Category: Virtual Server (EN)

We value a good price-performance ratio. Therefore, we use the Fair-Use principle to bill for traffic usage. This does not specify an exact limit, but limits excessive usage. If a customer with a €4 vServer were to consume 5TB within 20 days, it would cost us far more than the monthly value paid for the server. Most customers do not require more than 1TB per month, so we can refrain from setting a specific usable traffic limit at the time of ordering. If the consumption of all customers were this high, we would have to charge correspondingly higher prices for all customers. Depending on the booked server, we offer a burst speed that can be used with full bandwidth up to a limit of either 1.5TB or 2.5TB per month. After that, the respective server’s bandwidth is reduced to 50 Mbit/s. In extreme cases, we reserve the right to further reduce it to 25 Mbit/s.

If more traffic is needed at full speed, it can be booked afterwards at any time.

The following types of traffic are not allowed

• VPN traffic outside of your own household
• Traffic through Tor nodes of any kind
• Torrent with copyrighted material
• Proxy (similar) traffic outside of your own household
• IPTV
• 24/7 livestreams to Twitch/YouTube and similar platforms

These types of traffic lead to permanent or unfair traffic. They should be avoided.

Examples of allowed traffic (within Fair Use)

• High-traffic websites
• Download sites within legal limits
• Nextcloud or similar file transfers without public access
• Traffic from gameserver content
• Private VPN traffic for your own PC

Booking additional traffic

In general, a desired quota must be booked in advance, which expires if not used.

You can book up to 10TB for €9.50 per TB. From 10TB onwards, you pay €8.50 per TB. So if you want to book 2TB of extra burst (up to 1 Gbit/s), it will cost you a one-time fee of €19.00. Special traffic expires if not used and is billed monthly. The booking date is always the day on which the corresponding service was booked.

If you have set up your Linux server to authenticate using an SSH key, it is recommended to completely disable password authentication. This greatly reduces the attack surface for your server.

Manually via SSH

Disabling password authentication is actually quite simple. Open the configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config with a text editor (e.g. nano).

Find the line

#PasswordAuthentication yes

Remove the “#” in this line. Replace “yes” with “no” at the end, so it should read:

PasswordAuthentication no

Save the file and restart the SSH server. You can do this with the command:

service ssh restart

Keep the current SSH session open and open a new session in a new window. Now, try to log in using the SSH key. If it doesn’t work, you should re-enable password authentication and resolve this issue.

Using the web interface

In the Cloud Manager, you can easily enable or disable password authentication in the VPS settings.

Go to the “SSH” tab and select the option “SSH Key Only” for “Root Login”.

After saving, your server will only allow root login with an SSH key.

I have locked myself out of SSH

If you have locked yourself out, you can always connect to your server using VNC. There you can also use the root password, as it is not an SSH connection but a direct terminal connection. Otherwise, our support team is always available to assist you.

Our network providers use automated tools to protect your server and other servers. If your server engages in suspicious activities, your IP address will be blocked and the traffic will be stopped. This can happen if your server attacks other servers, sends spam emails, or scans networks. We also regularly check our abuse mailbox for such activities and manually review these cases to ensure that all violations of our terms of service are reported and appropriately handled. Please take the security of your server seriously to avoid violations of our terms of service and possible blocking of your IP address.

Costs

Your IP address will be blocked if…

• You initiate an outgoing (D)DoS attack
• Your server attacks other servers (brute force, etc.)
• Your server scans other networks (port scan, network scan, etc.)
• Your server sends spam emails

A compromised server can manifest itself through various symptoms, depending on the type and extent of the attack. Some possible scenarios include:

1. Unexplained network activities: If the server has been compromised, this can lead to unusual network activities that are not typically expected. This can include port scans, connections to unusual targets, or data transfers from unknown sources.
2. Changes to firewall or security settings: An attacker may change the firewall or security settings of the compromised server to facilitate network access or take control of other devices on the network.
3. Frequent crashes or outages: If the server is infected, this can result in frequent crashes or outages, leading to longer downtime and increased data loss.
4. Email spam or phishing attempts: A compromised server can also be used to send spam emails or phishing attempts, which can result in the network being blacklisted as spam and damage customer trust.

It is important to take these symptoms seriously and act quickly to prevent further damage. If you suspect a compromised server, you should immediately take the necessary IT security measures to stop the attack and restore the server.

Please take server security seriously. If you leave such vulnerabilities as mentioned above (even unknowingly) open, you are legally violating our terms of service.

What to do next

If your server has been blocked for the reason “Anti-Hack”, you must contact us immediately. Additional actions are required to unblock the IP address.

• 1: Activation fee: Load €5.00 onto your prepaid hosting account in order to have the IP address manually unblocked. Please understand that this process incurs a fee as it requires manual intervention. We do not profit from this process, but rather need to cover the associated costs.
• 2: Reinstallation & Backups: Reinstallation of the server is mandatory to prevent further attacks and protect the network. We will handle the reinstallation. A technician can only perform a backup of your data in absolute emergencies. This intervention costs €15.00 per started 15 minutes. Please note that according to our terms of service, Section 7, Paragraph 4, you are responsible for creating backups and do not have a right to a backup.
• 3: Confirmation: Please give us the green light that you have received the message and will take appropriate measures to prevent such a problem from occurring again. If the problem recurs, we will unfortunately have to terminate the prepaid contract, as you will have violated our terms of service again in this case.
• 4: Activation: Afterward, the matter will be closed and we will reconnect your server to the internet!

Why does the activation cost money?

The process of unblocking the IP address and server after compromise requires manual interventions that entail technical effort. Since this process cannot be automated and the unblocking is done manually, we need to cover the associated costs.

The cost of €5.00 per process partially covers the manual interventions and technical effort required to unblock the IP address and server. We would like to emphasize that we do not profit from this process, but only need to cover the incurred costs. Therefore, we recommend our customers to take appropriate security measures to prevent misuse of their servers and avoid the costs of unblocking the IP address and server.

With our vServers, you have the possibility to set a PTR/RDNS entry. This is especially needed when operating a mail server. This “Record” (entry) can be easily configured in our web interface.

Setting RDNS

In our vServers, you can find a button called “RDNS” in the Cloud Manager. Click on this button to assign a domain name to the IP address of your server. If no RDNS entry has been set yet, a corresponding message will appear there. If such an entry has been set, it will be displayed there. You can change the record at any time.

Important: Please note that the chosen domain or subdomain used as the RDNS/PTR record must also resolve to the IP address of the server. This is also checked by the system in the administration area before saving.

If you still have any questions, you can always contact us in support! In case of doubt, we will set the correct PTR entry for you.

IPv6 support

If you set an RDNS in this dialog, it will also be set for the first IPv6 address (::1). If you need an RDNS for other IPv6 addresses, please feel free to contact us in support.