BuyVM Network Upgrades

We have a few exciting announcements about the recent work we've been doing on the network! Between upgrades to the physical hardware in Vegas, the DDoS Filtering in both locations, and an added bonus on transit, we're sure folks will be happy with the improvements.

CNSERVERS REPLACED WITH STAMINUS

We were using CNServers for our DDoS Filtering in the Las Vegas location. While they provided a good service for the cost, and we rarely saw leaks, we found that they had a habit of simply nullrouting certain attacks without bothering to inform us - we would find out later after the client noticed and contacted us. Between that, having to let quite a few clients go (or migrate them to NJ) once CNServers decided that "they leave or you leave", and more and more amgiuous nullroutes issued for no apparent reason (and no explaination ever given), CNServers was starting to be more a liability than asset.

As we were already using Staminus in our New Jersey location, and very pleased with the results there, we decided to relieve CNServers of their post and have Staminus step up in Las Vegas. There was some turbulence on the switch - not a fault of Staminus, but our router at the time. CNServers outright blocked UDP, while Staminus was quite adept at mitigating and allowed UDP. We learned quickly that all of the extra UDP now coming through was overwhelming our router, causing rather severe CPU spikes. This prompted...

LAS VEGAS ROUTER UPGRADED

Over several days of attempting to tune both the filtering and the Las Vegas router, it became apparent that we simply needed new hardware to deal with the larger workload. A Brocade MLX-4 was shipped out to the datacentre, and Francisco arrived Tuesday (10 June) morning to get it configured and ready to install. With 4x 10gbit ports, the MLX was more than steady enough to tank any traffic pushed to it, even intentional 'leaked' DDoS to stress-test the router's ability to process and route as needed. With the MLX now in
place, we've seen a drastic increase in network performance and quality, and not the first hiccup or issue dealing with the increased traffic.

STAMINUS FILTERING INCREASED

We're also very happy to announce that we have increased the available protection we can offer - for the same 3$/mo per IP, we can now offer up to 20Gbit/4mpps mitigation and protection. And as an added bonus, we've also changed our policy on bandwidth tracking...

UNMETERED INBOUND BANDWIDTH

Regardless of whether it's a Filtered IP or normal IPv4, incoming bandwidth for both locations is no longer counted against a service's monthly allotment. Effective immediately, only *outbound* traffic will be counted
against the monthly limit. VLAN traffic, of course, is still unmetered both ways.

All of this, of course, comes at *NO* additional cost to clients. Not only that, but within the next month the cost of Filtered IPs in New Jersey will be reduced from 4$ to 3$ per month to line up with Las Vegas. No contact is necessary to take advantage of this - all services currently having NJ DDoS-Filtered IPs will automatically have their costs adjusted to compensate, with an effective start date of the next issued invoice
(ensuring these adjustments take place seamlessly is why it will take some time to push).

As always, we're thankful to have such great clients, and to have the opportunity to provide for your hosting needs. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to reach out to us via our Support system (https://my.frantech.ca), or at admin@frantech.ca.

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Aldryic C'boäs,
Frantech Staff