Don't host with friends



  • We're develop this webapp which we've for a while now made available as an alpha-version. The app is run on a VM provisioned by some friends. Or I should say was because it stopped working last week. Not reachable, no ping.

    We write them to ask them to turn it off and on again. No reaction. We ask again on a different channel, ah well that hosting is encrypted and he doesn't know the password. This other guy might. He's away. We reach around the globe using cell phone technology and he responds "I don't think there is a password for this." They managed to provision us a VM with encrypted main storage then threw away the key :headdesk:

    As a little bonus we knew about the encryption because they told us about it. We'd requested them to restart the VM a few months back. It never happened. They have to do it because we don't know the key and couldn't put it in. So maybe if we'd insisted on the restart they would've discovered that the key is missing while the machine was still up. Clearly our fault.

    Ok, no worries, we have a DB backup. Sure we'll have to start form a clean image but fuckups happen right? Just give us a new machine. the usual spiel of trying to reach through to them finally ends with the SSH port responding on the original IP address. Dude, did you put another machine there? Ah yes didn't you see? Here's the password. The password doesn't work :headdesk:

    We'd decided to explore other hosting options after the key turned up missing. And now another day passes with the password still not working. I'd really like to get the shit working again and then worry about where to put it. But it's been five days now.

    And we actually pay them money for this. Not much, but some level of service would be nice.



  • @gleemonk said:

    And we actually pay them money for this.

    Not for much longer, I hope.



  • We're getting a VM from another provider. I think today.



  • Yeah, no, doing business with friends and family and frequently lead to tears and/or things being set on fire. Best to do business with non-relatives and non-friends 😦



  • Aws solves all woes



  • AWS is not acceptable for several reasons.



  • I read the title and thought: Friends don't let friends host forums running Discourse.

    Then I read your post. 😞

    @gleemonk said:

    Not much, but some level of service would be nice.

    You found out from them that there's no key, right? There's your service, right there. 🚎

    @Vaire said:

    Best to do business with non-relatives and non-friends

    Unless you're running a restaurant...



  • @redwizard said:

    You found out from them that there's no key, right? There's your service, right there.

    Yeah, that part was truly useful information. It's now running with a provider who does give a shit.



  • @Vaire said:

    Best to do business with non-relatives and non-friends

    That certainly makes it easier to vote with your feet. In general I think it's about doing business with people who give a shit but that title wasn't so catchy 😄

    I did have an initial bad feeling when it took more than a week to get the VM from them. It was the other guy who managed this (it's also his friends), so I just heard "they didn't answer" like a broken record. Good thing it failed before we put it to serious use.

    Unresponsiveness is a red flag I know. Because that's what I become when I can't get my shit together. And it wasn't incompetence but nonchalance in their case. Which makes it much worse.



  • If several reasons include government clearance required, aws [https://aws.amazon.com/govcloud-us/](has you covered)

    Gj discourse.



  • Well yes, one of the reasons we won't use AWS is that the service is not trustworthy. That's not because the US government said so but because AWS is not allowed to blink when said government wants a copy.



  • I got news for you.



  • What, our backup process works again?


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @redwizard said:

    Friends don't let friends host forums running Discourse

    Hey, I tried! I wrote dozens of posts trying to dissuade @apapadimoulis. I even literally drove to Ohio and shot him in the kneecaps... except being 🍁, he didn't do anything when I pointed my finger at him and said "pew pew".


  • BINNED

    I hope you at least apologized, before and after.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @Onyx said:

    I hope you at least apologized, before and after.

    And during. What kind of monster do you think I am?!?


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