Are there any prefered hosting providers for people to run bbs systems
on? Currently I am running mine on Aws, but they have strict policies
for running an smtp server, so I may not be running mine there much longer. Any suggestions as running from my home is not an option.

Have you looked into cloud providers? Digital Ocean will let you set up a Linux server ("Droplet") as little as $7 a month. A $7/month server would get you 1GB CPU with 25GB of space and about 1`00GB transfer probably plenty to run a basic BBS.

I haven't tried setting one up on the cloud yet but I think there are folks that do on here.

... Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Dave's BBS (21:1/140)

On 21 May 2023, bamageek said the following...

Are there any prefered hosting providers for people to run bbs system on? Currently I am running mine on Aws, but they have strict policies

Have you looked into cloud providers? Digital Ocean will let you set up
a Linux server ("Droplet") as little as $7 a month. A $7/month server would get you 1GB CPU with 25GB of space and about 1`00GB transfer probably plenty to run a basic BBS.

really don't get the appeal of a cloud bbs.

do you then use the internal digitalocean networks to pass fido messages so they don't go over the internet?

if the VPS are all on the same server why not share the same filebase? just run one ftn config and they can all access the same jam or whatever bases.

or better, just run one bbs and offer "sysops" the option to upload a theme that the user selects when they connect depending on whose bbs you want to use..

kind of see where i'm going with this? might as well put the datacenter location in the Origin line.. i would much prefer to call a bbs running in someone's basement, on their internet, electric.. than one that is one of dozens in the same datacenter.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)

I haven't tried setting one up on the cloud yet but I think there are folks that do on here.

I've done so for years and love DigitalOcean. Good recommendation there. I use them for everything except my Win10 VPS, which is simplest to use on Azure.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (21:4/173)

Are there any prefered hosting providers for people to run bbs system on? Currently I am running mine on Aws, but they have strict policies for running an smtp server, so I may not be running mine there much longer. Any suggestions as running from my home is not an option.

Try MarisaG at synchronetbbs.org

|16|12HusTler

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: piranha.acid.org:27 Call with SyncTERM 1.2b RIPv1 (21:2/158)

really don't get the appeal of a cloud bbs.

do you then use the internal digitalocean networks to pass fido messages so they don't go over the internet?

I don't currently but I've been wanting to set one up just for a proof of concept.

kind of see where i'm going with this? might as well put the datacenter location in the Origin line.. i would much prefer to call a bbs running
in someone's basement, on their internet, electric.. than one that is
one of dozens in the same datacenter.

Not my first choice for hosting a BBS, but given the limited internet options in my rual area it could end up being the only option. I'm blessed to have AT&T DSL, but if anything elver happens with that my only other options are satellite or 5G. From my experience with the 4G/5G networks its not possible to open up ports for incoming traffic. I'm not sure about the current satellite options...

It might be possible to set up a VPC through a cloud provider and still have the BBS in house...

... My tagline could eat your tagline for breakfast

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Dave's BBS (21:1/140)

really don't get the appeal of a cloud bbs.

kind of see where i'm going with this? might as well put the datacent location in the Origin line.. i would much prefer to call a bbs runni in someone's basement, on their internet, electric.. than one that is one of dozens in the same datacenter.

I agree. In fact If I could I only call Dialup BBS. But since Landlines in my area are hard to get and too expensive compared to cell phones I don't use
them anymore. Calling a BBS in the cloud just don't cut it for me.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: alcoholidaybbs.com / Est. 1995 / Columbia, SC (21:4/177)

On 07 Jun 2023, bamageek said the following...

Not my first choice for hosting a BBS, but given the limited internet options in my rual area it could end up being the only option. I'm

yeah.. sorry i didn't intend to denigrate people for not having the ability / resources.. just sort of a general opinion. ideals don't always match reality, even for me (my bbs is at my house but my websites are definitely on a VPS.. which me of the 90s would have balked at.. and i had dialup internet at the time)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)

I don't currently but I've been wanting to set one up just for a proof of concept.

Not my first choice for hosting a BBS, but given the limited internet options in my rual area it could end up being the only option. I'm
blessed to have AT&T DSL, but if anything elver happens with that my
only other options are satellite or 5G. From my experience with the
4G/5G networks its not possible to open up ports for incoming traffic.
I'm not sure about the current satellite options...

It might be possible to set up a VPC through a cloud provider and still have the BBS in house...

I was just talking about this topic on another FTN. I think one could setup a Cloudflare tunnel and serve all the BBS ports needed, without exposing their IP; ehm... I guess you might still need to forward the ports, tho, so yea. hmmmm.



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: Re: Bbs hosting
By: paulie420 to bamageek on Wed Jun 07 2023 09:12 pm

It might be possible to set up a VPC through a cloud provider and still have the BBS in house...

I was just talking about this topic on another FTN. I think one could setup a Cloudflare tunnel and serve all the BBS ports needed, without exposing their IP; ehm... I guess you might still need to forward the ports, tho, so yea. hmmmm.

I'm sure there are many ways to skin this cat.

Something like ZeroTier should work, and I have ZeroTier setup for FSX so if you want to try it then happy to help to get it working. I might actually try it out anyway, since I have a mobile hotspot that I use when travelling, and it comes in handy when my home broadband goes down.

I've just been looking at Yggdrasil and might give it a play too. I'm currently travelling in Malaysia, and my wireguard connection to home isnt working - but it works from my companies intranet - so I'm thinking somewhere is not allowing udp traffic (or is blocking wireguard explicitly. Yggdrasil uses TCP so and makes an overlay network, so it may be a another option for me.


...ëîåï
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

datacenter location in the Origin line.. i would much prefer to call
a bbs running in someone's basement, on their internet, electric..
than one that is one of dozens in the same datacenter.

Not my first choice for hosting a BBS, but given the limited internet options in my rual area it could end up being the only option. I'm blessed to have AT&T DSL, but if anything elver happens with that my only other options are satellite or 5G. From my experience with the 4G/5G networks its not possible to open up ports for incoming traffic. I'm not sure about the current satellite options...

I ran on DO on a $24/mo node for several years... currently in a VM on a larger dedicated server. There's a couple benefits, first in that you don't have to worry about hardware problems. DO is really good about hot migrations that only tend to have you down for minutes, where at home it could be hours or days. There's also the issues with bandwidth, where the upload bandwidth on a hosted box will be better than the uploads most can do at home (at least in the US from what I know).

For me, it also helps regarding network positioning... in the end, I'm not potentially seeing my home internet connection as a potential target.

In the end YMMV, but I'm not sitting at a terminal running my BBS and popping into chat... I have a lot of things I'd like to do that would make it more enjoyable for me. That said, I find the remote setup just as easy.

I use VS Code with remote ssh and it works pretty great for remote editing/configuration etc. I have it set for CP432 for most files on that system and it's pretty much "just worked" for me. YMMV though.


--
Michael J. Ryan
+o roughneckbbs.com
tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com (21:3/149)

I was just talking about this topic on another FTN. I think one could setup a Cloudflare tunnel and serve all the BBS ports needed, without exposing their IP; ehm... I guess you might still need to forward the ports, tho, so yea. hmmmm.

Had thought a bout it, similar for ngrok, main thing is wanting email/smtp/pop, etc properly supported, which I know most BBSes don't do (Synchronet and others do). It's a feature that I'd generally like to keep. My ISP charges over 2x the price for a fraction of the speed for commercial support with a static ip. It's actually less expensive to have my hosted server than it would be for the upgrade. Not to mention, that not worrying about hardware issues is pretty nice.


--
Michael J. Ryan
+o roughneckbbs.com
tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com (21:3/149)