Seedbox Hosting

We don’t have any more servers available currently and we don’t employ a waiting list anymore.

Instead we are now maintaining a Status Page that will always have the latest information about our network of servers. This includes any possible problems or notices about upcoming maintenance as well as whether or not signups are open.

So, to answer the question: When will we have more seedboxes?

Soon - keep an eye on the blog (subscribe to the RSS feed), and watch the status page to check if we have signups open or not.

We are expecting a shipment of hardware on Monday and after a brief period of testing we will make them available early this week.

Email any questions to info at seedboxhosting dot com.

Cheers.

After only 1.5 days we sold out of seedboxes and had to close signups. We didn’t expect that. It has been very busy around here!

Now new hardware has arrived and is now set up. As we add users, we add network capacity. We are now capable of up to a full GigE connection.

Signups are open once again.

Enjoy!

We have completed another round of testing, and made many improvements. This wraps up beta testing for now so, please, no need to write any more emails requesting a beta test server. If you didn’t get in this time, don’t be sad, we will likely do it again within 6 months.

We once again have the very latest Transmission Bittorrent client. This is version 1.22 which happens to be about the best client you can use for seeding.

We have also added a bunch of memory to our Original Seedbox (now with 250Mb) and to our Big Seedbox (now with 500Mb).

If you have an existing seedbox with us and you want to upgrade, just create a new subscription to the new seedbox and send us an email. We will refund you for the remainder of your current month and upgrade your server. This will replace the operating system with the new one. You will lose all your settings but your torrents and data remain safe.

If you don’t have a seedbox yet - go get one here.

Yes, we have seedboxes again!

Which Bittorrent client should I use with Torrentflux?

This is a really great question, and it has a fairly simple answer.

You should use Transmission whenever possible.

We have three clients installed on all the seedboxes for you to choose from: Transmission, BitTornado, and Mainline (the original bittorrent client). Azureus is not installed on our seedboxes. Transmission uses the least amount of memory of all the Torrentflux clients. When less memory is used by your Bittorrent client, more memory is available for your seedbox to do other things – like downloading and seeding more torrents.

Transmission uses much, much less memory than Mainline or BitTornado. That is why your default client is set to Transmission when you get your new seedbox. If you do choose to run BitTornado or Mainline, you should expect to run less than five torrents at a time, because your memory will be used up very quickly, and your seedbox is likely to lock up and become unresponsive.

Transmission, on the other hand, uses memory much more efficiently.

Whatever your choice in this area, it would be very wise for you to keep an eye your seedbox memory statistics. If your seedbox starts to use more than a handful of megabytes of swap space, your server will quickly become unable to seed at high speeds because it is using virtual memory (saved on the hard disk); its actual physical memory (ram) has run out. Your seedbox will begin working very hard to function at 100%, and it will fail to do so. Your server will not be able to get the information from the hard disk to the network card fast enough and you will be unable to take advantage of the fact that your seedbox is on a 100mbit connection. This is called “thrashing” and Wikipedia has a fairly detailed explanation if you are interested in more info on this.

Bottom line: use Transmission if possible.

The exception becomes apparent when you do not want to download an entire torrent, but just some individual files from the torrent. For example, if you ran into a torrent that featured the five most recent versions of a Linux operating system, but you only wanted the most recent one and not the other four, you should use Bittornado. Transmission doesn’t (yet) allow you to partially download a torrent, but Bittornado does. This is when you should use Tornado… but in all other instances, use Transmission.

Try it. You’ll like it. Leave your thoughts in the comments – we think you’ll find that your seedbox performs at its best with Transmission.

As always, have fun.

//Seedbox Hosting Team//

UPDATE: Beta Testing is complete. Read this.

Time to test new servers and software configurations. We have a bunch of new hardware and we are experimenting with different ways to put it to use. We need to test it under heavy load.

We are currently not selling any new seedboxes, but you can test one out if you like. You will get the box for 3 days. Plenty of time to give your ratio a little boost. After three days you will have to give up the seedbox and any files on it. (Unfortunately you wont be able to keep the same box this time.) You will have an opportunity to get your own permanent box shortly thereafter.

This is first come first serve. If you already sent us an email and didn’t get in last time, you are first in line this time.

So, if you want free bandwidth for 3 days - send us an email with the words “TEST SERVER” in the subject and we will get you a test server.

UPDATE: Please note that we are giving out test servers so that we can find any problems with them and test our new bandwidth before selling the servers. This is NOT ‘try before you buy’.

Our current production servers work well - these test servers are experimental. Send us an email if you have any questions.

As of June 5th at about 10am EST, we have a limited number of seedboxes available. We are still testing on yet more servers and will make those available in the near future as well.

We have also upgraded our Big Seedbox Server to include a second Virtual CPU. This helps with server load and increases the number of torrents you can run at the same time.

All of our new seedboxes come with Superadmin access in the web interface, so now you have complete control, including the ability to repair broken or stuck torrents. To get to this area, click “admin” and then “superadmin”.

If anyone using an existing seedbox would like an upgrade, send us an email and we will get that going for you.

To get a seedbox go here:
http://accounts.seedboxhosting.com/account/

Thanks for everyone’s help with testing and making this work - you are all wonderful.

//Seedbox Hosting Team//

UPDATE: We currently have enough testers. Thank you to all those who have helped so far and to those who will be getting a test box shortly. We are not taking any more new test requests. We will post on this blog again when we need more testers. Thank you.

We have another new shipment of servers and are testing out new seedbox configurations. Our new seedboxes have:

The new 64bit Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 operating system

The latest Transmission 1.21 - This is the bittorrent client you want to be using - it uses considerably less resources than the others.

We are experimenting with a number of other changes under the hood as well and we need to test out this hardware under real load.

If you want to help out by testing and reporting any problems, you can get a free seedbox for at least 3 days, compare it to your other seedbox. If you want to keep it or upgrade from a previous seedbox that option will be available as well.

Send us an email if you are interested: info at seedboxhosting dot com

// Note: creating torrents on your seedbox uses much of your seedbox resources. If you create a lot of torrents, it would be better for you to create them locally on your computer and upload them to your seedbox. //

Ok, you’ve uploaded the file you want to seed via sftp or ftp. You’ve created your torrent from this file using the torrent creation process outlined in Part I. You downloaded the torrent file you made onto your home computer. You’re ready for the next step in uploading, creating, and seeding your torrent.

So now we need to get you seeding on your tracker.

Go back and click on the “Upload” link in the main menu of the tracker where you’ll be seeding this file. After clicking the upload link, you’ll see an empty field where you’ll need to tell your tracker what torrent file you want to upload. Click the “Browse” button to browse to the torrent file stored on your computer – the one you just downloaded from your seedbox. Doing this will tell your tracker to grab the torrent you just created.

You’ll probably need to define what kind of torrent you’re uploading here, and give a description of it for the other members of your tracker to read before they download the file you’re seeding to them. Treat this description as a headline of sorts; it is the first thing members of the tracker will read about your torrent, and it will help them decide whether or not to download it.

Always be honest about what is in the file you are seeding. Read your tracker’s rules surrounding the upload process; they can vary slightly from tracker to tracker.

After you’ve filled out these fields, click the button at the bottom to upload your torrent file to your tracker. The upload button often says “Do it!”

So go ahead and upload your torrent file. You’re really getting very close to seeding it.

When you upload your torrent file to your tracker, the tracker will usually need to append your ID to the torrent, so that your account will get ratio credit for the uploading that you’re doing. Because your ID is appended to the torrent file you upload, the tracker makes a slight change to the makeup of your torrent file.

Because of this change, you will need to download the torrent from your tracker after you have uploaded it. To be clear here – the torrent you just uploaded to your tracker – you need to download the newly modified torrent (with your ID appended) to your home computer. You can do this immediately after you upload the torrent – usually you’ll get a message from your tracker after uploading saying something to the effect of “Upload Succeeded. You Can Begin Seeding Your Torrent.” On this same screen, you can download the updated torrent file – so go ahead and do that.

We’re almost there. This is like riding a bike – after you learn, you’ll never forget.

Now go back to the home page on your seedbox. You’ll want to delete the torrent file you created at the beginning of this process from your home directory, because you’ve got an updated version of that same torrent with your ID appended to it, courtesy of your tracker.

After you delete this original torrent file, upload the modified torrent.

You’re really almost there now. So close.

After upload, click the green arrow to the right of the torrent file on your seedbox home page. Start the torrent file, and seed away.

You’re done. Now sit back and watch your ratio head north.

This is an easy, fast process – especially after you do it once or twice.

Have fun with it. As always, if you have any questions:

info [at] seedboxhosting [dot] com

// Note: creating torrents on your seedbox uses much of your seedbox resources. If you create a lot of torrents, it would be better for you to create them locally on your computer and upload them to your seedbox. //

Creating, seeding, and uploading torrents - this is what it’s all about, right? Right! Ok - let’s do it.

After you decide what file you want to seed, you’ll need to sftp or ftp the file you want to seed onto your seedbox server. After you’ve uploaded your file to your seedbox, click on the “Directory” link at the top right of your seedbox home page.

You’ll see a list of all the files on your seedbox, including the file you just uploaded. To the right of each file name, you’ll see four icons. The second-from-the-left icon (the one with the blue arrow pointing down) is the one you’ll want to click on to create a torrent for the file you just uploaded. So, click that icon.

Now you’ll notice a small window appear. This is where you’ll enter the information for the torrent you’re going to create. What you need to do now is to log into the tracker that you’re going to be seeding this file on. Log into your tracker and click on the “upload” link in the main menu of options. You’ll see an “announce URL” that is specific to your tracker. Highlight this address and copy it.

Now go back to the small window to finish creating your torrent. Type in the filename you’ve chosen for your torrent, and then paste the URL you just copied from your tracker into the “Announcement URL” field. You can leave all the other fields alone.

Click the “Create” button and your torrent will be created. Depending on the size of the file you are creating the torrent for, this might take a few minutes. Be patient - you’ll see a notification of completion in this window when your torrent is done being created. After it is done, you’ll be able to see it on your seedbox homepage. When the torrent has been created, you’ll be asked if you want to download it - this request will appear in the small window where you entered the creation information. Download the torrent to your desktop or anywhere else on your computer. Just remember where it has been downloaded on your computer.

Excellent.

You’ve completed Part I of the seeding process. Nice work.

Ready to move on to Part II of uploading, creating, and seeding your torrents?

All new virtual private seedboxes are now built using our new software stack. There are many changes and upgrades that we have been testing over the last few weeks. (Thanks you for all your help.)

Major changes:

• We replaced the memory leaking Lighttpd webserver with the high performance Nginx webserver from Russia (with love).
• Each server has SFTP by default and all Torrenflux users can upload and download from the same location.
• Proxy software for the purpose of authenticating your seedbox to some trackers has been installed. Just go to http://Your.ServerName.com/proxy/ and log in to your tracker. Your tracker will now recognize your seedbox. Wahoo.
• IP Blocking software is installed on all servers. The default www.bluetack.co.uk/config/nipfilter.dat.gz list is used, but if you want other lists just let us know. More info about this here: http://moblock-deb.sourceforge.net/
• Rsync is installed and available now on all seedboxes. This is the best way we know of to transfer files to and from the box if you have Mac OSX or a yummy linux flavor like Ubuntu. If you want to learn more about rsync you can check out a tutorial or just read more about why you would want to use it.