[Manal]

Shadow Hosting is on safe side since we're running on KVM. Was planning to also start OVZ in future(wasn't sure) but now, obviously, I won't go for OVZ. KVM is better (as voted).

[tryp4vps]

... Will sponsors drop VPSs running OpenVZ 6? Will the eventually replace them with something better? Or will the worst happen and they will continue using a dead technology and risk to get hacked? What will you do?

As a VPS 9 holder myself, I really do not want to see Virmach drop the VPS because of this change.

In fact, I have been using the same VPS 9 since 2017 and it has been running smooth without any big issue during this long period of time. And I am perhaps a bit lazy to switch over to another VPS.

So even if Virmach will continue using OpenVZ 6, I think I may accept the risk and continue using it.

[deanhills]

So even if Virmach will continue using OpenVZ 6, I think I may accept the risk and continue using it.

I'm totally with you on this one @tryp4vps. I love my VPS 9. I'm willing to take chances with Virmach any time of the day. Even if their VPSs are on older technology, I get a sense of really good Admin who know what they are doing. If you check Virmach's Website you will notice however that for all of their new VPSs they are now on KVM. I doubt however they will abandon their older VPSs. I've got great faith they will work out something good for every one, as I'm sure there must be clients of theirs who are still on OpenVZ.

[deanhills]

@"Hidden Refuge"  I thought you would find the contents of the e-mail below from HostUS interesting.  Following our not so ideal Virmach OpenVZ 6 to KVM upgrade experience (for most of VPS 9 users) (first two upgrades were completely without any events and a great success but the others possibly because of mass production problematic leaving us with OS challenges) I was wondering whether the limitations we experienced at Virmach would have been overcome with going for OpenVZ 7 instead of upgrading to KVM? I know that KVM is better, however I'm looking specifically at a KVM at the end of OpenVZ 6 as an upgrade - like will the upgraded VPSs ever have the real KVM outcome and if they had been upgraded to OpenVZ 7 instead been in a better shape in overall?

It's a great e-mail I thought - makes me feel confident that I'm not going to see any issues coming my way - and since I have had very positive experience with the owners of HostUS am confident it will really happen this way.  I was just wondering what your thoughts were about OpenVZ 6 to OpenVZ 7 upgrade vs OpenVZ 6 to KVM upgrade.  Could it be that Virmach had upgrade issues that will be solved some time in the dizzy future and then turn out to be much better than OpenVZ 7?  Or are the cookie cutter mass produced upgraded VPS 9s going to limp along for the rest of their lives and we'll never be able to use up to date OS again? We know there were already issues with up to date OS BEFORE the upgrade, but has that issue got worse now because of the upgrade?

Hi Dean,

Soon we will be migrating your VPS to OpenVZ 7, the next generation of OpenVZ with higher performance and better features. No action will be required from your side, though we thought you might be interested in what will happen behind the scenes - please read on.

As a technologist you likely know that OpenVZ virtualization had lingered for years. Quite recently OpenVZ 6 became an end-of-life product. Don’t worry though, as HostUS continues to receive kernel patches. The old kernel version (2.6.32) and more popular open source packages requiring newer kernels have made OpenVZ 6 a less desirable hosting option. If you wanted to run Docker you have had to use our custom (and old) CentOS template or move to more expensive KVM virtualization. If you wanted to secure your VPS from attackers, and do it without quickly overloading your server with iptables rules you just couldn’t run ipset (the preferred high performance and modern companion for iptables).

Solution: OpenVZ 7 Planned Upgrade
We are happy to announce that the time has finally come for us to launch OpenVZ 7 across our locations. We’ve had OpenVZ 7 available in BETA in limited locations for almost three years. We are happy to say OpenVZ 7 is an improvement, and what your service will soon be migrated to.

Docker, ipset, and many other applications now work natively, and new templates such as CentOS 8, Debian 10 and the upcoming Ubuntu 20.04 LTS will be available.

When?
Migrations will occur in controlled waves done by our engineers. You will be contacted at least one week prior to the move.

Will Prices Change?
No. HostUS has made it our policy since our founding in 2012 that your VPS plan price will always remain the same, so long as you continue to pay for the service. You are free to keep that special lower than current price service that cannot be purchased here anymore, you frugal hipster. Now you will be receiving higher performance at the same cost.

Hardware Roadmap
With the new OpenVZ 7 nodes we are bringing in more SSD and NVMe storage (builds will vary) and locations will have more diverse specs.
Some nodes will feature the latest Coffee Lake or Cascade Lake Xeon processors with DDR4 memory. Those are newer generation, 14nm Xeons with more performance, faster clock speeds, better supported features and faster throughput RAM, progress is nice. We will also be using AMD Zen 2 processors in selected locations.

Faster Network
Historically HostUS has used mainly single gigabit uplinks. With our OpenVZ 7 rollout we will be connecting with more bonded gigabit connections and some 10gbit uplinks. This will give the ability for faster network throughput and allow you to more gracefully reach the internet with lower latency and less contention. Subject of course to fair use and good neighborly behavior.

Have Questions?
Change can be hard. We are here to make it easy for you. Contact our support team for assistance here, they will be glad to hear from you.

We appreciate your continued business, and hope you are as excited for the transition as we are!

Kind regards,
HostUS

Just for information sake - my OpenVZ 6 HostUS VPS is the most basic OpenVZ VPS on offer from HostUS:


Source: https://hostus.us/openvz-vps.html

I've had this package from 2016. I got lucky at one time - two years ago - when there was a melt down and I then got an IP from England at no extra cost.  There is obviously no comparison with VPS 9 as my minimum specs HostUS VPS is very much on a Junior level, but I still like this VPS very much.