Open Infrastructure

h1. FAQ at Data Center Light

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h1. Power

h2. Q: Where do you get the electricity for running all the servers?

*A:* We are running all our datacenter by 100% renewable energy. 99.9% is from hydropower and 0.1% is from solar power. We have our own hydropower plant which uses the water from the Linth, a river coming from the Alps. You can check more on our hydropower plant here. https://datacenterlight.ch/en-us/cms/hydropower/

h1. VPN

h2. Q: How can I get an IPv6 VPN from you?

*A:* Install Wireguard and get back to us with the public key, we'll activate your IPv6 VPN. You can follow the steps below.

1. Install Wireguard

  https://www.wireguard.com/install/

2. Create your private key:

   umask 077; wg genkey > privkey

3. Get your public key

   wg pubkey < privkey

4. Send us the pubkey to support@datacenterlight.ch

5. We'll get back to you with your network definition.

h2. Q: How much is IPv6 VPN?

*A:* IPv6 VPN is 120 CHF/year, however it is free for all our VM customers as long as the VM is active.

h1. Storage

h2. Q: Can I add extra storage on my running VM?

*A:* You can add extra storage for the following pricing. 

SDD storage is 3.5 CHF per 10 GB, HDD storage is 1.5 CHF per 100 GB.

You can write to us via support@datacenterlight.ch for storage addition.

h2. Q: What is Glarnercloud? Is it an own Nextcloud instance? Or is it Owncloud?

*A:* Glanercloud is your own Nextcloud instance, it is a sustainable and open-source alternative for Google Drive or Dropbox.

h2. Q: Is it possible to use a custom domain for Glanercloud?

*A:* Absolutely yes! You'll only need to create the AAAA during the setup process so that we can use letsencrypt certificatess.

h1. Upgrade 

h2. Q: When I need more CPU/RAM/Storage for an existing VM, how long does it take? Does my VM need reboot, and if yes, can I be informed about the reboot schedule?

*A:* It depends on when you ask for the upgrade, but usually the upgrade can be done in 1 business day. For HDD upgrade the VM does not need to be rebooted, but for the CPU/RAM/SSD upgrade we need to reboot the VM for you, and it can be done as per your preferred schedule. You can contact our support and let us know your preferred time and you will hear back from us. 

h1. Payments

h2. Q: Monthly billing is cumbersome. Can I pay with longer billing intervals?

*A:* On request, we provide 6 months and 1-year payment plans. For 1 year payment, you can also pay by bank transfer.

h2. Q: I don't have a credit card, can I still order VMs?

*A:* You can pay us via wire transfer for an annual subscription. For monthly pre-paid plans as seen on datacenterlight.ch, we only support credit card payments at the moment.

h2. Q: Is payment via PayPal supported?

*A:* Payment via PayPal is not supported.

h2. Q: Can I pay with Bitcoin?

*A:* Payment with cryptocurrency is not yet supported.

h1. Network

h2. Q: How can I get an IPv6 /64, /56, or /48 network for my VM?

*A:* Every customer can request a /64 per VM for free by email. For the request of a /56 or a /48, we provide it when it's a good use case, for 5 CHF per month. (excluding VAT)

h1. Bandwidth 

h2. Q: What is the price for data usage for VMs?

*A:* We have a fair use policy for bandwidth, meaning there are no fees for network usage. However we have the right to suspend or terminate VMs that are misusing/way out of regular range.

h1. Backup

h2. Q: Are the VMs backed up?

*A:* The VMs are not backed up by default, but we have a dedicated backup data center in which we provide either managed backup or offer a 2nd VM that you can use for backup yourself.  

h2. Q: I want to back up my VM, how does it work?

*A:* There are 2 variants for backing up VMs.  

a) You want to manage it yourself: you can just let us know it's a backup VM and we will shift it to the other data center. It's going to be a physically different location, different ceph cluster, different network, etc.

b) You want us to manage the backup: it's almost like (a), but it will cost 5 CHF and we will manage the backup for you.

In both cases we recommend to take roughly 5 times space as backup space so that enough iterations (4 last days, 4 last weeks, 12 last months, total of 20 backups) can be kept.

h2. Q: What is the standard backup VM spec you recommend?

*A:* Usually the backup VM is 1 core, 2-4gb ram, 10gb SSD + 5x the space you want to backup in HDD. If you are not sure, you can get in touch with our support and we can recommend a backup plan for you.

h1. Termination of VM

h2. Q: I terminated my VM by accident via my dashboard, can it be revived?

*A:* When a VM is terminated by the user, it's terminated for good and we can't revive an already terminated VM.

h1. Features

h2. Q: There is a feature X missing in Data Center Light, how can I request it?

*A:* We open up our infrastructure to the public, you can check out our open tickets and request a new issue or even create your own solution. https://redmine.ungleich.ch/projects/open-infrastructure

h1. Colocation

h2. Q: Do you offer colocation?

*A:* We offer colocation for selective cases. Send us your plan and requirements to support@datacenterlight.ch and we will get in touch with you.

h1. Doublup offer

h2. Q: What is doubleup offer and how does it work?

*A:* Doubleup means you get double times of what you ordered without extra charges. For example, if you ordered 1 CPU during CPU doubleup promotion, your VM will get a free upgrade to 2 CPU instead of 1 CPU.

h2. Q: What do I need to do for getting the doubleup?

*A:* For getting a doubleup all you need to do is ordering a VM during the doubleup promotion period and writing to us via support@datacenterlight.ch. For not missing out on our double up promotions, you can check out our sale page. https://datacenterlight.ch/en-us/cms/sale/

h2. Q: How long does the doubleup last?

*A:* Doubled up CPU or RAM lasts as long as your VM is active. 

h1. Unanswered Questions

h2. Q: I didn't find the answer to my question, is there more information available?

*A:* Sure! You can visit our Open Infrastructure page and find the information you need. https://redmine.ungleich.ch/projects/open-infrastructure/wiki/ 

You can also join our open chat and start a conversation there anytime. https://chat.ungleich.ch/ungleich/channels/datacenterlight