this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
6 points (100.0% liked)

Self-Hosted Main

504 readers
1 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

For Example

We welcome posts that include suggestions for good self-hosted alternatives to popular online services, how they are better, or how they give back control of your data. Also include hints and tips for less technical readers.

Useful Lists

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
communick@selfhosted.forum
6
Recommend a server not Hetzner (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago by Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top to c/main@selfhosted.forum
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi all

I’m looking for a new server, I had just signed up to Hetzner and I’ve already been stopped from purchasing any more servers and they won’t unlock it or unlock ports.

I’m guessing I’ve done something wrong but they won’t tell me. All I’ve done is created and deleted a few servers while I was learning to setup up for my environment and leave my browser open for hours while still logged into Hetzner.

I’ve paid two invoices that I had on time but they’re not leaving me with much trust.

I don’t fancy paying a company that seems to decide on a whim that we’ll stop the service.

top 24 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] rglullis 3 points 1 year ago

I have nothing but good things to say about Hetzner. I've been working with them for at least 15 years already. They are not as deep-pocketed as the other cloud providers, so they need to make sure that you are not going to end up abusing their servers and they need to establish that you are in good standing.

With that said, I've also had good experiences with:

  • DigitalOcean. lots of documentation online, but their servers are more expensive.
  • Kimsufi, if you just want some cheap server and don't mind dealing with OVH's clunky interface.
[–] bobbyorlando@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You've done something more than that, be honest.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I seriously haven't.

Full story.... I've had a reseller account for about 10 years with a certain provider and to be honest it's been fine. The prices keep going up which is annoying but their UI always seems to be down when I want to edit something and log into my WHM which gets frustrating. I host a few small websites for clients and other than that I just leave it.

I have a few business domains which have their own email, I setup the email in cPanel and my main email is with gsuite which I pay for. I wanted to bring it all in under one roof but as I no longer have WHM and cPanel so I had to look for an alternative.

I setup a new server, with Hetzner about a month and half ago, tried installing a few different control panels as I was used to cPanel and I kept deleting my server and creating a new one which to be honest I must have done it about 20 times. I finally stuck with cloud panel and it's been fine. (Could this be my issue?)

I created a single site and setup a proxy server so I can add data to my Airtable database without my credentials being on show. That seems to work fine. (Could this be my issue?)

I knew I needed port 25 unlocked so I waited to pay my first invoice. Once I paid that I created a second server for email and requested that port 25 be open on the original server which I thought they did.

I then deleted my cloudpanel and my website, installed it on my new server and proceeded to setup mailcow on the old server as that had port 25 unlocked (or so I thought)

Not sure when my account got locked but I'm sure it was before even attempting to setup my email server and I certainly didn't send any emails out.

the only other thing I can think of is I'm sure I said I would pay using Paypal. When I attempted to pay, for some reason Paypal wouldn't work so I paid by card.

That is the whole story.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not sure why I've got downvotes on this comment but if that makes you feel better then it's fine with me.

[–] KD_done@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I think the sentiment is that you omitted something, knowingly or not. So, instead of trying to defend yourself in your actions, take a look at what happened and perhaps that will be your "A-ha" moment.

So, don't take a personally, but very personal ;)

[–] JakeSully-Navi@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Like other said to get blocked for some stuff is either because you used server for email spamming so they choose to block it.

When setting up a email server you must make sure no one else can compromise it and use it for sending out spam mails.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I understand this, other than requesting port 25 be open, I didn't even get around setting up the mailcow.

[–] JakeSully-Navi@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well no port should be blocked on default. Not even 25

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hetzner do this as default until you pay your first invoice. You can then request to have it unblocked.

[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

I run a few dedicated mail servers at hetzner, never had this issue, even from the get go.

[–] JakeSully-Navi@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Never had todo that, had dedi server with them before and never needed them to unblock any ports. So I don't think you do need to, unless they changed.

[–] Educational-Craft545@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

See what you've done wrong with your email server as repeating that behavior with other providers will create the same situation.

[–] Oolupnka@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Vultr for vps and Ovh for dedicated servers are great

[–] Bytepond@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Digital Ocean or Vultr. They're more expensive but Digital Ocean is super user friendly and Vultr follows pretty closely behind.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks everyone.

They’ve let me keep my server so rather than trying to setup a second server with mailcow, I think I’m gonna go with mxroute and let that handle it.

I can just carry on with more important stuff.

Thanks everyone

[–] thekrautboy@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

They have their reasons and dont block you just for fun.

/r/Hetzner if you want to rant about it, but its not going to change anything.

You can simply use the search function here to find plenty of discussions about "recommend a server" since youre not providing any details at all. Maybe look at lowendbox.com and lowendtalk.com

[–] Kalindro@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hetzner is great but if you just don't like it, Vultr seems to fill similar gap in the market as Hetzner does.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's not that I don't like it, it's that I don't know what I've done wrong. it just worries me that they can take something away and not tell you why. I'm now stuck in limbo as I need to get me email server working before I can close my old reseller account.

I will take a look at vultr.

Thanks

[–] requion@alien.top 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you answered your question "why" you got blocked here. Maybe you should state that you are trying to host an email server in your OP. Email is a hot topic and a quick way to get banned / blocked from any reputable server hoster if you fuck it up.

[–] ManWithoutUsername@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I have mail server for years in hetzner without problem.

Probably he have the email server misconfiguration/open relay

[–] enormousaardvark@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have used Vultr for about 6 years now and never had any issues, I asked for port 25 when I signed up and they said no, I waited for couple of months and politely asked again and they did open it, I used a free SMPT service while I waited, https://www.smtp2go.com/pricing/ have a free plan if you send less than 1k emails per month.

[–] Pretty-Ad4969@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks, I'll take a look at that.

[–] fedroxx@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Don't bother with a vps for email. Let the professionals do the work for you. I've been using MXroute for awhile now and love it.

Heard good things about mailgun as well.

[–] SouthNo6340@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

That's not true, they're terrible. He was caught up in the MITM attack on jabber protocol