Surpass hosting
Had an unpleasant experience today with my web host Surpass who threatened to suspend my account, accusing me of data warehousing. It's resolved now with thankfully a minimum of fuss, but thought I'd post it just in case someone else gets in the same boat.
They opened a warning ticket listing all my folders and saying that I was in violation of their Usage Policy because I was data warehousing, and if I wish to keep my files won't I upgrade to a dedicated server for $$$? The indescriminate way that it listed all the folders made it clear that this was an automated exercise, designed to fish for customers who'd hit some sort of red flag. And never mind the term "data warehousing" doesn't appear to be formally defined in the Policy except to say they can unilaterally determine what constitutes data warehousing in any given scenario. Oh, and of course "if we terminate your contract because of a violation of Usage Policy, no credits will be issued against payments already made."
So I deleted a bunch of files and replied to the ticket saying I don't think I am data warehousing, and that my site is a fan site dedicated to appreciation and critique videos citing Fair Use under copyright law, and the contents of the site are only shared with a small group of people in the same appreciation and critique community.
It only took about an hour for a human to come back to me and say, basically, that since my site content has now been reduced to 21GB from 49GB, that everything was cool and they will close my ticket. So, good result, but what a waste of time and general concern.
In any case, 49GB is apparently somewhere over a line in the sand, for what it's worth for anyone hosting with Surpass.
Oh, and P.S., this is my default icon now. I KNOW.
They opened a warning ticket listing all my folders and saying that I was in violation of their Usage Policy because I was data warehousing, and if I wish to keep my files won't I upgrade to a dedicated server for $$$? The indescriminate way that it listed all the folders made it clear that this was an automated exercise, designed to fish for customers who'd hit some sort of red flag. And never mind the term "data warehousing" doesn't appear to be formally defined in the Policy except to say they can unilaterally determine what constitutes data warehousing in any given scenario. Oh, and of course "if we terminate your contract because of a violation of Usage Policy, no credits will be issued against payments already made."
So I deleted a bunch of files and replied to the ticket saying I don't think I am data warehousing, and that my site is a fan site dedicated to appreciation and critique videos citing Fair Use under copyright law, and the contents of the site are only shared with a small group of people in the same appreciation and critique community.
It only took about an hour for a human to come back to me and say, basically, that since my site content has now been reduced to 21GB from 49GB, that everything was cool and they will close my ticket. So, good result, but what a waste of time and general concern.
In any case, 49GB is apparently somewhere over a line in the sand, for what it's worth for anyone hosting with Surpass.
Oh, and P.S., this is my default icon now. I KNOW.