What's the main *disadvantage* of Xenforo cloud vs self-hosting?

[david.steadson]

Obviously, self-hosting can be done cheaper, but apart from that, what has made people chose self-hosting?

 

[Chris D]

What he means is a backup to get the install moved to another system, which isn't allowed.

What on earth are you referring to? You ask for a copy of your backup it will be provided and you can do whatever you want with it. Move somewhere else, move to self hosted etc.

 

[FTL]

That’s not correct.

I'm glad to be wrong!

So, if I wanted to move back to self hosted, which I might do in the future, I could get all the files necessary to do it?

EDIT: soz, cross posted.

 

[Chris D]

So, if I wanted to move back to self hosted, which I might do in the future, I could get all the files necessary to do it?

For the avoidance of doubt; 100% yes. Whether you’re going to self hosted or moving to a competitor. Whatever the reason, your files and data are yours.

 

[FTL]

For the avoidance of doubt; 100% yes. Whether you’re going to self hosted or moving to a competitor. Whatever the reason, your files and data are yours.

Does that include things like customizations? I'm thinking forum structure, styles (I know they can be saved separately) and attachments? Just wanna double check.

 

[mjda]

A full backup can be requested at any time for any purpose without question.

Thanks for clearing that up. I was having a hard time imagining that not being the case.

 

[Digital Doctor]

I tried to install and setup the backup addon from 8wayrun for someone, but Xenforo said it was not supported.

Is there a list of addons not supported by xenforo cloud ?

 

[mjda]

Is there a list of addons not supported by xenforo cloud, or do they just pick and choose ?

I'm not sure if there's a list, but here's this:

Almost all 3rd party add-ons are permitted.

Things which aren't permitted are add-ons related to external storage, backups, etc.

 

[FTL]

Looking around the forum just now, it turns out there's an email alert issue with Cloud regarding blocked alerts from certain email providers like Hotmail / Outlook. I wasn't aware of that, so is something to bear in mind when considering Cloud.

XF 2.2 Post in thread 'Cloud email bounces from Hotmail'

Jan 3, 2024

It may be worth adding a notice to the forum advising members to switch providers to one which doesn't repeatedly block legitimate servers.

I respect your answers on this forum, but this is nonsense.
Hotmail/outlook is one of te biggest mailproviders and widely used.
Now because the XF mail server is rejected again, we have to advise all users to stop using hotmail as mailprovider?
Not going to happen.

MS is very active in trying to prevent spam from their servers. Blocking legit servers is problematic, but if this is the 4th time, there must be something that triggers this. They...

• Mr. Jinx

• 

 

[James]

Does that include things like customizations? I'm thinking forum structure, styles (I know they can be saved separately) and attachments? Just wanna double check.

You can export the style like you would any style (eg what style designers do)

 

[FTL]

You can export the style like you would any style (eg what style designers do)

Yeah, I know, I said that in the sentence that you quoted. Anyway, it looks like there's no issue with getting everything, going by Chris's clarification.

 

[zappaDPJ]

The ability to install any add-on, not just those approved by Xenforo. In one example, I tried to install and setup the backup addon from 8wayrun for someone, but Xenforo said it was not supported. That killed the ability to make automatic daily off-site backups.

Which is the final nail for me. It may not happen often but even cloud services have been known to lose data on a permanent basis. I appreciate that backups are available on request but I suspect this is intended more for migratory purposes then an hourly belt and braces off-site backup.

 

[Paul B]

I appreciate that backups are available on request but I suspect this is intended more for migratory purposes then an hourly belt and braces off-site backup.

A full backup is taken every 7 days, with an incremental backup every day between.

All backups are kept for 28 days.

Backups are stored completely off-site in a separate data centre to where the Cloud site is hosted.

 

[James]

A full backup is taken every 7 days, with an incremental backup every day between.

All backups are kept for 28 days.

Backups are stored completely off-site in a separate data centre to where the Cloud site is hosted.

Just a question I have no stakes in this debate but do you spot check backups for integrity? Make sure they restore and aren't corrupt?

 

[Darat]

With a Xenforo cloud there isn't a way to have a test bed, you always have to make upgrades etc. instantly live?

 

[James]

With a Xenforo cloud there isn't a way to have a test bed, you always have to make upgrades etc. instantly live?

Upgrade are delayed by default for 6 months on cloud. You can request earlier or later in your settings.

 

[FTL]

Looking around the forum just now, it turns out there's an email alert issue with Cloud regarding blocked alerts from certain email providers like Hotmail / Outlook. I wasn't aware of that, so is something to bear in mind when considering Cloud.

XF 2.2 Post in thread 'Cloud email bounces from Hotmail'

Jan 3, 2024

It may be worth adding a notice to the forum advising members to switch providers to one which doesn't repeatedly block legitimate servers.

I respect your answers on this forum, but this is nonsense.
Hotmail/outlook is one of te biggest mailproviders and widely used.
Now because the XF mail server is rejected again, we have to advise all users to stop using hotmail as mailprovider?
Not going to happen.

MS is very active in trying to prevent spam from their servers. Blocking legit servers is problematic, but if this is the 4th time, there must be something that triggers this. They...

• Mr. Jinx

• 

Thinking about it, why don't XF offer a dedicated IP address to every customer to eliminate this blocking issue? Amazon SES does this along with DKIM and therefore has a high delivery success rate because of this. Every email got through when I used this on self hosted.

 

[BikeGremlin]

Thinking about it, why don't XF offer a dedicated IP address to every customer to eliminate this blocking issue? Amazon SES does this along with DKIM and therefore has a high delivery success rate because of this. Every email got through when I used this on self hosted.

It is not that simple.
And it would not solve the problem (most probably).

There is a separate topic for the email-related discussion?

 

[FTL]

It is not that simple.
And it would not solve the problem (most probably).

There is a separate topic for the email-related discussion?

Here's some great info about this issue:

XF 2.2 Post in thread 'Cloud email bounces from Hotmail'

Sep 3, 2022

To be fair, if we're pulling up ancient history here, sending mail wasn't really a problem in the early days. I'd wager that we started throwing more time and resources at email handling beginning about 10-12 years ago. Prior to that, you could just slap together a mail server and off you went. I don't even think we started adding SPF records in DNS until about 2009'ish?

I've been running forums since the vBulletin 2.0 days, starting in 2002. You are completely correct in that it was dead easy to host sites and never having to worry about email back then.

In the last 10 years...

• Sim

• 

 

[MySiteGuy]

Is there a list of addons not supported by xenforo cloud ?

Not that I know of.

When I tried to upload that particular add-on, it gave me the message that the add-on was not supported.

 

[MySiteGuy]

For the avoidance of doubt; 100% yes. Whether you’re going to self hosted or moving to a competitor. Whatever the reason, your files and data are yours.

Xenforo has done this before when a client requested it. I used it for a testing setup for them. I was happy with the response time.