Frequently asked questions
Buying
How does ordering work?
Send an order request for the server, location and management tier you want. We check stock at that location, confirm the setup date and the final monthly price by email within one business day, and only then send an invoice. Nothing is charged when you submit the form.
How long does setup take?
The configurations listed here are pre-built machines, so the hardware itself deploys quickly once stock is confirmed. Managed servers then need hardening, monitoring and backup setup before handover. You get a firm handover date in the order confirmation, before you pay.
What is the cheapest server you sell?
Right now the Xeon E-2236 · 16 GB starts at $99 a month unmanaged, or $168 a month with Essential Managed. If you only need a small virtual server, a dedicated machine is probably more than you need.
Managed service
What does "managed" cover, exactly?
Essential Managed covers operating system security updates, initial hardening (SSH keys only, firewall, brute-force blocking, automatic security updates), 24/7 monitoring with alerts, nightly offsite backups and handling hardware failures with the data center for you. Pro Managed adds configuration changes, two admin hours a month and a 1-hour first response for outages. Neither tier covers writing or debugging your application code.
Will you touch my application?
Only when you ask, and only on Pro Managed or as paid admin time. Patching covers the operating system and the packages that ship with it. We schedule reboots for kernel updates in an agreed window and tell you beforehand.
Where are backups stored and how do I restore?
Managed backups are encrypted on the server and copied nightly to object storage in a different facility from your server. Essential keeps 14 days, Pro keeps 30 days. Open a ticket with the path and the date you need and we restore it to the server or to a separate folder for you to check.
Technical
Do I get root access on a managed server?
Yes. You keep full root (or sudo) access on every tier. If a change you make conflicts with our hardening or breaks backups, we will tell you and help put it right; on Essential that help is limited to restoring the managed baseline.
Which operating systems can I choose?
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9. Managed tiers are supported on all of them. Windows Server is not offered on this site.
Is DDoS protection included?
Every server sits behind automatic network-layer (L3/L4) volumetric DDoS filtering at no extra cost. That handles common floods; it is not an application firewall. If you expect targeted application-layer attacks, put a CDN or WAF in front of the server and we can help configure it on Pro Managed.
How much bandwidth is included?
Each configuration lists its port speed and monthly transfer allowance, usually 20 TB on a 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps port. Inbound traffic is not counted. Tell us in the order request if you expect to go past the allowance and we will quote the overage before you sign up.
Billing
Do longer terms cost less?
Yes, on the management fee. Quarterly, annual and biennial terms take 5%, 10% and 15% off the managed portion. Hardware is billed at the same monthly rate on every term. For example, Pro Managed on an annual term saves $214.80 a year per server.
Can I cancel?
Monthly services can be cancelled at the end of any billing month. Prepaid terms run to the end of the term. The refund policy covers the details.
Do you offer GPU servers, clusters or colocation?
Not on IFHosting.com. Those go through RentServers.com, which collects quotes from several data centers for GPU servers, multi-server clusters and colocation space. Both are run by Wells Software Consulting LLC.