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I don't need a VPS anymore

greenash.net.au

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Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#81

Post by mike_d »

alexjurkiewicz wrote: post #78
trey-jones wrote: post #57

I might need some perspective. Every time I read one of these I'm just shaking my head, and yes the arguments are Less Power, Less Control, but also SysAdmin is me. That is my identity, and the part of the job that I like the most. I solve problems with configuration before code. So I hate to think that I'm becoming obsolete, of course. I also don't think that I am, because I do think that my way has some clear and d…

There will always be sysadmins in the same way there will always be Fortran programmers. There are benefits to the old way of doing things, but those benefits are of shrinking relevance.

Who do you think runs the cloud you run on? (Hint: sysadmins)

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#82

Post by gorgoiler »

Your Ubuntu VPS is free, open, loosely configured, and vulnerable.

Your Netlify account is closed, tightly configured with specific focus on one problem, and secured with timely patches and a monitored network.

What product is free, open, tightly configured, and secured with updates and a default iptables that isn’t just -P INPUT ACCEPT?

Perhaps someone awesome is providing docker images that have the latest and greatest in single-problem-focused software, with a built in firewall, and a security team? That’s the kind of thing I’d be into helping out, in my spare time.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#83

Post by alexjurkiewicz »

mike_d wrote: post #81
alexjurkiewicz wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will always be sysadmins in the same way there will always be Fortran programmers. There are benefits to the old way of doing things, but those benefits are of shrinking relevance.

Who do you think runs the cloud you run on? (Hint: sysadmins)

Yep. Just like Fortran runs my bank. Both critical services, and both rumps of employment for a once-widespread speciality.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#84

Post by accountofme »

alexjurkiewicz wrote: post #83
mike_d wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who do you think runs the cloud you run on? (Hint: sysadmins)

Yep. Just like Fortran runs my bank. Both critical services, and both rumps of employment for a once-widespread speciality.

Don't you mean Cobol? Atleast here in Aus it was cobol on mainframes... My understanding of Fortran was that it found its niche in high performance scientific computing.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#85

Post by phplovesong »

We had some BIG surprises with Netlify billing. Basically we use the functions they provide, and we racked up a HUGE ass bill. They charge PER request, meaning as soon as we deployed a semi "real time" interface for one app, the usage spiked.

Really, "serverless" is just a fad, and overloaded term. How about you deploy containers instead, and MAYBE have your database provided by a "Saas" provider (database maintenance, backups, upgrades etc, are the real time consumer, not the app server itself)

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#86

Post by lrvick »

edgyquant wrote: post #13
lrvick wrote: post #9

I feel the author presents a false dichotomy. I would argue that production servers should be immutable appliances. They should not have mutable root file-systems, they should not have package managers, they should not have ssh or require direct modification. Those are security accidents waiting to happen. I do not babysit my servers in my home rack. I have a company to run and better things to do just like the autho…

Interesting. Are there any OS’ that implement such a structure? Sounds kind of like chromeos if it was geared towards servers.

There is Flatcar Linux which is literally based on ChromeOS for standalone systems. For high availability Talos Linux is the way to go with their k8s-appliance-os approach, IMO.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#87

Post by SassyGrapefruit »

Welcome friend, it's been too long we've been waiting for you. Through the process of acquisition I currently manage a physical data center that someone else setup to have "control" and an Azure data center that only uses Azure VMs "to avoid vendor lockin". I am in the process of migrating all these workloads to containers in a mixed ECS/Kubernetes and AWS lambdas. We generally see 90%+ TCO reductions. Almost 100% of my problems are in that stupid colo.

If I never have to decode how the mail relays are configured, mount a user's home directory, or spelunk through Sys V init scripts/systemD unit files again I'll die a happy administrator.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#88

Post by getcrunk »

gorgoiler wrote: post #82

Your Ubuntu VPS is free, open, loosely configured, and vulnerable. Your Netlify account is closed, tightly configured with specific focus on one problem, and secured with timely patches and a monitored network. What product is free, open, tightly configured, and secured with updates and a default iptables that isn’t just -P INPUT ACCEPT? Perhaps someone awesome is providing docker images that have the latest and grea…

As a js/node guy I would pay money for a opensource "managed" base os image with only 22,80,443 open with app armor/selinux configured and user accounts with plug and play containers for select from (nginx,haproxy,varnish,node,redis,postgres,couchdb)

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#89

Post by jrapdx3 »

For most things we want to do there's more than one way to do it. Ultimately it comes down to having freedom to try different things, to experiment with web technologies as my interests evolve. I really really dislike having to bend to unnecessary restrictions. I don't think I'm alone in that regard.

A VPS is a great way to go. IMO managing a VPS is hardly burdensome, the amount of effort it requires is minuscule. Certainly far less than dealing with Windows on this laptop.

Currently I'm self-hosting a videoconferencing server (jitsi.org, with customizations) that is used pretty heavily. Also run a server for a website created with my own software, call it developmental, experimental, whatever. Keeps me interested and teaches me a lot.

No way I could do this stuff in conventional setups. While this approach works for me, certainly easy to see how it wouldn't work for many others.

It's good to have such great options to choose from at truly affordable cost.

Re: I don't need a VPS anymore

#90

Post by seanwilson »

For people that self-host and manage security themselves, what steps do you take to actively monitor that you haven't been hacked?

I understand how people would set up their own backups and automate security updates, but what do you do to monitor that there hasn't been an intrusion without you noticing (e.g. login attempts, successful logins that aren't you, files changed, root kits, data stolen)? How does that compare to what managed services and hosting companies with teams who benefit from economies of scale would do for you?

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