FOOD FOR THOUGHT Cloud at Cost is Garbage really

SMTC

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
190
Reaction score
13
The thrill of the deal to get a free server for $10.50 is not even a "get what you pay for" deal.

Frankly, the service is garbage. Not sure what Fibernetics' (parent company of Cloud at Cost) angle is here flogging sh*t services and adding and adding and adding servers that don't really work. If its to entice you to upgrad to a higher priced offering, that is not the way to go.

Its flaky, unreliable as they constantly - in the middle of the day - trash the systems, performance when its working often has bad sound quality, and there is no support despite the ticket system with the ability to denote severity, auto-response, and even a escalation email address (which never get answered either).

If $15/mo (or thereabouts) a month is too much to pay for a more reliable service, then bring your box in-house. That is the conclusion I have come to and at my first opportunity that is the direction I personally need to go. My ancient PIAF box ran for years without a hiccup until everything software-wise was deprecated. I can't get most of the voice rec stuff in Incredible PBX 13-12.2 to work reliably so maybe its back to keep it the simple (stupid) - KISS principle.

Has anyone else achieved a differenet/better experience?
 

wardmundy

Nerd Uno
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
19,168
Reaction score
5,199
C@C is a SANDBOX. Nothing more. If you are using it for "real work" then you're going to be extremely disappointed. Digital Ocean is a quantum leap forward at $5 a month. And RentPBX is another order of magnitude better at $15 a month. Yes, you get what you pay for.
 
Joined
Nov 14, 2008
Messages
1,398
Reaction score
320
This is not directed at anyone. Annoyed with so much rain in the northeast!

I don't understand the quest for cheap and free.
Everyone has a PC they can use for testing or an in house box. If you are going to go outside and give up a lot of control it should be with the trade off of availability, reliability and support.
I get the sandbox concept but a lot of support questions clutter the forum as a result of poor performers like CAC that produce problems that require a lot of remote troubleshooting. Same with Google Voice, Raspberries, cheap routers, cheap ATA's, antiquated or troublesome SIP phones.
The cost of running a local server or paying a real provider is very, very cheap these days. IMO you'll enjoy this hobby-business a lot more if you're not running into cheap hardware configuration problems constantly. I'm not against new things as they can be fun to try but CAC has been junk from the start, I don't think business models like this should be rewarded or kept alive with anyone's dollars.

Back to the rain....
 

SMTC

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
190
Reaction score
13
The folks in Ft. McMurray, Alberta would love the rain. (Poor people).

Ward puts it out there for a couple of better choice hosts - Digital Ocean and RentPBX - great for those in the USA. In Canada, two issues; 1) multiply every $US x 1.3 and 2) some VOIP providers are only allowing Canadian IP addresses for SIP registrations.

So, unless there is a decent economy local cloud solution, its back to a dedicated box.
 

wardmundy

Nerd Uno
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
19,168
Reaction score
5,199
You can't really beat an Intel NUC. And the RasPi 3 at $35 is an incredible platform for home use. I share some of @briankelly63's disgust with C@C. Having said that, we have literally dozens of platforms there that work reliably for months and months at a time. As has been noted before, it requires a lot of patience. And you have to simply destroy and rebuild when you get a bad build or when a server goes south. Some of us actually like pain. :death:
 
Last edited:

henry

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
99
Reaction score
30
I don't really understand this outrage about C@C... On this forum and many others...
We are 20 years in the internet era and more than once had a chance to confirm that "You get what you pay for"
And yes, C@C is worth 10 buck, IMHO. Even if it works a weekend and dies for good. It depends what you use it for....

People get really peeved when their expectations about a service are not fulfilled.
Even when this service came for free! Then the talk turns into "I'm never gona get these 2-20-50 hours of my life back!"...

Start working on your expectations and stop believing in fairy tales...
 
Joined
Nov 14, 2008
Messages
1,398
Reaction score
320
I don't really understand this outrage about C@C... On this forum and many others...
We are 20 years in the internet era and more than once had a chance to confirm that "You get what you pay for"
And yes, C@C is worth 10 buck, IMHO. Even if it works a weekend and dies for good. It depends what you use it for....

People get really peeved when their expectations about a service are not fulfilled.
Even when this service came for free! Then the talk turns into "I'm never gona get these 2-20-50 hours of my life back!"...

Start working on your expectations and stop believing in fairy tales...
I think we like to think there is a threshold for entry and in this day and age providing this kind of cloud service should be a no brainer.
 

henry

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
99
Reaction score
30
I don't really believe C@C is a consumer business.
I think they sell resources (Fibernetics'?) that are already sold but at the moment unused.

What is the "standard" configuration of a virtual cluster today? Three servers similar to Dell PE 720/730xd.
I think in units terms, Dell sold more 720's than all other models combined (in 2014-2015).
Even VMware adjusts its pricing for a six-socket (3 hosts) cluster to run HA/failover scenarios.
Those servers have (most often) about 256GB of RAM each and tens of TB of storage (under vSAN).
And about 16 logical processors (sockets x cores).

In other words about 16GB RAM per CPU and at least 20 times as much storage...

C@C configuration is 0.5GB RAM (~3%) and 10GB (~2%) per CPU.

That's a rounding error!

I believe it most likely runs in a former BlackBerry facility what Fibernetics probably got for peanuts and is just trying to generate some cash...
 

mbellot

Active Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
404
Reaction score
185
YMMV, but I've been very happy with CaC other than the longer build times lately.

For less than $25 I have (up to) six cloud servers to do with as I please. They have proven useful for many things, some that couldn't be done with local hardware.

But they are all built with the understanding that they are temporary - either my will or a random CaC error will eventually cause them to "die".
 

SMTC

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
190
Reaction score
13
C@C does not live up to its advert. They set our expectations. In this day and age, we have come to expect disruptive players that offer a service or product at previously unheard of pricing - we are now accustomed. If I had told you 5 years ago you could buy a 480GB SSD for $150, imagine the bewilderment. Well, we have that today! So, its not the price so much, its the promise not kept. Below is direct from C@C's site. What does "best cloud services" mean to you? To me it means the images load and they don't trash your server mid-day. I might expect lower performance, but certainly not sloppiness.

About Us
We are a new Cloud company that does things differently. We are partnered with Fibernetics, a national carrier and ISP in Canada. We leverage our own data centers across the country, and our own national network to bring you the best cloud services at the best rates anywhere.
For more [email protected]

About Fibernetics
Over the last ten years, Fibernetics has emerged as one of Canada's fastest growing and largest telecommunications companies. Fibernetics is an operating Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) regulated by the CRTC, that has direct connectivity into the heart of the incumbents fiberoptic networks across Canada.
 

tycho

Guru (not...)
Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
652
Reaction score
272
I'm with @mbellot. I'm getting my money's worth, and the money is peanuts. Been running 2 of the tiny (1CPU/512RAM/10GB) servers for a year and a half. Nothing mission critical but, really, what do you need for a personal cloud PBX and a hobby website? I check them periodically and if they are down I restart/reboot. I got resources to build several more servers and have a total of 3 running just fine right now. At $3.50 for each ,single-payment, what's to bitch about? That's 1/10 the cost of a Pi, 1/9 the cost of my Obi100 (on sale), 1/6 of the cost of my Dockstar and 1/3 the cost of my Pogo Mobile. I accept the limitations and smile...
 

SMTC

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
190
Reaction score
13
So, it sounds like variable experiences. Perhaps it depends on what cluster or what datacentre you are on? I suppose if there is some gremlin drilling a machine, then everyone else on that hardware is mucked. Maybe some of you are in with play-nice developers.

BTW - Thanks for all the chiming in. Obviously a topic of interest and controversy!
 

henry

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
99
Reaction score
30
YMMV, but I've been very happy with CaC...
They have proven useful for many things, some that couldn't be done with local hardware...
But they are all built with the understanding that they are temporary...
I wouldn't qualify my experience as "very happy" but definitely meeting expectations.
100% with you on the rest...
I'm getting my money's worth...
Short and to the point!
I have 2 PBXs, 2 WordPress sites and an OTP box. Under $50 total and does the job...
 
Last edited:

magna.vis

Guru
Joined
May 22, 2013
Messages
85
Reaction score
32
I believe it most likely runs in a former BlackBerry facility what Fibernetics probably got for peanuts and is just trying to generate some cash...
Underrated line. I cracked up. Just the image of tired and abused BB equipment trying it's best, and everyone throwing insults at it. It's sad and hysterical.
 

tycho

Guru (not...)
Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
652
Reaction score
272
Ha. My mental picture was that it was actually running on old, discarded Blackberries swept up off the floor...
 

sactobob

Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
33
Reaction score
8
Personally, I REALLY hate the term "cloud", it's so much sales BS for non-techie decision makers. It's just another damn server in someone else's computer room. I have a rack in a telco, I guess I could call all my services "cloud" based too and join the crowd.
 

magna.vis

Guru
Joined
May 22, 2013
Messages
85
Reaction score
32
I have a rack in a telco, I guess I could call all my services "cloud" based too and join the crowd.
You're not!? We've seen our profits increase 7000% since putting the word "cloud" all over our website. We have "cloud backup" that syncs servers to a server at our datacenter, "cloud email" which is resold Office 365, and a "cloud AV" that is a local AV client that gets it's updates from the AV server at our datacenter. You've missed the bandwagon by now- but, better late than never also still applies.

:icon bs:
 

wardmundy

Nerd Uno
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
19,168
Reaction score
5,199
Ciad13sWkAAvYWu.jpg
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
25,782
Messages
167,509
Members
19,202
Latest member
pbxnewguy
Get 3CX - Absolutely Free!

Link up your team and customers Phone System Live Chat Video Conferencing

Hosted or Self-managed. Up to 10 users free forever. No credit card. Try risk free.

3CX
A 3CX Account with that email already exists. You will be redirected to the Customer Portal to sign in or reset your password if you've forgotten it.
Top