Load my own windows

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Inputnamehere
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Load my own windows

Post by Inputnamehere »

The dedicated servers do have IPMI don't they? I mean every mobo has it built in nowadays.

Can I load my own windows onto a vps/dedi?
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Edge100x
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Re: Load my own windows

Post by Edge100x »

We use IPMI to image machines, but it is not available on the public internet for security reasons.

Due to licensing requirements, we need to image the Windows OS.
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Re: Load my own windows

Post by Inputnamehere »

Edge100x wrote:We use IPMI to image machines, but it is not available on the public internet for security reasons.

Due to licensing requirements, we need to image the Windows OS.
But 99% of companies now offer IPMI for dedicated servers, on a vpn of sorts and offer it to clients. When is it coming to NFO?

I've been with many dedicated server companies that offer windows and also allow you to use your own copy of windows server? And I'm assuming all windows licensing requirements are the same as NFO is no different than others (vps, dedicated servers etc.)

I was looking into a dedicated server/high range vps with you, but since I have my own I rather use it than pay an additional $15/mon.
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Edge100x
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Re: Load my own windows

Post by Edge100x »

Inputnamehere wrote:But 99% of companies now offer IPMI for dedicated servers, on a vpn of sorts and offer it to clients.
You pulled that number out of your butt :).

The number isn't 0%, but it's definitely not 99%.
When is it coming to NFO?
It may be possible down the road if they change the access mechanisms for it, make it more secure, and make it easier to update.

There have been a large number of vulnerabilities found in the IPMI software included in the Supermicro equipment that we use over the years, it does not have access controls that can effectively prevent us from handing over full access to everything about the machine, and there is no auto-update mechanism.
I've been with many dedicated server companies that offer windows and also allow you to use your own copy of windows server? And I'm assuming all windows licensing requirements are the same as NFO is no different than others (vps, dedicated servers etc.)
I do not know what licensing restrictions or policies apply to other companies, but I am familiar with ours.
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Re: Load my own windows

Post by Inputnamehere »

Edge100x wrote:
Inputnamehere wrote:But 99% of companies now offer IPMI for dedicated servers, on a vpn of sorts and offer it to clients.
You pulled that number out of your butt :).

The number isn't 0%, but it's definitely not 99%.

I do not know what licensing restrictions or policies apply to other companies, but I am familiar with ours.

Well obviously I was estimating since most mobos have IPMI built in nowadays and every provider I see advertising list IPMI. And you could always put it behind a vpn and add your own security features.

On the windows question. I just checked and the only legit copy of windows that can be installed on a server is SPLA, but that doesn't stop many of the providers I've used/queried allow you to load your own copy. I think you should reconsider as it is competitive.

I forgot to ask for the your vps line are all resources dedicated or is only the cpu shared?
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Re: Load my own windows

Post by Edge100x »

Inputnamehere wrote:And you could always put it behind a vpn and add your own security features.
It's not terribly easy to do that, unfortunately, and it would only allow us to compensate for some of the security concerns.

IPMI access doesn't come up very often, since we handle OS installs and any changes that customers need to make through the BIOS. We also quickly assist with the problems that some customers have with locking themselves out with firewalls, and that sort of thing.
On the windows question. I just checked and the only legit copy of windows that can be installed on a server is SPLA, but that doesn't stop many of the providers I've used/queried allow you to load your own copy. I think you should reconsider as it is competitive.
We aren't going to be able to bend the rules when it comes to Microsoft licensing =\. We have always been by the book with them, and being audited makes me even more sure of the necessity of continuing to do things right.
I forgot to ask for the your vps line are all resources dedicated or is only the cpu shared?
The nature of virtual servers is that sharing at some level occurs with all resources, because more than one customer is running on the same machine. But, we make choices that maximize performance and keep sharing to a minimum. For instance, we underload our machines and use local storage for all of our customers. Most of our machines use SSD-cached or SSD-only RAIDs. Memory is physically assigned and never swapped to disk (as is traditionally true under Xen) -- nobody else shares the same block of RAM that you'd get, though the processor has some shared caches.

If you have a VDS and you do run into a performance problem, such as with I/O, please let us know ASAP.
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