So about this time last year we decided to try to create a real 10G service, different from the others, one not loaded with users so that you could actually see 10G speeds, used SSD storage so it wouldn’t be constrained by conventional hard disk speed limits, and utilizing a hard core Intel 10G fiber NIC taking full advantage of the Chmura network. The goal was to build a box that was the fastest VPS we could, having had all the features we were known for, and still being affordable. The outcome of this? Chmuranet’s “We Are No Weasels” True 10G Unlimited.

The service offered unlimited bandwidth to a maximum of seven members, each member had two 2TB SATA III drives, and an upgradable 250GB SSD. Here is the but, we had problems, under load, stressed, the machine had the tendency to mysteriously pit disk speeds, dropping from 250MB/s to 50MB/s, latencies went through the roof. Unfortunate that.

So we closed the doors and started again, systematically testing each and every facet of the machine. Finally we identified the problem, a combination of the current LSI disk controller, and the SSDs under vmware were unable to handle the push through. So first thing we bought a new disk controller, the newest, just certified Areca controller, arguably the best, and we upgraded all of the SSDs to Samsung’s lickety split model.

Still there were problems, working with Areca, we went through two firmware changes, three driver upgrades, and we dogged VMWare to address hypervisor issues — it took months but we are now finally able to announce the re-opening our newly dubbed “Still No Weasels” True 10G Service, or as we call it in our line-up, just “Fastest”.

The new service can hit 400MB/s to the SSD, sustained. The hard disks can maintain 190MB/s. Testing direct to memory, the machine hits over 700MB/s. We are anxious to see it under full member load, but in testing we’ve seen Deluge hit peaks over 300MB/s. This is one hot box.

Technical Specs:
• Dual Intel Xeon E5-2620v2 Processors, 4x Cores per Member
• Areca 1883 12G SAS HBA
• 10Gbit Intel Fiber NIC, Full Duplex, Unfettered
• Maximum 7 Virtual Private Servers
• Upgrade to 12GB memory per Member
• 2x2TB HDD Per Member
• Samsung EVO 840 240GB SSD per Member
• Chmuranet’s proven VPS template, tweaked for 10G
• Unlimited Bandwidth on our PREMIUM Network

We have four slots open, and of course a waiting list. The price remains the same, €139 / Month

– We have gone public with our new platform, our 100M service. This is a new and we think unique seedbox platform, running Debian 6, on top of an OpenSolaris based hypervisor providing a ZFS disk pool of 8x3TB, the machine has 2x1Gbit lines so each 100M connection is unshared. Very lickety split. This will be a nice entry level service.

– As of June 1st, we will be dropping our 20Gbit connect to Cogent, and replacing it with 20Gbit connection to NTT, as many of you know as a backbone Cogent as been a real problem for us – congested and only made worse by their fighting with several North American ISPs over peering.

We are also adding another 10Gbit line to AMS-IX, the Amsterdam exchange, which should improve our already excellent peering with other Amsterdam datacenters, like EvoSwitch, where Leaseweb lives.

We will now have 10Gbit drops to Zayo and Level3, 20Gbit to NTT, all as primary backbones, and on the exchange side 10G to NL-IX / OpenPeering and 30Gbit to AMS-IX. This is world class peering, shoring up Chmuranet’s reputation for beyond premium bandwidth.

– We have introduced our Concierge Co-Lo offering, a way that members can co-locate their own custom hardware on the Chmura network. A custom offering, this is a big step beyond the dedicated server. You can send us a server, say one with 50TB of media, running your own environment, and share it safely from a foreign datacenter.

– We’ve added to our staff with Matt, a networking guy and Deluge expert – offering solid around the clock coverage.

– We’ve just replaced, upgraded sFrank, one of our oldest machines with the first of three new machines we added this month. All three are 12 disk capable, Westmere enabled 1G boxes. With this addition, and bringing up the 100M service we’ve achieved a volume threshold with our provider, reducing our monthly hosting a little less than 15% (gradual over the upping of the three machines).

Leading to the big news, the good news, and impacts all of our 1G members, a price drop.