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$250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#121

Post by mwpmaybe »

robertcope wrote: post #64
joering2 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't talk about port 25, but we have 15 mailservers hosted on $5/per pop with DigitalOcean and with properly setup rDNS and SPF including our IPv6 address, we don't see any problems with deliveribility to gmail via subscription port. That is on circa 600,000 emails per month sent to gmail.

It sounds like you're talking about sending mail, not receiving it. Port 25 is only an issue if you're trying to receive email.

If you want to send mail as a peer (i.e. without using a smart host / relay) you need to be able to connect outbound on port 25, which some providers block.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#122

Post by dikaiosune »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #110
bnchrch wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you would feel slighted, this is just a business partnership (albiet a large one) and no different than when Microsoft offered $500, 000 in azure credits to YC companies. There are certain perks to joining an organization of entrepreneurs and developers, this is one of them.

Microsoft also offers 27k of azure service to non-YC startups so it's not like you're left out in the cold if you're not a part of the club. https://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/about/default.aspx

I think that's fair to point out, but it's an order of magnitude difference (especially in the context of the other comp'd services YC companies get in their first year or two).

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#123

Post by mwpmaybe »

jorgecurio wrote: post #13
tshtf wrote: post #2

Enjoy your free service, but I would avoid paying for Digital Ocean for any serious project. No custom kernel support 1. Digital Ocean does not allow you to run your own kernel natively. 2. Digital Ocean droplet kernels are infrequently updated. 3. These kernels often contain relevant security vulnerabilities. 4. This has been a known issue since 2013. 5. You can kexec a kernel, but this is an annoying workaround. ht…

Most people don't consider custom kernel as a requirement for serious projects. I don't see why this is a joke.

If you want to run your own LXC or Docker you might need a custom kernel to enable aufs.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#124

Post by blhack »

andrewsomething wrote: post #65
brianbreslin wrote: post #4

Does anyone know the community manager or equivalent person at DO?

/me waves

I've been doing some into to linux/web development workshops at my hackerspace lately, would you guys every be interested in sponsoring one with some DO credits? (Like the first month free or something?).

Also, I have some bad feedback for you (sorry). We ran a workshop last night, and during the workshop, everybody signed up for an account (about 15 people at once). Presumably because we were all connecting from the same place, people started getting "fraud alert" (or whatever you guys were calling it) problems, and had to do additional steps to verify their accounts.

One guy actually had somebody asking for his passport (wat?), and then for links to his social media profiles. That seems EXTREMELY skeezy. It also ground the workshop more-or-less to a halt.

Is there somebody that I can talk to in advance next time so that the same thing doesn't happen again?

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#125

Post by andrewsomething »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #105
bmh_ca wrote: post #80

As a non-YC startup, I feel it quite unfair to be subsidizing other startups with our fees to DO. Which is a shame because I really appreciate and enjoy what the DO engineers have done. Nonetheless, I feel slighted, and while I had been otherwise happy with the service I am now all of a sudden incentivized to explore places more ecumenical. The feeling for me will probably pass, but I wonder how many other people hav…

Reading the replies it seems you're getting a mixture of "I agree / understand" and "It's a business decision you feel wrong". Humans have weird triggers for emotions. Seeing something that benefits a group that you are not a part of but fairly equivalent to is a typical trigger, even if it does make sense to a degree. When I first saw this, as a non-YC-member, I felt pretty similar. I'm sure it's simply a business r…

Great response! I can totally understand the feeling.

We do work with a number of other incubators. DO itself is an alumni of TechStars. We have some stuff in the works with 500 Startups. We're definitely interested in working with other incubators as well. If you're involved with one, feel free to reach out to me at asb@digitalocean.com I'll make sure to get you to the right folks at DO.

If you're not in an incubator, check out the link I shared below. There's still a lot our customer success team can do for you.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#126

Post by mwpmaybe »

tshtf wrote: post #2

Enjoy your free service, but I would avoid paying for Digital Ocean for any serious project. No custom kernel support 1. Digital Ocean does not allow you to run your own kernel natively. 2. Digital Ocean droplet kernels are infrequently updated. 3. These kernels often contain relevant security vulnerabilities. 4. This has been a known issue since 2013. 5. You can kexec a kernel, but this is an annoying workaround. ht…

> Private networking is a joke

> 1. Your private IP addresses are accessible by everyone in the same datacenter.

This is also the case at Linode. Besides AWS VPC, are there VPS providers that give your hosts their own private VLAN?

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#127

Post by jlgaddis »

DanielDent wrote: post #81
joering2 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't talk about port 25, but we have 15 mailservers hosted on $5/per pop with DigitalOcean and with properly setup rDNS and SPF including our IPv6 address, we don't see any problems with deliveribility to gmail via subscription port. That is on circa 600,000 emails per month sent to gmail.

You send server-to-server messages on port 587? That is... non-standard. But an interesting approach. You are using your users' gmail credentials? Or are you simply delivering over 587 the same as you would over 25?

It's very "non-standard" -- that's not what the submission port (587/TCP) -- not "subscription port" -- is for.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#128

Post by jlgaddis »

andrewsomething wrote: post #78
mayank wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Your private IP addresses are accessible by everyone in the same datacenter. This is pretty bad compared to an AWS VPC -- you basically have to manage and sync your own iptables between all your nodes.

We have a lot of interesting stuff coming up later this year around networking. Some of it will be behind the scenes, but it is going to open up a lot of new possibilities for user-facing features. We're looking to give users a lot more control over their network while maintaining our focus on UX simplicity. Might be a good time to mention we're hiring network engineers as well: https://www.digitalocean.com/company/c…

That link is for "a software engineer on the Network team", not network engineer. Did you post the wrong link or just use bad working? I'm a network engineer but I'm not a "developer" by any means -- and there's a helluva difference!

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#129

Post by jacquesm »

whalesalad wrote: post #116
bmh_ca wrote: post #80

As a non-YC startup, I feel it quite unfair to be subsidizing other startups with our fees to DO. Which is a shame because I really appreciate and enjoy what the DO engineers have done. Nonetheless, I feel slighted, and while I had been otherwise happy with the service I am now all of a sudden incentivized to explore places more ecumenical. The feeling for me will probably pass, but I wonder how many other people hav…

You've been paying them for hosting prior to this announcement. You apparently find the cost to be reasonable enough for the value they deliver. What's changed? Customer satisfaction withstanding, they can do whatever they want with their profits.

What's changed is that in the perception of the commenter he's not on a level playingfield to begin with and this announcement tilted it even further away from level. So in order to do what's in his power to re-adjust he takes away some of those profits.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#130

Post by kentonv »

mwpmaybe wrote: post #126
tshtf wrote: post #2

Enjoy your free service, but I would avoid paying for Digital Ocean for any serious project. No custom kernel support 1. Digital Ocean does not allow you to run your own kernel natively. 2. Digital Ocean droplet kernels are infrequently updated. 3. These kernels often contain relevant security vulnerabilities. 4. This has been a known issue since 2013. 5. You can kexec a kernel, but this is an annoying workaround. ht…

> Private networking is a joke > 1. Your private IP addresses are accessible by everyone in the same datacenter. This is also the case at Linode. Besides AWS VPC, are there VPS providers that give your hosts their own private VLAN?

Pretty sure Google Compute Engine puts each project in a private network.
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