Cloud Server FAQs

How are cloud servers different from virtual private servers?

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are generally a one machine only running by itself with no shared infrastructure. Some VPS instances are little more than a directory on a machine where you can upload your data. In contrast Python Cloud Servers run across many different bits of server hardware which are automatically monitored to ensure uptime and performance.

How is cloud hosting different to shared hosting?

Shared hosting solutions are much like VPS instances in that you have limited access to resources. In fact with shared hosting you probably won't even have access at an operating system level, meaning that you cannot amend any specific system wide files and are therefore locked into that server's architecture. With Python Cloud Servers you have access from the operating system level upwards, so can change anything you need to with your system. Don't forget to snapshot your system first!!!

How are cloud servers different from dedicated servers?

Cloud servers act in the same way to dedicated servers as far as the operating system is concerned, so the system will see memory, CPUs and hard drives exactly the same. It's "under the hood" where things are different. With dedicated servers you are given the bare metal – if something goes wrong with it, you need to physically replace the hardware in order to get your server back up. Cloud servers differ by putting what's called an abstraction layer between the physical hardware and the server operating system – this means it’s hardware independent and also means you can move, update or change system settings at a moment's notice with little or no downtime.

What bandwidth do you offer – are there transfer costs?

With Python there is a £0.007 per gigabyte per hour transfer charge for bandwidth usage.

What are my cloud servers running underneath – hardware wise?

It's largely irrelevant as the Python Cloud puts a virtual layer between both, but we generally run Dell Enterprise class server hardware with EMC ISCSI storage for the back end. All our networking equipment in the Python infrastructure runs on Cisco and Juniper.

Are cloud servers suitable for everything?

It depends on what you're doing – there are a handful of scenarios in which a cloud server might not be suitable – for example high transaction count databases or high volume data transfer scenarios.

How do I use my cloud server?

Our Python Cloud Server User Guide will provide you with information on how you can use the service as well as providing step by step instructions on initial set up. Delve deeper and you'll find  more detailed information on snapshots, templates and networking.

What happens if someone on one of the physical servers uses too much resource?

All servers are automatically load balanced across the infrastructure and no single node is ever more than 80% utilised, if a server is using an unusually high amount of resource, it is either moved to a lower usage server, or the lower used servers are migrated off.

I just created a machine and the password for the machine popped up on my screen - I didn't write it down and I can't find it anywhere.

The machine password is a one-time displayed item for security - you'll need to initiate the password reset facility: shut down your instance, click on the machine details then click "password reset".

Why does my first virtual instance take so long to load up? You said it would be within a minute or so.

The first time you make a virtual machine we also have to create a virtual router machine, with the firewall, generate the firewall rules, deploy your machine and get all the other background bits sorted. This takes a little while. Also if you added an extra disk this will take a little extra time too.

I can't see how to change the password on my login.

There is no way to change your password at the moment. Later on it will integrate with LDAP (Lightweight Direct Access Protocol) at which point you will be able to reset your password from your billing account.

I found that creating an Ubuntu 12.01 server from template took quite a while.

The initial server setup from scratch takes a while as your network is being created whilst many other functions are taking place. When you already have a network creating a new instance will be a lot faster.

The network seems to be IPv4 only.

Currently the platform is limited to IPv4. Later on IPv6 will be added.

Is it possible to archive notifications not just clear them? And have a time-stamp? And an indication as to which user made the change so if multiple people are doing admin you have an audit trail?

You can access all of these functions by clicking 'Events'.

Can I get a static public IP for this - IPv4 and v6?

You always have a static public IP address on your account. Once you have a network and you are not deleting it the IP addresses will always be the same.
You can acquire more static IPs should you require.

I'm finding the broken keyboard map quite frustrating, can anything be done?

The console view does have limitations currently. There are a couple of patches on the way.You can use remote access to access your VPS.