Lifetime anything in hosting is just prepaid until bankruptcy. I had a "lifetime" GPU instance from some Japanese cloud, lasted 18 months. Now I just rent Hetzner dedicateds for my training runs and cry when the bill comes. At least I can use the GPUs.
Member OP
Yeah I know im probably an outlier,,,,, Wasnt expecting this when I bought it,,,,, Honestly thought itd be dead in six months,,,,, The scrap gods work in mysterious ways,,,,,
Member
I had a lifetime cPanel license from 2012. Died 2019 when they changed pricing tiers and grandfathered everyone into... nothing. At least your box still runs. Hardware can be forgotten. Software licenses get actively killed.
This. I've been in hosting since before Hetzner was big in the US market. They grew on cheap dedicateds and honest pricing. No gimmicks. Some reseller probably bought a chunk of capacity, sold it as lifetime, and either ate the loss or went bust. Hetzner just keeps providing because the original contract's between them and the reseller, not the end user. Dave's just riding someone else's obligation.
Member
That makes way more sense. The reseller model explains everything. Hetzner's still getting paid somehow, or the contract's long-term enough they don't care about one tiny VM. Dave, you ever had to contact support? Curious if they know you exist.
Member OP
Never had to,,,,, Box has been stable since day one,,,,, Only time I logged into the panel was to check if it was still there,,,,, Im like a ghost in their system,,,,,
Member
Ghost server. Very good. I want ghost server too.
My RackNerd I contact support one time, ask about kernel upgrade for WireGuard. They say "OpenVZ 6 no support, please wait OpenVZ 7." That was 2021. Still waiting.
This thread made me check my old email. Found a "lifetime" Kimsufi from 2015 I totally forgot. Login still works but the machine's been suspended for non-payment since 2017. So much for lifetime.
Member
Kimsufi's OVH's budget brand. Whole different company, whole different approach to "lifetime." They'll suspend for anything. Hetzner at least sends warnings before they pull the plug.
We've had two accidental non-payments on auction servers, both times they gave us 14 days. Professional.
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