Slow Servers: Differences from SporeStack

Some of you have probably come over from SporeStack. I also run SporeStack, and wanted to host servers myself. I decided to put it under this branding and not SporeStack. Despite some overlap, some of the focus is different.

When I first launched Slow Servers, I only resold Vultr and DigitalOcean through SporeStack. Given Vultr and DigitalOcean's massive push for AI, it felt like a moral conundrum. Reselling has been straightforward and profitable, but in some ways, too easy, and not entirely what I believe in.

I also wanted to in-house SporeStack's infrastructure. Slow Servers is the host that I wanted to use, and wasn't there already. It's designed around ideals that aren't for purely practical or profitable reasons.

Slow Servers does have some benefits over SporeStack.

• It's all in-house, not just a middleman service.
• Everything has been selected to have as little environmental impact as possible (other than maybe using OpenBSD.) The servers are secondhand, we scrap (recycle) what can't realistically be resold or reused. The datacenter is a historical building, not one likely to fund more new datacenters.
• Slow Servers offers DNS secondary/slave service, so you if you want to control your own DNS you don't need quite as many servers.
• Slow Servers offers free domains off of ssvr.net, so billybobsboringblog.ssvr.net is free for the taking. For customers pointing to their own servers hosted here, of course!
• You can get serial console access via SSH to your host server.
• 100% Gemini-native experience, if you care about that sort of thing.
• You can still pay with Monero, Bitcoin, or Bitcoin Cash.
• You can pay with cash or even silver by mail, to a PO box.
• If you want to use only IPv6, Slow Servers is completely geared for that.

And there's one point that kind of goes both ways.

• Slow Servers does monthly/yearly billing. It's not meant for servers by the minute/hour/day.

And some notable disadvantages.

• It's undoubtedly slower.
• There's only one region. (Spokane, WA, USA)
• Used harddrives, without any kind of mirroring or protection, so dataloss may be more likely. Best to check out the SLA.

This is aside from missing IPv4, which alone is a dealbreaker for many!

Now, since launching Slow Servers, there was a major development for SporeStack. A hosting provider contacted me who was able to offer much cheaper rates than Vultr/DigitalOcean, and who isn't a massive company selling GPUs. I was able to add them at the same price points as Slow Servers. They seem like a good host. Certainly have been great to work with. Their APIs aren't great, and they're happy to be resold. So it seems quite win-win.

This was very encouraging for me, and helped show me that SporeStack has useful functions other than profiting off of companies that I'd rather not profit off of.

Around the same time I made it possible to launch Slow Servers through SporeStack. Thus having a lot of the simplicity and automation of SporeStack with the "ideals" of Slow Servers.

Slow Servers still isn't the right fit for many, and it will probably grow slowly. But I now see the line between SporeStack and Slow Servers. Slow Servers is what I rack, managed how I'd like to manage it. SporeStack is a straight forward mechanism to launch servers. Payment handling is done, it's not too hard to add providers.

And as great as Vultr and DigitalOcean have been to me, this gives me the option to encourage people to use other hosts. It may not be the most ideal thing possible, but it helps people use better alternatives, and for less money.

SporeStack

Alternatives to Slow Servers (or SporeStack.)

Slow Servers' SLA.

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