What would be a good server host to run an exchange on?

[mr_random]

I was looking at Amazon Web Services recently but they are based in the US - maybe not a good idea following what happened with mtgox.

I then looked at Linode as they have a pretty solid reputation, but I am concerned with the security issues they have had (bitcoinica lost all their funds because someone hacked the actual Linode admin panel, and I am still seeing security issues on their news in 2013).

Does anyone have any advice? I have what I think is a novel idea for an exchange and want to try and get a toy hobby project up and running... but I will choose a server with good ram so it handle a surge in traffic.

[escrow.ms]

Go for any good hosting site but make sure to use some kind of reverse proxy or cloudflare etc.
That gives extra protection to your site.

some suggestions

prq.se
edis.at

Stay away from
santrex
ovh
leaseweb

[Deafboy]

Never use VPS to run bitcoin exchange or mining pool. Never. If you do, prepare to cover the losses from attacks from your own pocket. Buy your own hardware, or rent a dedicated server without access through any kind of centralized control panel.

[mr_random]

Never use VPS to run bitcoin exchange or mining pool. Never. If you do, prepare to cover the losses from attacks from your own pocket. Buy your own hardware, or rent a dedicated server without access through any kind of centralized control panel.

Could you recommend any sites to rent a dedicated server from? They would have to be a big player in the market so I have confidence in them.

Go for any good hosting site but make sure to use some kind of reverse proxy or cloudflare etc.
That gives extra protection to your site.

some suggestions

prq.se
edis.at

Stay away from
santrex
ovh
leaseweb

Thanks for recommending some names but both:

prq.se
edis.at

are non-english and I only speak english unfortunately.

[escrow.ms]

Thanks for recommending some names but both:

prq.se
edis.at

are non-english and I only speak english unfortunately.

They have english pages check sites again.

http://prq.se/?intl=1
http://www.edis.at/en/home/

[escrow.ms]

Never use VPS to run bitcoin exchange or mining pool. Never. If you do, prepare to cover the losses from attacks from your own pocket. Buy your own hardware, or rent a dedicated server without access through any kind of centralized control panel.

+1

If you are serious about your site/project spend some money and get your own private server, Otherwise your site will remain vulnerable somehow.

[bbulker]

Don't use Cloudflare, they're based in the US and could censor your site at any time. Host your own reverse-proxy.

[escrow.ms]

Don't use Cloudflare, they're based in the US and could censor your site at any time. Host your own reverse-proxy.

Actually no, they can't censor your website, the only thing they can do is stop giving their services to you after getting complaint But i doubt they will do that, currently even some big cyber crime based websites are using cloudflare and they didn't done anything yet.

[bbulker]

Don't use Cloudflare, they're based in the US and could censor your site at any time. Host your own reverse-proxy.

Actually no, they can't censor your website, the only thing they can do is stop giving their services to you after getting complaint But i doubt they will do that, currently even some big cyber crime based websites are using cloudflare and they didn't done anything yet.

Yes, they can if they wanted to. Exactly, "stop giving their services to you after getting complaint". That's the reason he doesn't want to go with a US based host. Just because they haven't done anything doesn't mean they won't.

Don't defend this Cloudflare nonsense. The "cloud" buzzword will wear out eventually. Giving someone control over your reverse-proxy and firewall is a dumb idea.

[Terk]

Well, if they stop serving you, just point your DNS elsewhere and you're back running in an hour (or whatever time you use in your DNS TTL). If they don't have a history of blocking even shady websites, there's not much risk. And being able to switch them off within 5 minutes lets you limit potential downtime even in that unexpected situation (if you invest in reliable DNS service and set 5 minutes TTL).

[escrow.ms]

Don't use Cloudflare, they're based in the US and could censor your site at any time. Host your own reverse-proxy.

Actually no, they can't censor your website, the only thing they can do is stop giving their services to you after getting complaint But i doubt they will do that, currently even some big cyber crime based websites are using cloudflare and they didn't done anything yet.

Yes, they can if they wanted to. Exactly, "stop giving their services to you after getting complaint". That's the reason he doesn't want to go with a US based host. Just because they haven't done anything doesn't mean they won't.

Don't defend this Cloudflare nonsense. The "cloud" buzzword will wear out eventually. Giving someone control over your reverse-proxy and firewall is a dumb idea.

First thing calm down I told him to use cloudflare because it's easy to setup, second thing they do have privacy policy and terms and conditions and he's going to run a exchange site for test purpose (read his first post) not some illegal terrorist meetup site.
It's not like US Gov will take down his site or cloudflare will use their service to block his website or steal something from him.

And please try to report this website : carder.pro (it's a biggest carding & cyber criminals community)
then it will be easy for you to check CF gives shit about complaints or not.

Ps: there are many other offshore reverse proxy and anti ddos alternatives.

eg: https://ddos-guard.net/

Well, if they stop serving you, just point your DNS elsewhere and you're back running in an hour (or whatever time you use in your DNS TTL). If they don't have a history of blocking even shady websites, there's not much risk. And being able to switch them off within 5 minutes lets you limit potential downtime even in that unexpected situation (if you invest in reliable DNS service and set 5 minutes TTL).

This ^

What's the big deal if they stop giving services, your website won't go down as they will point A record to your host's ip directly before closing services.

[Lethos]

I'm currently in the planning stage of a similar project. So I totally agree with the sentiment, don't use VPS, or let anyone else have control over your hardware or site it will be a weakness that will be abused eventually. So even renting a dedicated server or two, won't do. Buying them will.

I'm planning to purchase 3-5 dedicated servers for this project; my network and security partner, is currently advising me the best configuration. If your not planning a similar level of investment for a project that is for an exchange you are underestimating the security and load issues you will be running into. Many have done so in the past and you already pointed out what happened to them.

Buying servers is not an expensive thing, when you consider the scale of running an exchange and how much currency you are handling.
If you need advice on what servers to buy, parts, software, general configuration etc, let me know and I can point you in the right direction (PM is probably best).