities, US cloud providers are no longer viable for non-US companies or citizens. The recent revelations do not just apply to data stored inside US borders. For example, if your data is on a US-owned company cloud in any country in the world it can be accessed by US authorities without the knowledge of clients; a fact openly admitted by the US Government. DigitalOcean demonstrated there is demand for a more modern approach to cloud provision, and with no legacy baggage to slow them down they were able to offer this at a lower cost than rivals. They recognized that many bigger, more-established rivals were so heavily invested in legacy technology they had fallen behind. In response to these developments a few of us got together to consider an alternative (we are devs and system admins). Our own clients were concerned about developments in the US, prompting us to take action. We recognized the need for a DigitalOcean, but also realized it is no longer viable for our own clients now or in the future. This prompted us to put our experience to good use and we created RocketCloud: It is unashamedly like DigitalOcean, but based in London and completely outside US legal jurisdiction. We are currently developing the backend for the system, which should be finished shortly. If we get enough people interested in the beta we will scale it up and offer large-scale SSD hosting like DigitalOcean – with no US Government access. Perhaps you are like us. Perhaps you are a developer looking for somewhere to host your application, or you just can't host anything with a US cloud provider any more either. What do you think? Is this something you would be interested in? If so, sign up for the beta and we will give you a shout when it's ready. https://rocketcloud.me

Fizzadar 13y ago
I wouldn't be so sure - if anything the UK is more monitored by our own agencies than the NSA monitoring America. We just don't know about it so much. I guess the only difference is the lack of 'backdoors', but I highly doubt Digital Ocean has such a 'backdoor' as well. Assuming this is the case it is likely both services will be under as much surveillance as each other.
- NicoJuicy 13y ago
  You are right, same goes for the Netherlands and Germany.
mchannon 13y ago
What would actually be more sought-after is a way to host outside of a government easily coopted by US government interests (legal or otherwise), and to do so in a place without a 160ms latency penalty (sorry UK, long distance relationships don't work). Perhaps a trawler in international waters off the pacific coast, coupled to a microwave relay.
meerita 13y ago
I'm a DigitalOcean client. You're pricing system is so fragmented than it's impossible to me to digest. Why not charge simply 5 euros and leave it like that, or use a pricing system easier to calculate. Me, as a client, I don't want to waste time calculating stuff for something that will account 20-30 euros monthly, just shot it, guys.
- RocketCloud 13y ago
  Our prices reflect what we are able to achieve at this time without economies of scale: Once we scale up, these prices will inevitably will come down.
  - chc 13y ago
    I think he means the numbers on the pricing are weird and he finds it distracting when trying to choose a plan, not that the prices are too high. The first plan is £6, the next is £5 more, the next £10 more, the next £20 more, and the last £38 more. Where are £6 and £38 coming from? I believe he's suggesting just making it 5/10/20/40/80 or something like that.
feralmoan 13y ago
The UK is well within "US legal jurisdication", officially or non-officially. Didn't you guys join and start wars together??
- RocketCloud 13y ago
  The US Government cannot just "take" information from EU companies unless they are US based or a US subsidiary... whether this is legal or otherwise. Being in the EU gives us strong privacy and security laws and they seem to be about to get tougher in light of recent events from the NSA. There is also the perception element: The US Government cannot be trusted with data from non-US companies or citizens... this is what some of our clients have said to us and I have also read dozens of articles with hosting providers being asked the same questions from their clients. This will run and run and I believe that, for the EU at least, US cloud providers will not be considered for future projects. I am not sure how big this issue is in the US but in Europe it is massive and will not go away any time soon :(
jbrooksuk 13y ago
Go cheaper. I'd switch even though I have nothing to hide, I'd prefer a UK host, but it's not worth more money for me.
guyinblackshirt 13y ago
Bahamas , Jersey , Malta , Singapore, and other offshore jurisdiction seem to be the safest bet for hosting at the moment.

5 points by RocketCloud 13y ago

Fizzadar 13y ago

I wouldn't be so sure - if anything the UK is more monitored by our own agencies than the NSA monitoring America. We just don't know about it so much. I guess the only difference is the lack of 'backdoors', but I highly doubt Digital Ocean has such a 'backdoor' as well. Assuming this is the case it is likely both services will be under as much surveillance as each other.

NicoJuicy 13y ago
You are right, same goes for the Netherlands and Germany.

mchannon 13y ago

What would actually be more sought-after is a way to host outside of a government easily coopted by US government interests (legal or otherwise), and to do so in a place without a 160ms latency penalty (sorry UK, long distance relationships don't work). Perhaps a trawler in international waters off the pacific coast, coupled to a microwave relay.

meerita 13y ago

I'm a DigitalOcean client. You're pricing system is so fragmented than it's impossible to me to digest. Why not charge simply 5 euros and leave it like that, or use a pricing system easier to calculate. Me, as a client, I don't want to waste time calculating stuff for something that will account 20-30 euros monthly, just shot it, guys.

RocketCloud 13y ago
Our prices reflect what we are able to achieve at this time without economies of scale: Once we scale up, these prices will inevitably will come down.
- chc 13y ago
  I think he means the numbers on the pricing are weird and he finds it distracting when trying to choose a plan, not that the prices are too high. The first plan is £6, the next is £5 more, the next £10 more, the next £20 more, and the last £38 more. Where are £6 and £38 coming from? I believe he's suggesting just making it 5/10/20/40/80 or something like that.

feralmoan 13y ago

The UK is well within "US legal jurisdication", officially or non-officially. Didn't you guys join and start wars together??

RocketCloud 13y ago
The US Government cannot just "take" information from EU companies unless they are US based or a US subsidiary... whether this is legal or otherwise. Being in the EU gives us strong privacy and security laws and they seem to be about to get tougher in light of recent events from the NSA. There is also the perception element: The US Government cannot be trusted with data from non-US companies or citizens... this is what some of our clients have said to us and I have also read dozens of articles with hosting providers being asked the same questions from their clients. This will run and run and I believe that, for the EU at least, US cloud providers will not be considered for future projects. I am not sure how big this issue is in the US but in Europe it is massive and will not go away any time soon :(

jbrooksuk 13y ago

Go cheaper. I'd switch even though I have nothing to hide, I'd prefer a UK host, but it's not worth more money for me.

guyinblackshirt 13y ago

Bahamas , Jersey , Malta , Singapore, and other offshore jurisdiction seem to be the safest bet for hosting at the moment.