Member OP
Curious about habit in community. In my country, cash flow unpredictable so I go monthly mostly. But see many providers offer 40% off for yearly. Tempting.
Vote and explain. Changed mind on this before?
| monthly: redirected savings to liquidity buffer
| yearly once: provider piped my funds to /dev/null when they EOF'd mid-year
| now: monthly only, no exceptions
Three providers I prepaid. Three providers vanished. Data gone. Backups? Pipe dream. https://www.borgbackup.org
EOF
Oh my, @Nadia, I'm so sorry that happened to you! This is exactly why I preach the 3-2-1 rule:
Did you test your restore before they went poof? Most people don't, and then it's too late.
I used to do yearly with CloudCone until 2023. Now? Monthly, with automated backups to my own NAS. The discount isn't worth the sleepless nights.
Yearly all the way. Hetzner's price for a CPX11 drops from ~8.50 EUR to something like 6.80 when you commit. Over five boxes that's real money.
Enjoy your 6.80 EUR donation to German bankruptcy proceedings when they decide hosting is no longer strategic. I will be here with popcorn.
I'm with Nadia on the risk, but Hetzner's been around since 1997. Not exactly a fly-by-night. I do yearly with them, monthly with anyone newer than 2015.
This is why the 3-2-1 rule exists regardless of provider age. Hetzner could get hit by a meteor tomorrow. Your backup strategy should survive that.
I test restores quarterly. Calendar reminder. Non-negotiable.
Member OP
In VN we have different problem. Yearly payment means big USD outflow at once, exchange rate might move 5% against me before month ends. Monthly lets me average that risk. The 40% discount looks nice on paper but not after bank fees and forex spread.
Same here minh1987. Plus some months client payments late, I need that cash in hand. Yearly is for people with predictable income.
Australian dollar's been volatile too. I split the difference -- six-monthly where offered. Vultr does it, not many others. Best of both worlds, worst of neither.
