Oliver from RansomIT has sent us information about their Australia based lowend box. We’ve had a good handful of offers over the years where companies are owned by Aussies, but mostly with servers in the ‘states.
- LEB Offer
- OpenVZ Based
- 1 Core
- 512MB Dedicated RAM
- 8GB Storage
- 15GB Monthly Transfer
- 1 IPV4 Address
Order Here (Promo Code: “VPS Down Under”)
Colocated in Adelaide, South Australia. Test IP: 119.252.16.37
While 15GB isn’t a lot, everyone needs to remember that bandwidth is usually around $1.50/GB in Australia so 15G for $7.00/m in a VPS is pretty awesome. Customers are required to pay 6 months upfront which seems a little harsh, but expected for an Australia based offer. Oliver did state that CentOS 6 is the only template he currently has available, but stated would add more if people requested it.
UPDATE: The promotion has been changed to $20 for 3 months OR $40 for 6 months.
Related Posts:
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- WindowsVPS.Host – VPS plans starting at $5.50! - March 13, 2020
- HostNOC – Dedicated VPN offer for $4.99 a month! Secure, Safe and Private! - March 9, 2020
Are they going to take my data for ransom a few months down the road? :)
15GB Monthly Transfer, i think it is a joke
This is not a joke, this is Australia… Where bandwidth is not cheap at all.
This VPS on their website costs $60.00/m
Ping from Thailand ~= 400ms :-( Damn, I thought you were closer than that!
Ping from Indonesia ~181ms. :)
Ping from Hong Kong ~ 252ms.
G’day all,
We don’t intend to take anyone’s data ransom. :)
Ben, that’s unfortunate – connectivity to here from some South East Asian countries is good but from some it is quite poor.
I have actually added a Debian 6 template and you can pay for 3 months as well now as I understand being new to everyone here may make people hesitant to sign up for longer.
Cheers,
Ransom IT
No worry, Thailand is known for its VERY poor international network. But I still expect to escape one day :-P
It’d be nice if it went to Singapore or Japan then straight to Australia but from what I’ve seen before connectivity from Thailand probably went via the US. Things can only get better though for all of us here in South East Asia I guess (data costs in particular)!
same here. :(
http://pastebin.com/9gMhBr81
That’s a pity. :(
At least it isn’t going via the USA I guess. Do you people in Thailand and Indonesia get better latency to the US West Coast than to most Australian points?
Just checked… From Thailand, it seems we have to go to Coresite San Jose first!
So yes, US West Coast has a much better latency
I’m having another VPS located in San Jose (BuyVM), and the ping is around 250ms
9.|-- 42.subnet118-98-59.astinet.telkom.net.id 0.0% 10 78.7 78.7 49.7 92.7 13.410.|-- 180.240.190.13 0.0% 10 75.3 79.6 56.3 96.1 11.5
11.|-- p9326.sgw.equinix.com 20.0% 10 297.9 301.1 288.8 312.8 7.8
12.|-- pos-0-1-0.bdr02.per02.wa.VOCUS.net.au
I believe p9326.sgw.equinix.com is Saginaw Bay, west coast USA.
NanoG6 that is a bizarre route. per02.wa would be Perth, West Australia!
The wonders of the Internet!
NanoG6, sgw = singapore
@ab
No, usually the edge is represented as an airport code. SIN for Singapore, SFO for San Francisco, SJC for San Jose, and as @RansomIT stated PER would be Perth International Airport.
@NanoG6 Try to traceroute 202.79.197.74. It’s a peering/exchange port (p9326) at Equinix Singapore.
p9326.sgw.equinix.com is indeed Singapore. It’s two hops away from me, lol <_<;
Equinix does not seem to follow IATA codes on their peering network, oh well.
Any2IX is a pretty huge peering point for sure. I know you can go right from San Jose to some NZ isp’s without ever leaving their network.
It must be under USD $7 per month for monthly billing, or USD $48 per year for yearly billing (~USD$4/month). Updated: I have lower again the yearly payment requirement. People should not have to commit for the whole year unless there’s a big financial incentive, as in this market providers rarely last more than a year.
I would not list VPS offers that only have yearly billing option, if the provider is under 1 year old.
I would think their offer does not meet the stated requirement in LEB. $42 per 6 months (which is quite near $48 per year) lowered to $21 for 3 months is certainly above a $7 per month billing.
$21 for 3 months is exactly $7.00/m? :)
You seem pretty aware and definitive for someone who does not even leave his/her email :-)
For the new LEA/Chef, even if I will probably not be one of their customers, I agree to keep that tiny exception for a new provider in this part of the world.
Hi,
From what I understood my offer is exactly on the mark/limit for the pricing here. I did email LEA/Chef in advance about it and if it didn’t meet the pricing criteria they would not have posted it.
Cheers,
Ransom IT
$21/quarter does qualify as $7/month which is why we’ve allowed it. Our main focus is the cost per month until we get into the higher annual terms since there is a much better chance of a provider lasting 1-3 months than lasting 6+ months.
Also this :P
You initially posted $7 monthly but a tie up of 6 months. Which is not exactly $7 per month. If that it so, then an offer of $84 per year would qualify as well- but will contradict your $48 yearly limit.
Anyway, up to you guys. Just bringing up some thoughts.
I have updated the promo page to state the following:
either $20 USD per 3 months or $40 USD per 6 months at just under $7 USD per month
If the admin here will update the initial post that’d be appreciated, otherwise I’ll just keep this in mind for next time. :-)
I am sure the original LEA had his reasoning for the $48/year price point and we have stuck with it. From my point of view, it is an attempt to focus on the monthly offers since a lot of people don’t like getting stuck in a 12 month commitment (look at the deadpools if you need a reason why).
@Random IT: I have added an update the post to include the new pricing/terms.
Give them a break, we never see offers in Australia around here. I’m 100% OK with this offer.
I fully agree.
In a country where BW costs are this nuts, I’m willing to bend the guidelines some just to get the posts on here.
Keep it up, Ransom!
I like this offer too! Is there an IP that I can traceroute?
Hi Damian,
The IP of the primary node is 119.252.16.37
Ransom IT
Hi,
I am quite interested in this offer as we have had practically no offers for VPSes in AU. I do have a few questions about the service:
1) Do you enable tap/tun on request for your VPSes?
2) How much is bandwidth per GB overage?
3) Is there any chance of a plan with less system resources (1-3GB storage, and 128-256MB of RAM) and more bandwidth for this price? I know bandwidth is a hugely expensive resource and limiting factor in Australia, but for those of us who need fewer dedicated system resources and a bit more bandwidth… is this something you could possibly do in the future?
Thanks!
Hi Zach, there hasn’t been much interest in this offer so in a few hours I’ll update the offer page with another option more suited to what you’ve requested then reply here so you know it’s available.
Cheers,
Ransom IT
Hi Zach,
Another hosting plan has been added:
Specs: 192MB RAM, 4GB disk space, 20 GB data (Debian only)
Excess data is $2.20 per GB – I am currently negotiating with my upstream provider to get a better rate.
I hope this suits your requirements.
Ransom IT
Hi,
Thanks for adding that new plan! Just signed up for it.
I am hoping the bandwidth will be sufficient for my needs, we’ll see. :) Please keep us updated on any attempts to lower the bandwidth costs. Will the plan automatically shut off after I get to 20GB? I just don’t want any huge surprises if I go over a bit, I’d rather have the plan shut off the rest of the term than accrue huge overages…
Thanks!
Zach
The ping is very good for australia. I have ~335ms from Germany!
Yay for an Australian offer! :) Thanks Ransom IT.
Positive responses but not many sign ups! If anyone (Aussies in particular) want to try a VPS feel free to sign up – I’ll offer money back guarantee (minus the ~$1 Paypal fee) if you aren’t happy with it in the first week. Only real condition is that you provide some constructive feedback/comment about why you aren’t happy with it.
Ransom IT
Actually you can use it for a week for free to see if you’re happy with it (performance wise) then decide if you want to keep it! If you don’t want it then I’d like to know why otherwise I look forward to welcome you as a customer. :-)
I signed up! Though it’s currently 8am on a Saturday in Australia, so not sure if I’ll receive my invoice/be set up soon, but I’m looking forward to it.
Thanks Damian, you should have received the account deployment notifications by now.
Regards
Ransom IT
Hello Damian, how is your VPS ? I am interested but a bit afraid, does not seem very professional.
Thanks
I like it.
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 37
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 3191.998
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 6383.99
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
./ioping /
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=1 time=0.6 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=2 time=1.3 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=3 time=33.7 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=4 time=58.0 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=5 time=37.7 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=6 time=44.8 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=7 time=18.0 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=8 time=45.3 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=9 time=17.9 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=10 time=50.8 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=11 time=44.0 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=12 time=15.9 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=13 time=25.5 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=14 time=52.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /vz/private/218): request=15 time=102.9 ms
^C
--- / (simfs /vz/private/218) ioping statistics ---
15 requests completed in 15538.7 ms, 27 iops, 0.1 mb/s
min/avg/max/mdev = 0.6/36.6/102.9/24.9 ms
dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=16k conv=fdatasync
16384+0 records in
16384+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 13.4398 s, 79.9 MB/s
I’m not going to do the usual cachefly bandwidth test. If you think you need to know how much mass transfer this VPS is capable of doing, I think you’re missing the point of an Australian VPS. This VPS was provisioned with the purpose of being part of our upcoming global DNS system, so mass bandwidth isn’t a concern for us.
Only two issues so far:
1. The SolusVM control panel is extremely slow for me. It took me several tries to set my panel password, then several tries to set my root password. Kept timing out otherwise. The VPS itself does not have this issue.
2. When you sign up, you’re given the option of “Centos” or “Debian”, but no indication of what bit level you’re given. Turns out the installed templates are 64 bit, which is adds overhead unnecessarily, since you’ve only got 512mb of ram. I will contact them for 32bit templates.
All in all, we plan to keep it. Hell of a deal for an Australian VPS. If you have a need for connectivity “down under”, you can’t go wrong here.
Thanks for the information, very complete, I dont need cachefly test.
I will apply on monday.
Thanks for the feedback Damian.
I wasn’t really aware of the additional overhead with a 64 bit OS being that significant – I stopped using 32 bit containers ages ago because I understood more and more software was compiled for and performed better with 64 bit. Out of interest how much overhead do you think there is? 10%? 20%? I’ve been using OpenVZ for many years but Solus VM is new to me – thanks for the feedback regarding performance. I will look into this to see what can be done during the week.
Cachefly (it resolves to an IP in New South Wales which is the next state over from South Australia – 204.93.143.143):
2012-02-12 07:08:48 (1.80 MB/s) – `100mb.test’ saved [104857600/104857600]
If I do a speed test of a 100MB file from another provider in the same city I get 10MB/s per second and I generally get 3 to 4MB/s when running backups from my system to Amazon S3 in the US which is pretty good all things considered.
If anyone has any other questions regarding the business or technical details about the server please feel free to query here and I’ll respond. For what it’s worth we’re deploying these on our secondary colocated server. It’s a Dell R310 and although it “only” has the Core i3 CPU I certainly will not be overloading it. I will keep an eye on load and if necessary stop accepting sign ups till July when I plan to put another much more powerful system in if necessary.
Damian, I am going to deploy a 32 bit container for you though and make that available as well.
Mykeul what makes it look unprofessional to you? I want the best possible reputation so I’m open to any feedback. Be honest. :-)
Ransom IT
I’ve noticed that the overhead is most noticeable in terms of memory. For example, our standard DNS node install takes about 90mb on a 32bit Centos 5 VPS container, but about 130mb on a 64bit Centos 5 container.
I’ve never noticed a speed difference, to be honest. Im not sure there even is a speed difference.
Hello, Yes Damian, that is the usual overhead, I also use 32bits distros for this reason.
@RansomIT: I think you should re-read your last message, then have a look at your website, especially the ordering method, then you may understand. Buying one of your VPSes is a bet, a bet on your own personal capacity to maintain this up&running with not-so-huge skills (based on your messages) on the long run … even if you seem motivated, objectively, this is a bet.
Your advantage is the location for those who have international needs, and we are not much, I hope you will have enough clients to keep it running.
I will nethertheless apply tomorrow (as a company) as you offer Paypal & 3 months billing, I would not if you only proposed yearly plans. I choose to support you, as a bet for me, but I need reliability on the long run.
Damian: No worries. I am not really working with such limited systems on a day to day basis so I haven’t even worried about these issues. Let me know how you go with the new node though – I presume you’ve had a play now.
Mykeul: Fair enough, thanks for being honest. I will be honest as well: I want to point out are that although offering VPS services to the public is relatively new for me, web and email hosting itself is not. I’ve been running those services since 2007 and have many (a few hundred) local clients. This offer isn’t really about making a big profit but about making some money from otherwise very underutilized hardware. I gather from my observations on this site that many operators are ‘fly by nighters’. From an overall business perspective I think I’m already way ahead of others simply because I’ve been established for a long time.
I am glad you’re willing to give us a go anyway and look forward to welcoming you on board. :-)
On a side note in case it isn’t obvious we are operating in GMT+9:30 so if you get replies at odd hours (for you) or expect them in your own business hours I apologise in advance for the delays. So far we have been responding to queries within 12 hours.
Ransom IT
Gave this a try – for the price, why not?
Based in Perth, gonna love the 40-60MS latency to Adelaide.
traceroute to 119.252.16.37 (119.252.16.37), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 menu (192.168.1.254) 47.867 ms 3.050 ms 2.220 ms
2 bb121-6-36-1.singnet.com.sg (121.6.36.1) 25.801 ms 21.608 ms 27.120 ms
3 202.166.121.237 (202.166.121.237) 21.457 ms 19.631 ms 21.364 ms
4 xe-2-1-0-3300.qt-ar05.singnet.com.sg (202.166.124.57) 19.306 ms 19.195 ms 21.336 ms
5 202.166.119.234 (202.166.119.234) 22.744 ms 21.772 ms 21.349 ms
6 ae8-0.budweiser.singnet.com.sg (202.166.120.182) 21.200 ms 21.353 ms 22.096 ms
7 ae1-0.beck.singnet.com.sg (202.166.124.234) 22.649 ms 21.007 ms 23.619 ms
8 203.208.190.57 (203.208.190.57) 21.352 ms 28.932 ms 23.517 ms
9 ge-2-0-0-0.sngtp-dr2.ix.singtel.com (203.208.149.190) 22.917 ms
ge-1-1-0-0.sngtp-dr2.ix.singtel.com (203.208.183.209) 21.860 ms 21.514 ms
10 203.208.174.198 (203.208.174.198) 71.152 ms 72.918 ms 70.692 ms
11 61.88.221.53 (61.88.221.53) 106.946 ms 103.372 ms 104.131 ms
12 61.88.221.53 (61.88.221.53) 104.208 ms 159.861 ms 102.498 ms
13 amcom.55drc76fg.optus.net.au (61.88.163.14) 104.097 ms 103.751 ms 103.857 ms
14 ge2-1.cr01.sa.amcom.net.au (202.189.64.2) 105.177 ms 102.421 ms 101.101 ms
15 ge1-1.gw01.sa.amcom.net.au (202.189.64.22) 102.349 ms 103.234 ms 102.907 ms
16 202.189.75.74 (202.189.75.74) 244.203 ms 245.268 ms 247.955 ms
17 c45.cor-e.adl.colocity.com (119.252.31.194) 249.825 ms 240.039 ms 271.496 ms
18 g1-1.c45.distd.adl.colocity.com (119.252.31.242) 248.403 ms 250.519 ms 255.751 ms
19 adl2.ransomit.com.au (119.252.16.37) 312.472 ms 242.157 ms 282.863 ms
traceroute to 119.252.16.37 (119.252.16.37), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 202-150-221-169.rev.ne.com.sg (202.150.221.169) 0.310 ms 0.329 ms 0.376 ms
2 p9326.sgw.equinix.com (202.79.197.74) 232.896 ms 232.885 ms 232.874 ms
3 pos-0-1-0.bdr02.per02.wa.VOCUS.net.au (114.31.206.46) 236.134 ms 236.149 ms 236.139 ms
4 ge-0-1-6.cor02.syd03.nsw.VOCUS.net.au (114.31.192.216) 253.661 ms 253.650 ms 253.637 ms
5 ten-1-3-0.cor01.syd03.nsw.VOCUS.net.au (114.31.192.86) 240.261 ms 240.361 ms 240.445 ms
6 ge-0-0-3.bdr02.adl01.sa.VOCUS.net.au (114.31.192.213) 251.409 ms 250.210 ms 250.207 ms
7 ge-0-2.bdr01.adl01.sa.VOCUS.net.au (114.31.198.32) 235.351 ms 235.567 ms 235.555 ms
8 as9297.bdr01.adl01.sa.VOCUS.net.au (119.161.94.6) 240.634 ms 240.551 ms 240.591 ms
9 f3-48.c45.dc2.colocity.com (119.252.0.66) 241.822 ms 242.282 ms 241.159 ms
10 v901.c45.cor.dc1.colocity.com (119.252.31.97) 254.722 ms 254.869 ms 254.147 ms
11 g1-1.c45.distd.adl.colocity.com (119.252.31.242) 248.638 ms 248.823 ms 245.745 ms
12 adl2.ransomit.com.au (119.252.16.37) 254.878 ms 254.867 ms 254.768 ms
Will grab one of these tonight :)
From the TOS:
“Cancellation requests must be made in writing – you will receive a notification of receipt with 48 hours”
Does that mean I’d have to fetch the old fax machine from the attic or even post a letter to Australia? They sure do things different down there.
Nevertheless, I’ll probably sign up later today if the offer is still available.
Yes, we require it to be handwritten and preferably delivered via carrier pigeon.
Just kidding… :-) It just means by email, that’s considered writing these days. Don’t worry, we hate fax machines as much as everywhere else down here!
Just an update: Still with them, still enjoying it, still think this is a great price for what it is, still think anyone that needs Australian connectivity should sign up. :)
Thanks Damian, good to hear. We actually just deployed another machine since we ran out of RAM on the node we were deploying these on! By “ran out” I mean we don’t want to oversell what’s guaranteed. :-)
Awesome! From New Zealand, here, and this is the closest I think I’m gonna get. Will be trying this out in a few days, if it’s still available!
Cher cher kiwi, Had mine close to when this offer was about. going strong :)
Signed up a couple weeks ago. Everything’s been solid and stable. Oliver has been extremely helpful in getting things set up. Pings of 30-60ms (depending on the network) from Canberra. Great price (by Aussie standards). Highly recommended.
This page needs to be updated though, as the (updated?) offer is for 256MB RAM (320Mb burst), 15GB storage and 25GB transfer.