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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

#31

Post by jsmthrowaway »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #23
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.

Perhaps, but at the same time, you shouldn't be using IP addresses as a security mechanism. Assume the connection between your hosts is compromised, and code accordingly, with encrypted/authenticated connections between hosts.

A VPC is analogous to a physical network, not a subnet. Nobody uses them that way because it's not easy to grok, but you can treat a VPC as a physical network complete with your own numbering and ACL policies.

If you're doing that defense in depth on a physical network, I'm impressed by your dedication but would avoid your work for wasting resources.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#32

Post by 3pt14159 »

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…

> 3. These kernels often contain relevant security vulnerabilities.

This is really the only part of the list that I think has merit. I love Digital Ocean in general, but my own gripe is with their API and its lack of proper automatic key management:

https://digitalocean.uservoice.com/forums/136585-digitalocea...

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#33

Post by Sicp »

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…

you're the joke

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#34

Post by rdtsc »

tshtf wrote: post #11
rdtsc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No custom kernel support How many people run custom kernels? I have used a kernel with realtime extensions enabled but that was a very special case and wouldn't run that in a VM anyway.

> How many people run custom kernels? How many people want to run an updated kernel without known security vulnerabilities? Or with fixes to relevant issues?

> How many people want to run an updated kernel without known security vulnerabilities?

How many people call that "a custom kernel"? Haven't heard anybody call an upstream distro kernel update a "custom kernel".

Is this a typical conversation people have?

"Hey Jim, did you update the servers to get the latest OpenSSL security fixes? - Yap, I compiled and installed a custom kernel".

Maybe they need to run a better distro with faster security update response?

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#35

Post by robzyb »

curun1r wrote: post #24
andrewstuart wrote: post #3

Aren't there a bunch of offers of free cloud hosting for Startups? We should list them here. And you don't need to be a YC company...... Microsoft Azure gives hosting to startups under their Bizspark program - get over your prejudice - it's a great way to run Linux machines. Softlayer and Rackspace I think also have programs for startups. Any other companies offer free hosting to startups?

Unfortunately, all of these require that you be part of some accelerator or receive VC funding before you can take advantage of the discounts. Founders trying to bootstrap a company without external funding are SOL. It strikes me that these cloud hosting companies are really interested in businesses that value growth above profits and are willing to ignore startups who try to manage costs to get to profitability more…

Cloud hosting companies are making logical choices.

They care about a company's growth, not its profit.

They'd rather get $1M/annum from an unprofitable VC-backed company than $100k/annum from a profitable bootstrap.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#36

Post by frgtn »

ceejayoz wrote: post #9
andrewstuart wrote: post #3

Aren't there a bunch of offers of free cloud hosting for Startups? We should list them here. And you don't need to be a YC company...... Microsoft Azure gives hosting to startups under their Bizspark program - get over your prejudice - it's a great way to run Linux machines. Softlayer and Rackspace I think also have programs for startups. Any other companies offer free hosting to startups?

AWS does as well. https://aws.amazon.com/activate/

AWS package, if I understand correctly, only includes training and support for non-portfolio companies. You're still limited to their free tier for services themselves.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#37

Post by tschellenbach »

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…

Ok, no serious project would run their own kernel. What are you hosting that you want to run your own kernel?

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#38

Post by caleblloyd »

Does the DO credit expire after one year? AWS and Google credits for >= $100K expire after one year. This really is a genius business move on any cloud provider's part. If you can get a startup to spend $100k of their free credit, they will have somewhere around an $8k monthly bill once they convert to a paying customer after the first year.

It's a nice deal for startups, but the average startup will save more money in the long run by developing efficient applications that likely won't come close to a $100k credit in the first year. This will also likely result in a much more scalable app and much less technical debt.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#39

Post by jsmthrowaway »

rdtsc wrote: post #34
tshtf wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many people run custom kernels? How many people want to run an updated kernel without known security vulnerabilities? Or with fixes to relevant issues?

> How many people want to run an updated kernel without known security vulnerabilities? How many people call that "a custom kernel"? Haven't heard anybody call an upstream distro kernel update a "custom kernel". Is this a typical conversation people have? "Hey Jim, did you update the servers to get the latest OpenSSL security fixes? - Yap, I compiled and installed a custom kernel". Maybe they need to run a better dis…

It's specific to VM images. "Custom" here means "not baked into Xen," since your filesystem is not considered when spawning a domU kernel except in limited circumstances. In the Xen world, your kernel is provided by your hosting provider. You can apt-get all day and nothing will happen.

That is what custom means in this context. "Not yours." Read accordingly; you've made the same flawed point at several spots in this thread.

Re: $250k of DigitalOcean credits for YC startups

#40

Post by [deleted] »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #23
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.

Perhaps, but at the same time, you shouldn't be using IP addresses as a security mechanism. Assume the connection between your hosts is compromised, and code accordingly, with encrypted/authenticated connections between hosts.

[deleted]
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