General Information

What can I do with a Cloud Server?

Anything you want to (within the law and our Acceptable Use Policy, of course)!  The Rackspace Cloud Server solution is a fully unrestricted, root/Administrator level access, Linux or Windows environment.  Any application or service that you can run from a traditional, physical, dedicated-unmanaged server can be run from your Cloud Server. 

How do I contact Support?

Here at Rackspace, our goal is to make the Cloud easy for you to use.  To make good on that promise, we have created many different avenues for you to get the support that you need in order to get the most out of the Cloud.  

• Knowledge Center - your first stop should be our Knowledge Center; the best source for articles, tutorials, and videos to help you get the precise answers that you are looking for.
  • In the Knowledge Center we have the Cloud Essentials First 48 Guide which provides you with the most important information you will need while setting up a server during your first 2 days as a new customer.
• Got a quick question that you can't find an answer for in the Knowledge Center?  Jump into Chat and talk with our Fanatical Support Staff anytime 24 hrs a day.
• Got a specialized Service Request or experiencing a problem with our service?  Please Open a Ticket - From the Rackspace Cloud Control Panel, you will see the 'Tickets' section under the Support tab.  Go here to open a ticket directly with our support teams in order to report a problem or make a service request.
• Call us 24x7x365 - toll-free at 877-934-0407 or, internationally at +1-210-581-0407.  We never stop providing Fanatical support! 

What level of support comes with Cloud Servers?

We have two Service Levels:  Core Service and Managed Service.  At the Core Service level, we support the Cloud Server hardware, datacenter environment, and Internet connectivity - but do not support the software installed on your server, including the operating system and its configuration.  When you provision a Cloud Server, you will be given a server with unrestricted access.  The Core Service Cloud Server support team will not assist in the installation of software or troubleshooting any kind of issue related to the software installed.  We have some articles in the Knowledge Center covering basic installation of common applications.  We also community forums where you can share tips and tricks with other customers.

If you would like to have a Managed Service Level on your Cloud Servers, we do offer that service.  This service level provides additional support on Cloud Servers, which includes monitoring, operating system and application infrastructure layer support, and technical guidance.

Can I read your SLA?

Sure, it's right here.

I’m kind of new to this, will it be too hard?

Maybe. That mostly depends on your experience as a Systems Administrator for Linux and/or Windows Server.  Our Linux Cloud Servers are full Linux distributions with root-level access.  Our Windows Cloud Servers give you Administrator access, and are built with nothing but the default applications on install.  Cloud Servers are geared towards customers who want to start from scratch and tune a system for their  own purposes.  

If, after wearing the Systems Administrator hat for a while, you feel that you are out of your league - don't despair!  We also offer a Managed-Level service for Rackspace Cloud Servers.  Read here for more information on Managed Cloud Hosting.

Can I migrate my US Cloud Server to a UK Cloud Server?

Yes you can! There are a few different methods for accomplishing this, based on whether you are migrating a Linux or a Windows server. Please refer to this US to UK Migration FAQ for more information.

Will I be billed if my server is powered off?

Yes. You will be billed for the resources that are used on the host while your server is in the Active status.  When your server is created, you are given a dedicated amount of RAM and hard drive space.  As long as your server exists, no one else will be able to use those resources that have been allocated to you - this is why you are billed per hour even while powered off.  If you would like stop incurring charges, you must delete your server in the Control Panel.

If you want to stop paying for a server, but still need to retain the configurations from it, your best option is to take a snapshot of the Cloud Server and store the snapshot in Cloud Files.  Then you will be free to delete the original server, safe in the knowledge that you can always provision a new server using the saved snapshot of your old server.  All of your application and system configurations will be preserved, with the only difference being that your new server has a different IP address from the old one.  Putting the new server into production may require you to update any associated DNS records to reflect the new IP address.

How many domains can I host?

This is a question familiar to those who use shared hosting. There is no limit, since you are in control of everything on your Cloud Server.

Remote Management

Can I reboot my machine?

Yes. All Cloud Servers can perform both soft (reset button) and hard (power cycle) reboots. These are performed instantly and handled via the Cloud Server Control Panel.

Do you provide Console access?

Yes, via an Ajax web terminal accessible through the Control Panel, under the section 'Actions for this Server'. Note: Console access is via a secure HTTP connection which is different connection from the traditional way to connect via SSH for Linux or RDP for Windows.  Console can be a useful troubleshooting tool if your server is unresponsive or you have locked yourself out.

Do you have a control panel?

Yes, we have The Rackspace Cloud Control Panel which is a web-based management interface for restarting your Cloud Server, starting support discussions, viewing stats, and scheduling snapshots. However, we do not offer a control panel like Plesk or cPanel.  You’re free to install such packages for your own Cloud Server, or you may be interested in signing up for CloudKick, a service that provides many of the same functions as a Control Panel.  Try Cloudkick free for 30 days!

Can I control my Cloud Servers from a mobile device?

Yes, we offer apps for the iPhone™, iPad™, and Android™ phones.

The Cloud Servers application for iPhone and iPod Touch allows you to quickly and easily administer your Cloud Servers on the go, wherever you are.  While it’s not a complete replacement for our browser-based control panel or APIs, it does allow for some powerful remote administration capabilities. To get more details, click here.

The Cloud Servers application for the iPad allows you to easily and quickly administer your Cloud Servers on the go, wherever you are. With the iPad app, you can do everything the API allows for Cloud Servers;, and for Cloud Files, you can control CDN attributes. To get more details, click here.

The Rackspace Cloud Android app is also available and helps you easily and quickly administer your Cloud Servers on the go. To get more details on the Android app, click here.

I would like to use the GUI interface for my Cloud Server.  Is this possible?

Yes it is!  An article on how to install VNC and X-Windows is located here: VNC Install.  Keep in mind that this will use up a large amount of bandwidth and will require that you have at least 512MB of RAM on your server.

Cloud Servers Images and Snapshots

Do you offer on-demand images (snapshots) and scheduled images and what are the prices?

Yes, with Cloud Servers, you can create an image of any Cloud Server containing less than 80GB of data — and you can use this image to restore a server or clone a new one. You can create an unlimited number of images on-demand, or you can schedule an automatic daily or weekly image.

Images will be compressed and stored on Rackspace Cloud Files at the current storage rates.  Please also read this list of Snapshot Limitations.

I would like to setup multiple servers from the same image. Can I do this?

As a Cloud Servers customer, you have access to create both on-demand images (snapshots) and scheduled images of your cloud server.  All Cloud Server images will be stored in your Cloud Files account. This enables you to keep these images even after the Cloud Server they were created on is deleted.  It also allows the flexibility to create an unlimited number of on-demand images of your Cloud Server.  All Cloud Server images can be used to create new Cloud Servers or restore an existing Cloud Server.

Networking

Can I buy extra IPs?

Of course! Each Cloud Server comes with one (1) public IPv4 address.  Up to four (4) additional IPv4 addresses can be purchased (for a total of 5) for an additional $2 each per month, with proper justification.  Due to the global shortage of IPv4 address space, Rackspace has recently tightened its policies regarding additional IPv4 addresses on Cloud Servers.  We currently only offer additional IPv4 addresses for SSL purposes.  If you wish to obtain an additional IPv4 address, please open a support ticket through your control panel with the following information:

-The name of the server to which you would like to add the IP address.

-Acceptance of the $2/month additional fee per IP address.

-Permission to reboot the Cloud Server to configure the IP address and a maintenance window to perform the change, if necessary. 

-Attach or paste the SSL certificate to the ticket.  The certificate must have been signed by a valid Certificate Authority; self-signed certificates are not accepted

Please note that we cannot allocate more than 4 additional IPv4 addresses to a single Cloud Server.

Do you offer internal IPs?

Yes.  Each server comes with an internal IP address that is used to communicate between servers.  The traffic that flows over this interface (eth1) on your server is unmetered and is not billed.  This network is also referred to as ServiceNet.

Is there a throughput limit on my server's network interface card?

Your Cloud Server has a bandwidth cap that is applied in relation to the size of the server. Please note that the bandwidth caps are placed on outbound bandwidth only. Inbound bandwidth is not capped.

Chart valid as of December 8, 2011

I have Fedora 12/13 installed with Apache but I can't see my website. Why not?

Fedora 12/13 comes shipped with iptables enabled and a default rule set to deny all.  You must make modifications to the iptables ruleset to allow port 80 traffic inbound or disable iptables altogether.

How do I get reverse DNS setup for my Cloud Server?

You can setup reverse DNS from your control panel. This article will show you how: DNS - Creating a Reverse DNS Record.

DNS

Do you host DNS?

Yes.  Our Control Panel has a DNS menu for maintaining domain records for your Cloud Servers.  Read this article for detailed information on using the Rackspace Cloud DNS Control Panel.

What are the DNS servers for my Cloud Server?

dns1.stabletransit.com and dns2.stabletransit.com

Application Support

Do you support Ruby/Python/(insert language or application here)?

All of our Cloud Servers can be configured as development stacks, database servers and web servers. Apache, Lighttpd and Mongrel, Visual Studio, C+ are all options.

Where are your API's?

You can find the API documentation on our website.  To obtain your API key for the first time, log into the Control Panel and navigate to the Hosting tab.  Select Cloud Files, and you will be presented with the form to generate your API key.  Simply press the green button lebeled 'Generate Now.'  The API key is valid for all Rackspace Cloud products.

Will you help me install my software package?

No. Since the Rackspace Cloud is an un-managed service, you are responsible for installing and maintaining all software on your server.  You can check out our help articles for tutorials and walk-throughs.

I want to install version x.y of software in Linux, but your system doesn't allow me to?  How do I install it?

Chances are that the repository for your operating system's package manager has an older approved version.  This is fairly common, and you will need to remove that installation and then compile the newer version yourself.  Refer to the software vendor for instructions.

Storage

Can I buy extra storage?

You may upgrade your Cloud Server at any time.  Currently the disk size of servers is fixed to the amount of RAM that server has so that they scale together for optimal performance.

Performance

How long does a Cloud Server resize take?

The amount of time a resize takes varies by the size of the server and the time of day you are performing the resize.  If you have a brand-new server with no additional data or software installed, then you are looking at 10 minutes or less.  However, if you have data installed on your server and have been installing software then it can take up to 30 minutes or more.  Peak times for resize activity tend to be at the start and end of the business day.  Expect a short period of downtime while your server is being resized.  

How does the CPU scheduling work?

For Windows images, each Cloud Server is assigned a number of virtual cores based on the size of the Cloud Server. A 1 GB Cloud Server receives 1 virtual core, 2 GB and 4 GB Cloud Servers receive 2 virtual cores, and 8 GB and 15.5 GB Cloud Servers receive 4 virtual cores, and 30GB servers receive 8 virtual cores.  Each of these cores is given equal weight when allocating CPU cycles.

For Linux distributions, each Cloud Server is assigned four virtual cores and the amount of CPU cycles allocated to these cores is weighted based on the size of the Cloud Server.  

All Cloud Servers receive a guaranteed minimum amount of CPU cycles with the ability to burst when excess cycles are available.

How many users go onto each machine?

The number of customers on a Cloud Server host machine depends on the size of the customers’ Cloud Servers, and the type of operating system.

Operating Systems

Can I upgrade down the road?

Sure – you don’t even need to reinstall anything.  Because of the flexibility of the Cloud, you can schedule a system resize anytime.  Once received, your request will be queued in the order received.  When resources are available, we will take your Cloud Server down, expand the RAM and disk space, and then restart your server to bring it back into operation with the expanded resources.

What if I mess up my Cloud Server?

You can reboot it.  You can restore from a backup.  You can erase it and start over.  You can boot into an emergency rescue mode and attempt fix the problem.  There are many options for recovering from mistakes, but the easiest is to keep regular backups and to make a fresh backup before attempting any major configuration changes or before installing new software.

Which distributions do you offer?

Our product page has information regarding the Linux distributions and Windows operating systems that we have available.

Can I reinstall a different distribution or start over?

Of course you can! Simply press the Rebuild button in the Control Panel and you will be able to select a new distribution. Be sure you have a backup of your data because this process will destroy any data that is on the server. The rebuild process does allow you to save an IP address.

How do I power my server back on after shutting it down?

Please see the following article: Shutting Down and Restarting a Cloud Server

Security

Can I run a firewall on my server?

Definitely and we encourage it!  Each server is capable of running the Linux-standard firewall called iptables - some even have it pre-configured!  A few other firewall systems have been tested on Cloud Servers as well.  To see a complete list be sure to check out these articles:

• For Linux - Introduction to iptables
• For Windows - Windows Firewall for 2003 and 2008