Self-Host a WireGuard VPN on a VPS
A personal WireGuard exit under EU jurisdiction, on our own AS60982, with a clean dedicated IP. Notes from the rack on why a 2GB/1vCPU VPS is plenty and where unmetered bandwidth is the real win.
Read postNotes from the rack — engineering, networks, post-mortems.
What we’ve learned running 5,000+ servers across 13 European POPs. Network engineering, BGP, DDoS forensics, hypervisor tuning, and the occasional incident write-up. Subscribe to the RSS feed or follow updates from the on-call rotation.
Latest
Posts from the NOC.
Operational write-ups from the engineers who own the boxes. New posts whenever something interesting breaks — or something interesting works.
Per-second vs hourly vs monthly VPS billing: the real cost
Per-second, hourly, or monthly? How rounding turns 6.7 compute-hours into 100 billed hours — and the 667-hour break-even that picks the right VPS plan.
Read postReplace Restream: Self-Hosted Multistreaming on a VPS
Twitch dropped the last multistreaming penalty in March 2026. One Docker command on a €0.12/mo VPS now replaces your Restream subscription — here's how.
Read postHetzner Price Increase 2026: Hourly-Billed EU Alternatives
Hetzner raised prices three times in 2026 as DRAM jumped 171%. What changed, why it lasts into 2028, and how to evaluate hourly-billed EU alternatives.
Read postCS2, ARK and FiveM Server Hosting
Why CS2 and FiveM live and die on single-thread clock while ARK: ASA is a RAM problem — with per-game slot caps mapped to our live prices.
Read postRust and Palworld Server Hosting
Rust and Palworld punish undersized boxes and lazy restart schedules. Here's how we size RAM per game, cap slots, and schedule restarts for memory-creep titles — with real EUR prices and 1 Tbps DDoS baked in.
Read postMinecraft Server Hosting in Europe
A NOC engineer's guide to Minecraft server hosting in Europe: how RAM maps to real player counts, why sub-5ms EU ping matters, and where free 1 Tbps DDoS protection fits in.
Read postRTMP Server Hosting on a VPS
RTMP server hosting doesn't need a weekend of config. Our streaming VPS ships Nginx-RTMP, MediaMTX and Restreamer pre-installed on a 10 Gbps unmetered box with root access — ingest, restream, and package HLS from one host.
Read postVPS for OBS and 24/7 Streaming
Run headless OBS and loop content around the clock on a pre-loaded streaming box. We walk the bitrate-x-viewers-x-hours math and show why 10 Gbps unmetered beats metered cloud egress.
Read postDeploy a VPS via API in Seconds
Notes from the rack on programmatic provisioning: create and destroy KVM boxes over api.noded.cloud/v1, hourly billed to the second, with a 47-second median deploy and a Terraform/CLI workflow that makes hourly billing actually pay off.
Read postCheap KVM VPS in Europe
A EUR 4/mo entry VPS should still feel like a real machine. Here's how NODED runs full KVM root, NVMe, and unmetered symmetric bandwidth on our own AS across Europe — with no overage bill waiting at month-end.
Read postBare Metal Servers in Europe
Single-tenant bare metal servers in Europe on NODED's own AS60982 — no overcommit, BYOIP-ready, free 1 Tbps DDoS, and sub-5ms intra-EU across 13 POPs. Rent from EUR209/mo.
Read postStreaming VPS Sizing: Match the Server to Where Your Video Goes
A streaming VPS that is perfect for one-person restreaming is wrong for direct-to-viewer HLS — and both differ from transcoding. Here’s how to size for your actual workload.
Read postHourly VPS from €0.006/hr: What Pay-As-You-Go Costs and When Monthly Wins
An hourly VPS bills only for the hours the instance exists — ideal for CI runners, throwaway staging, and load-test bursts. Here’s the real economics at €0.006/hr, the break-even against a monthly box, and the one billing rule that catches people out.
Read postCloud vs On-Premise vs Hybrid: Choosing the Right Infrastructure Model
Deciding where to run your infrastructure is one of the most consequential choices a growing business makes. Cloud, on-premise, and hybrid each come with dif...
Read postServer Hardening Checklist: Securing a Linux Server After Deployment
A freshly deployed Linux server is a clean slate, and the first hours after setup are the best time to lock it down. Hardening is the process of reducing you...
Read postWhat Is Anycast and How It Speeds Up Global Networks
If your visitors are spread across the globe, the distance their requests travel directly affects how fast your service feels. Anycast is a clever networking...
Read postHow to Multistream to Twitch, YouTube & Kick From One VPS (No Per-Platform Fees)
Push one OBS feed to Twitch, YouTube and Kick at once from a VPS you control — no per-platform fees. A step-by-step Nginx-RTMP multistream setup on a streaming VPS from EUR 9.99/mo.
Read postContainers vs Virtual Machines: Which Should You Run on Your Server?
Containers and virtual machines both let you run isolated workloads on a server, but they work in very different ways. Choosing the right one affects your pe...
Read postLoad Balancing Explained: How to Scale Your Application Across Servers
When a single server can no longer keep up with traffic, a load balancer lets you spread the work across many servers. It is the foundation of scaling a webs...
Read postWhat Is NVMe Storage and Why It's Faster Than SSD
Storage speed is one of the biggest factors in how responsive a server feels, and NVMe has become the gold standard. If you have ever wondered why some hosts...
Read postIPv4 vs IPv6: What the Address Shortage Means for Your Hosting
The internet is running out of IPv4 addresses, and that simple fact quietly shapes the price and availability of nearly everything you host. Understanding th...
Read postFirewalls Explained: Network vs Host-Based and How to Configure Them
A firewall decides which traffic reaches your servers. Learn network vs host-based firewalls, stateful filtering, how rules work, and configuration best practices.
Read postServer Uptime Monitoring: Tools, Metrics, and Best Practices
Uptime monitoring watches your services around the clock and alerts you when something breaks. Learn the check types, key metrics, and best practices.
Read postWhat Is a Reverse Proxy? Benefits, Use Cases, and How It Works
A reverse proxy sits in front of your servers to handle load balancing, TLS, caching, and security. Learn how reverse proxies work and when to use one.
Read postVPS vs Dedicated Server vs Shared Hosting: Which Is Right for You?
Shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated servers differ in performance, control, and cost. Learn how each works and which hosting type is right for your site.
Read postRAID Levels Explained: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10 for Servers
RAID combines drives for speed, redundancy, or both. Learn how RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10 work, what happens when a drive fails, and which level fits your server.
Read postWhat Is a CDN and Do You Actually Need One?
A CDN caches your content on servers worldwide to speed up load times, absorb traffic spikes, and add security. Learn how CDNs work and when you actually need one.
Read postSSL/TLS Certificates Explained: HTTPS, Encryption, and How to Get One
SSL/TLS certificates encrypt your site's traffic and prove its identity. Learn how HTTPS works, the types of certificates, free vs paid options, and how to avoid common pitfalls.
Read postHow to Migrate Your Website to a New Host Without Downtime
A step-by-step guide to migrating a website to a new host without downtime: lower DNS TTL, test before cutover, sync data last, run both servers in parallel, then decommission.
Read postDNS Records Explained: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and More
A clear guide to DNS records: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), NS, and more, what each does, and how TTL affects propagation.
Read postManaged vs Unmanaged Hosting: Which Do You Actually Need?
Managed vs unmanaged hosting: who keeps the server running, what each model includes, the honest questions to ask about your team's skills, and the middle-path add-ons.
Read postUnderstanding Bandwidth, Data Transfer, and Port Speed
Bandwidth, data transfer, and port speed explained: what each term really means, how hosting plans combine them, what 'unmetered' actually caps, and how to size your needs.
Read postSnapshots vs Backups: Why You Need Both
Snapshots vs backups: the key difference is independence. Why snapshots are great for quick rollback but not disaster recovery, the 3-2-1 rule, and testing restores.
Read postHow to Choose the Right Data Center Location for Your Audience
How to choose a data center location: why distance equals latency, hosting near your audience, latency-sensitive workloads, data sovereignty, and the CDN shortcut.
Read postWhat Is a Hypervisor? Virtualization Basics for Beginners
A beginner's guide to hypervisors and virtualization: how one machine becomes many VMs, Type 1 vs Type 2, isolation, and how VMs differ from containers.
Read postObject vs Block vs File Storage: A Plain-English Guide
Object vs block vs file storage explained simply: what each model is best for, performance and cost trade-offs, and a quick guide to choosing the right one.
Read postLinux vs Windows Server Hosting: Which Should You Choose?
Linux vs Windows Server hosting: how to choose based on your software stack, licensing costs, your team's skills, and performance, with a quick decision guide.
Read postWhat Is BGP and Why Does Your Hosting Provider Talk About It?
BGP explained in plain English: how the internet routes traffic between autonomous systems, why multi-homing and blended bandwidth matter, and when you need your own AS.
Read postReverse DNS (PTR Records): Why They Matter for Email and Servers
Reverse DNS explained: what PTR records are, why missing or mismatched reverse DNS sends email to spam, how PTR delegation works, and an IPv4/IPv6 checklist.
Read postWhat Is Colocation and When Does It Make Sense?
Colocation explained: what you get (rack space, power, cooling, network), the cost equation vs dedicated servers, why power density is the real constraint, and when it makes sense.
Read postHow to Read a Hosting SLA: Uptime Percentages Explained
Decode hosting SLAs: what 99.9% vs 99.99% uptime really means in minutes, what counts as downtime, how service credits work, and why a status page beats a big number.
Read postDDoS Protection for Hosting: What Actually Works in 2026
A practical guide to DDoS protection for hosted services: the three attack types, how scrubbing and anycast mitigation work, the key questions to ask a provider, and the blackholing catch on budget plans.
Read postWhy We Migrated from WHMCS and EasyDCIM to FluxBilling.app: A Hosting Provider's Honest Review
We migrated our hosting business from WHMCS and EasyDCIM to FluxBilling.app. Here's our honest review of why we switched to an all-in-one billing and DCIM platform.
Read postKVM vs Xen vs VMware vs Proxmox: Picking a Hypervisor in 2026
VMware's pricing changes have shaken the industry. KVM, Xen, and Proxmox all look better than they did a year ago. Here's an operator's guide to picking a hypervisor.
Read post1 Gbps vs 10 Gbps Hosting: When the Upgrade Is Worth It
10 Gbps ports look great on a spec sheet, but a lot of workloads will never saturate 1 Gbps. Here's how to figure out which port your workload actually needs.
Read postHow to Get Your Own ASN and IP Space: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you want to run your own routing, multi-home across providers, or build something serious on the network, you need an ASN and IP space. Here's exactly how.
Read postIPv6 in Production: A Hosting Operator's Deployment Guide
IPv6 isn't optional anymore. This is the practical guide to running IPv6 in production: addressing plans, dual-stack, firewalling, and the gotchas that bite people late.
Read postBare Metal vs Cloud VMs: The Real Cost Math
AWS, GCP, and Azure are convenient but expensive. Bare metal is cheaper but takes more work. Here's the real cost math, including the hidden line items everyone forgets.
Read postAnycast vs Unicast DNS: When You Actually Need Anycast
Anycast DNS sounds impressive, but most sites don't need it. Here's what anycast actually does, when it pays off, and when plain unicast with a good provider is enough.
Read postNVMe vs SATA SSD vs SAS: Which Storage Should You Pick?
NVMe is faster on paper. SATA SSD is cheaper. SAS still has a place. Here's how to choose storage for your dedicated server or VPS — by workload, not by buzzwords.
Read postHow to Choose a Hosting Provider in 2026: A Buyer's Checklist
A practical buyer's checklist for choosing a hosting provider in 2026. Network, hardware, support, billing, and the questions most providers don't want you to ask.
Read postBGP Communities Explained: A Practical Guide for Hosting Customers
BGP communities are how you tell your upstream what to do with your routes — prepend, blackhole, advertise to specific peers, or scope to a region. Plain-English guide for anyone running their own ASN.
Read postFluxBilling vs Blesta: Why We Built Our Own
Blesta is a clean, well-engineered billing platform with a loyal user base. So why did Noded build FluxBilling instead of switching to Blesta? Honest comparison from an operator who runs the alternative.
Read postWhy We Chose FluxBilling Over WHMCS and EasyDCIM
After years of fighting WHMCS plugins, EasyDCIM bolt-ons, and brittle integrations, we built FluxBilling — the billing and DCIM platform that runs Noded.cloud. Here's why we made the switch and why you might want to as well.
Read postNoded vs ServerMania: Bare Metal & Hybrid Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and ServerMania for bare metal, hybrid, and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hostkey: Bare Metal & GPU Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Hostkey for bare metal, GPU, and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs HostHatch: Storage VPS & Bare Metal Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and HostHatch for VPS, storage, and bare metal hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs BuyVM (Frantech): Bare Metal & VPS Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and BuyVM (Frantech) for bare metal and VPS hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs DataPacket: Game Server & Bare Metal Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and DataPacket for game server hosting and bare metal. Pricing, network, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hivelocity: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Hivelocity for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs M247: Global Network and Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and M247 for global network, bare metal, and connectivity services. Pricing, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs OVHcloud: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and OVHcloud for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, anti-DDoS, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs LeaseWeb: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and LeaseWeb for global bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs WholesaleInternet: Bare Metal & Bandwidth Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and WholesaleInternet for bare metal and high-bandwidth hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and support — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Nocix: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Nocix for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, network, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs ColoCrossing: Dedicated Server & Colocation Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and ColoCrossing for dedicated servers and colocation. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Psychz Networks: Bare Metal & Network Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Psychz Networks for bare metal hosting and network services. Pricing, locations, DDoS protection, and support — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs FDCservers: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Looking at Noded and FDCservers for bare metal hosting? Here's an honest, fact-based comparison of pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available information as of May 2026.
Read postRPKI Explained: Securing BGP Routing in 2026
RPKI is the cryptographic backbone protecting BGP from route hijacks. Here's how RPKI works, why it matters, and how to deploy ROAs and ROV in 2026.
Read postBest Hosting for Game Servers in 2026: Bare Metal, VPS, or Dedicated?
Choosing the right host for game servers means low latency, DDoS protection, and consistent performance. Here's how bare metal, VPS, and dedicated hosting compare for game server hosting in 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hetzner: Honest Bare Metal & Network Comparison (2026)
Honest comparison of Noded and Hetzner: where each one wins, where each one doesn't, and how to decide based on your actual workload — not marketing claims.
Read post7 Best Alternatives to AWS Bare Metal in 2026
AWS Bare Metal (EC2 i3.metal, m6i.metal, etc.) is powerful but expensive. We compare 7 strong alternatives — from Hetzner and OVHcloud to Latitude.sh, Equinix Metal, and more.
Read postHetzner vs OVHcloud: Bare Metal & Dedicated Server Comparison (2026)
Hetzner and OVHcloud are two of Europe's largest dedicated server providers. We compare pricing, locations, network, and use cases to help you choose between them in 2026.
Read postBuilding Your Own CDN on Bare Metal: A Practical Architecture Guide
Why some teams build their own CDN on bare metal instead of using Cloudflare or Fastly. The architecture, software stack (Varnish, Nginx, ATS), economics, and trade-offs.
Read postBGP Communities Explained: How to Control Routing Across the Internet
BGP communities are tags you attach to route announcements to influence how upstream providers handle them. Learn the syntax, the most useful communities, and real traffic engineering examples.
Read postColocation vs Cloud vs Bare Metal: Cost & Use Case Comparison
Colocation, hyperscaler cloud, and bare metal hosting all solve the "where do I run my servers" question differently. A clear 2026 comparison of cost, control, scale, and use cases.
Read postIPv4 Leasing in 2026: How It Works, What It Costs, and When It's Worth It
IPv4 is exhausted, and prices keep climbing. IPv4 leasing lets you rent address space without buying a /24. Learn how it works, current market rates, and when leasing beats buying.
Read postAnycast vs Unicast: How Global Services Stay Fast and Resilient
Anycast lets one IP address serve users from the closest location automatically. Learn how anycast works, when to use it, and how it powers DNS, CDNs, and DDoS scrubbing.
Read postDDoS Protection Explained: Volumetric, Protocol, and Application Attacks
DDoS attacks come in three flavors — volumetric, protocol, and application-layer. Learn how each one works, how scrubbing and BGP blackholing defend against them, and what to look for in a provider.
Read postWhat Is IP Transit and How Does It Work? A Beginner's Guide (2026)
Learn what IP transit is, how BGP and tier-1 networks deliver global internet reachability, how it's priced (95th percentile vs flat-rate), and how to choose the right provider for your hosting or infrastructure business.
Read postBare Metal vs VPS Hosting: Which Is Right for You in 2026?
Bare metal servers vs VPS — which hosting type wins on performance, cost, and scalability? A practical 2026 comparison with real-world use cases to help you choose.
Read postWhat Is IPAM (IP Address Management) and Why Your Network Needs It
IPAM (IP Address Management) is the system of record for every IP in your network. Learn what it does, why spreadsheets fail, and how to choose the right IPAM tool in 2026.
Read postHow 95th Percentile Billing Works (and Why It Saves You Money)
95th percentile billing is the bandwidth pricing model used by every major IP transit provider. Learn how it works, why it ignores bursts, and how to keep your bill predictable.
Read postMulti-Homing 101: Why You Need More Than One IP Transit Provider
BGP multi-homing connects your network to two or more transit providers for redundancy, better routing, and pricing leverage. Learn how it works and how to set it up.
Read postHow to Choose a Data Center Location: Latency, Compliance & Cost
Choosing where to host servers affects latency, compliance, redundancy, and cost. A practical guide to picking the right data center location for your business in 2026.
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