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Bolt1024 Initial Review (BoltVM)
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Bolt1024 Initial Review (BoltVM)

D4X69D4X69 Member
edited August 2014 in Reviews

Dedicube recently launched their VPS brand, BoltVM. Although rollout was rather sloppy, I have to say, so far I'm quite happy with the service.

I signed up the day they launched (invoice #2), however didn't pay until earlier today, which @Steven_F allowed me to do. At time of signup, fraud verification was done manually - I don't know if this is still like this, however I was verified pretty quickly.

After paying the invoice at around 7 this morning, I then opened a ticket, noticing that they didn't have auto-provision on payment. Ticket was set to Low priority, and was off-business hours, yet I got a reply in under 30 minutes. Not too bad, if you ask me.

They use Virtualizor for VPS control, and everything seems to work fine, less installing Control Panels. Template availability is rather limited, but I've been told this is going to change.

I did have an issue with my IP address not being in the Server Info email, but this was easily found in Virtualizor.

Server itself seems super snappy. Initial apt-get update && apt-get upgrade ran faster than the eye could catch. I have yet to do in-depth testing, but I do have numbers for you to look at.

OS is Debian 7 (Latest) 64-bit

9.4MB used with standard Debian utilities. Decent.

root@Bolt1024:~# free -h total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 1.0G 21M 1.0G 0B 0B 12M -/+ buffers/cache: 9.4M 1.0G Swap: 1.0G 0B 1.0G

All currently running processes.

root@Bolt1024:~# ps aux USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND root 1 0.0 0.1 3144 1756 ? Ss 17:08 0:00 init root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 17:08 0:00 [kthreadd/122] root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 17:08 0:00 [khelper/122] root 94 0.0 0.0 2392 800 ? S 17:08 0:00 upstart-udev-bridge --daemon root 102 0.0 0.0 2364 976 ? Ss 17:08 0:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon root 156 0.0 0.0 2360 704 ? S 17:08 0:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon root 157 0.0 0.0 2360 704 ? S 17:08 0:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon root 263 0.0 0.0 2384 616 ? S 17:08 0:00 upstart-socket-bridge --daemon root 1557 0.0 0.1 33848 1456 ? Sl 17:08 0:00 /usr/sbin/rsyslogd -c5 root 1602 0.0 0.0 10032 816 ? Ss 17:08 0:00 /usr/sbin/saslauthd -a pam -c -m /var/run/saslauthd -n 2 root 1604 0.0 0.0 10032 464 ? S 17:08 0:00 /usr/sbin/saslauthd -a pam -c -m /var/run/saslauthd -n 2 root 1669 0.0 0.1 9932 1632 ? Ss 17:09 0:00 sendmail: MTA: accepting connections root 1706 0.0 0.0 6344 1048 ? Ss 17:09 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd root 1777 0.0 0.0 2184 868 ? Ss 17:09 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron root 1807 0.0 0.0 1976 736 tty1 Ss+ 17:09 0:00 /sbin/getty 38400 console root 1809 0.0 0.0 1976 748 tty2 Ss+ 17:09 0:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty2 root 1813 0.0 0.0 2468 852 ? Ss 17:09 0:00 /usr/sbin/xinetd -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid -stayalive -inetd_compat -inetd_ipv6 root 1815 0.0 0.2 9144 2988 ? Ss 17:09 0:00 sshd: root@pts/0 root 1817 0.0 0.1 3040 1684 pts/0 Ss 17:09 0:00 -bash root 1827 0.0 0.0 2692 976 pts/0 R+ 17:12 0:00 ps aux

50GB SSD for $24/yr? Hell yes. Nothing much to see here..

root@Bolt1024:~# df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/simfs 50G 810M 50G 2% / none 512M 4.0K 512M 1% /dev none 103M 976K 102M 1% /run none 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock none 410M 0 410M 0% /run/shm none 100M 0 100M 0% /run/user

I'm not sure what this actually means, but someone asked me to include it. Explain plz?

root@Bolt1024:~# df -i Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on /dev/simfs 1000000 35917 964083 4% / none 131072 89 130983 1% /dev none 131072 68 131004 1% /run none 131072 1 131071 1% /run/lock none 131072 2 131070 1% /run/shm none 131072 1 131071 1% /run/user

No IOWait = goodness.

root@Bolt1024:~# vmstat procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ----cpu---- r b swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy id wa 0 0 0 1026228 0 12556 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 100 0

No failcount, and everything else looks good.

Due to formatting errors, cat /proc/user_beancounters output can be viewed here: http://pastebin.com/v5tkWaQK

Dual-core, unthrottled. More goodness.

root@Bolt1024:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1240 v3 @ 3.40GHz stepping : 3 cpu MHz : 3399.650 cache size : 8192 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 0 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 0 initial apicid : 0 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase bmi1 hle avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rtm bogomips : 6799.30 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management:

processor : 1 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1240 v3 @ 3.40GHz stepping : 3 cpu MHz : 3399.650 cache size : 8192 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 1 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 2 initial apicid : 2 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dts tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase bmi1 hle avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rtm bogomips : 6799.30 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management:

Not much to see here..

root@Bolt1024:~# cat /proc/meminfo MemTotal: 1048576 kB MemFree: 1026276 kB Cached: 12568 kB Buffers: 0 kB Active: 16052 kB Inactive: 2812 kB Active(anon): 4976 kB Inactive(anon): 1320 kB Active(file): 11076 kB Inactive(file): 1492 kB Unevictable: 0 kB Mlocked: 0 kB SwapTotal: 1048576 kB SwapFree: 1048576 kB Dirty: 0 kB Writeback: 0 kB AnonPages: 6296 kB Shmem: 3540 kB Slab: 3408 kB SReclaimable: 1488 kB SUnreclaim: 1920 kB

I also have these 3 benchmarks that I ran:

I think I included most relevant tests - if anyone has anything they'd like me to run, feel free.

As of writing this, BoltVM has 55 Bolt512s (at $15/yr) left, and 0 Bolt1024s (at $24/yr) left. However, this was officially 'pre-launch', and I'm pretty sure only half (or less) of their stock was released.

I have talked with Steven, and it seems he's got his gameplan on lockdown. Better hurry and grab your Bolt while it's available, the prices won't be this low forever!

https://boltvm.com/billing/cart.php

Thanked by 1Json

Comments

  • Thanks for the review. I appreciate it! I'm waiting for the positive review 12 months from now. ;)

  • Ah damn, too late to get one of the 1024. @Steven_F there's no way, that there's a 1024 box alone?

  • @Gadelhas said:
    Ah damn, too late to get one of the 1024. Steven_F there's no way, that there's a 1024 box alone?

    We've only got 512s left for the next little while, sorry.

  • If @Steven_F would be willing to give me a 512 for like 6 hours, I'll do side-by-side comparisons... :B

  • @D4X69 said:
    If Steven_F would be willing to give me a 512 for like 6 hours, I'll do side-by-side comparisons... :B

    Sure, shoot us a ticket and I'll get you one for 24 hours.

  • D4X69D4X69 Member
    edited June 2015

    I believe an update to this review is necessary. Most of the above-stated numbers remain accurate (Except for, of course, the variation for a full node as opposed to an empty node) however, let us discuss the business practices of Dedicube DBA BoltVM.

    In the past 2 days (that I've noticed, could very well be more) the BoltVM website has become completely inaccessible multiple times. Despite trying to contact Steven directly via email, I've received no word back as to why.

    A little while back, they changed the IP address of my server with nothing but a short email received the DAY OF the change. Rumor has it Steven "forgot" to pay for his IP space, so is now forced to use the 192.* range, most of which are blacklisted (which, I can confirm that my IP is on at least one blacklist). This was one of the things I was concerned about prior to purchasing, however @Steven_F promised he would be acquiring his own IP space "very soon". So what's up Stevey? Almost a year later and still using Crissic and then ColoCrossing?

    The Privacy Policy and Legal Notice at the bottom of their page still (nearly a year later) point to # - that is, nothing.

    Now let's talk about their ToS - the tl;dr version is "We can do whatever we want, whenever we want, and you have no rights. We make no guarantees at all, and we limit your resources, however we're not going to tell you what those limits are."

    The server itself is pretty top-notch, I have no complaints. However, due to everything above, I do not believe I will be renewing my service for another year, despite how cheap it is. I would (and do) happily pay $14/yr more for my (smaller) RamNode server (affiliate link abound).

    And with that, I must away. Please take into consideration everything here before you decide to purchase a BoltVM, if you're considering it.

    Edit: Wait, one more thing: inb4 my server gets term'd.

    Thanked by 1dlaxotn2
  • sleddogsleddog Member
    edited June 2015

    D4X69 said: The server itself is pretty top-notch, I have no complaints.

    Yup, I agree :)

  • We were under DDoS, nothing I could do to prevent that, unfortunately. I probably missed your e-mail, I've been skimming them a bit more due to the hectic week. Apologies if I didn't reply, but the site is back up and has been for a few hours now.

    ARIN is giving us trouble with the IPs. I applied for the IPs months back. They gave me a /23, but I asked to apply for more. They said they'd only give a /22 unless they took the /23 back and I re-applied. I never got around to completing the request. When Crissic took their IPs back, ARIN told us that we would now need to provide even more proof and information, so we're working on getting them everything they need.

    None of our 192. IPs are on Spamhaus. I have no idea which blacklist your IP is on, but anyone that has had a problem has requested and been given a clean IP. I can tell you that there were no tickets about our 192. IPs being on any blacklist, so this is the first I'm hearing of this.

    We don't have a full privacy policy. We just don't give out your information to random parties. Our ToS is relatively standard, I don't really see a problem with it. You get the same stuff at every other provider. Since you picked RamNode, here's a few snippets from their ToS:

    "RamNode shall by no means be responsible for data loss."

    "Any threat of legal action against RamNode by a client will result in immediate account and service termination without refund."

    "RamNode reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or terminate any service provided with or without a refund or notice or warning for any reason. "

    I don't see how our ToS is really any different than theirs? Our developmental anti-abuse system uses dynamic resource limits, unlike NodeWatch. If a node has more resources available, we allow clients to use more. If a node is being used more heavily, the limit will be more strict. That's why we won't disclose any limits that we place, because they change every second and are different on every node.

    Thanked by 1Traffic
  • TrafficTraffic Member
    edited June 2015

    Steven_F said: I don't see how our ToS is really any different than theirs? Our developmental anti-abuse system uses dynamic resource limits, unlike NodeWatch.

    I keep being more glad I have 3 servers with you on promotion for every post you make.

    Honestly.

  • 4n0nx4n0nx Member

    I was getting worried :D (because website was down)

    I don't get why you complain about the ToS, you can always ask the support if it's ok to run something.

  • LeeLee Veteran
    edited June 2015

    Wrong thread, wrong forum.

  • dccdcc Member, Host Rep

    Steven_F said: Our developmental anti-abuse system uses dynamic resource limits, unlike NodeWatch. If a node has more resources available, we allow clients to use more.

    Excuse me, could you please clarify this one? Nodewatch does not limit CPU and/or I/O, it simply has no such function (although it does display current CPU and I/O usage). Nodewatch will stop only abuse (mass mailing, DoS/floods, and weak passwords). I do not see how any of the abuse handling can be "dynamic", perhaps I am missing something?

    Thanked by 2alexvolk DomainBop
  • I just realised how old this thread was.

    I was thinking how the hell did you manage to have a VPS this long without paying the invoice...

  • Awmusic12635Awmusic12635 Member, Host Rep

    Steven_F said: ARIN told us that we would now need to provide even more proof and information, so we're working on getting them everything they need.

    >

    i'd hurry up on that. They are nearly out

    Thanked by 14n0nx
  • @dcc said:
    Excuse me, could you please clarify this one? Nodewatch does not limit CPU in and/or I/O, it simply has no such function (although it does display current CPU and I/O usage). Nodewatch will stop only abuse (mass mailing, DoS/floods, and weak passwords). I do not see how any of the abuse handling can be "dynamic", perhaps I am missing something?

    Bad example. Node Watch doesn't translate into the same system. Dynamic load, IO, and bandwidth limits are being implemented. The Node Watch limits are going to be static in out system.

    Thanked by 14n0nx
  • D4X69D4X69 Member

    Steven_F said: We were under DDoS, nothing I could do to prevent that

    Prevent, perhaps not. But no notification? Site was down for awhile and an email explaining why would take about 3 minutes of your time.

    Steven_F said: ARIN is giving us trouble with the IPs.

    You provide dedicated services, right? A decent customer base? So why exactly would ARIN make you wait 10+ months? You told me via IRC you were in the process of acquiring your IP space.

    Steven_F said: None of our 192. IPs are on Spamhaus

    By no means is Spamhaus the only blacklist. Mine is listed on OSPAM. Ticket ID 815851

    Steven_F said: We don't have a full privacy policy.

    Why not, exactly? Why should your customers have to guess? Why not set aside 2 minutes of your time to make the Privacy Policy link (btw - why even have the link if you don't have a policy?) point to a page that simply says "We just don't give out your information to random parties." Seems like the decent thing to me, tbh.

  • site offline today.

  • @Gorgonzola said:
    site offline today.

    We're performing maintenence right now. Had to restore a backup, but there is a slight problem with the backup. Hopefully this should be resolved shortly.

  • Steven_F said: We're performing maintenence right now. Had to restore a backup, but there is a slight problem with the backup. Hopefully this should be resolved shortly.

    Does it affect clients' VPSs?

  • @Traffic said:

    Just our website. All other services are online at this time.

  • The BoltVM website is currently undergoing maintanence. We will be back shortly.

  • No need to renew my service, i totally unhappy since they change my ip

  • Where location?

  • @hawkjohn7 said:

    If you could let me know why you were unhappy, I'd appreciate it. We've had no downtime since then.

    @balian2015 said:

    Los Angeles, California and Piscattaway, New Jersey

  • The website is now back online.

  • Steven_F said: The website is now back online.

    You posted a while ago on Twitter that you'll restock. Do you have any more details?

  • @Traffic said:

    The Thunder plans are in ample stock. We have no plans on adding additional Lightning nodes for the next two months.

  • @Steven_F said:
    Los Angeles, California and Piscattaway, New Jersey

    You forgot to renew block ip. And my web sites going down

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