Background - I live in Alberta, Canada. I bought 8 Spondoolies with RoadStress's groupbuy almost a year ago now. The machines arrived in September, and I ran a few of them in my house and at friends houses for a few weeks while I spent another 4.5k to rent a space for a year, 11k Canadian to set up electrical, and 2k to set up some very big fans, and another $100 a month for internet. I ran my servers for October through January with no problems, other than the vaunted Alberta low cost of power being something of a lie. (We are charged a base rate of 0.07 to 0.08c/kw, BUT with transmission fees and riders extra based on total power used, total bill comes out to approximately 0.16c/kw).
In January, the "Smart" meter that the local power company installed started reading double. Instead of using 12 to 13kw hours per month, it is now reading 24, so my power bills went from $1500ish a month to over $3200. I didn't find out about it until the first bill was due. I complained, but the power company's policy is "5 business days to respond" After several 5 day periods of responding to my emails, they have agreed that I will pay them $400 to test the meter, and they will reimburse the money if they find the meter is broken. They have yet to set a date for the testing, and at the current double rate I am barely making positive cash flow (my head is above water ONLY because bitcoin is back up to almost $300, otherwise I would be losing money per day).
I am unimpressed, to put it mildly. So, I have been looking at alternatives. If I sell my equipment now (I have 40Th) I figure I can get between 10 to 15k for the servers on ebay, and I will have lost a lot of money. If I maintain my current place, I need to put in another couple hundred to optimize airflow for the hotter summer months, and then I still have to deal with a power company that is screwing me, so I will not be making money. The third option is hosting. Hosting in Alberta is very expensive (like everything here), which is why I built my own place to begin with.
In another thread, a new Newfie based hosting company is offering hosting in Canada for 0.06kw (US dollar amount). That is cheaper to host than my current monthly rate by a good bit, however, they are a new company with no reviews, and I am effectively sending tens of thousands of dollars to a random person on the internet with a website.
So, what questions do I need to ask, and what can I do to try and ensure that I do not get ripped off? I asked for a copy of the CEO's driver's licence, and he gave me that (with the serial numbers whited out), and he does appear to be a lawyer in good standing in the Nefie & Lab bar association. They do appear to be insured for 2 million (the standard nowadays). The address they gave me in Goose bay is next to a hyro electrical plant, but google maps doesn't appear to have a street view for such a small town.
I sent the Director the following questions:
1. I will need a copy of your insurance certificate, and something from your corporation that has your name on it, along with an address. I need proof of you who are of some type, other than a webpage. Scan your driver's licence in low quality and block the number so it can't be used for identity theft? Again, I need to know I am sending my machines to a business that will run them for me, as opposed to a random person on the internet. if you can think up a good way for me to verify you are who you claim you are (other than meeting in person, unless you are visiting Alberta soonish) that would be acceptable.
*Note - both of these documents were sent to me yesterday*
2. Do you already have contracts drawn up for hosting? If so I would need to peruse one.
*Note - the contract they use was sent, I am reading it over*
3. Do you supply 240V power (that is what all my machines are currently running on, as they run cooler than on 120V)?
*Response - they supply 208V*
4. Are you willing to turn machines off and let them sit for X months when the BTC price is low?
*Yes, up to 3 months, but they are not a long term storage facility*
5. More of a comment, but 27,000 cfm is enough to run 88 Spondoolies (barely). I have 2800cfm (10% of yours) and that is NOT enough to cool my 10 machines unless the temperature outside is -30C. If you are going to run hundreds or thousands of machines you will need a LOT more airflow.
*Response - their contract says they will maintain a positive air intake temperature of between 1 and 30 degrees C*
6. Do you individually meter everyone's sets of machines, or do you use a "kill o watt" device to measure draw at the wall when they are running (and if so where did you find them for 240V)? If you meter, what kind of meters are you running? I ask because I am looking to move as the "smart" meter installed in my business has been reading double the past month. I am paying the electrical company to look at it, but they are pretty slow to schedule, and I am getting annoyed with them fast.
*Response - they use a PDU to constantly meter draw, and will set the contract based on initial readings*
So, to everyone on the forums that has set up or used hosting, especially if you have used hosting in a place far away from you, what can you do to ensure your own financial safety, other than what I have already done?
And what other questions do I need to ask, or what else do I need to know to make a good decision? (Yes, I need to get a shipping cost, and Canada is a stupidly expensive place to ship parcels).
Thanks for any help!