Seedbox Guide

A seedbox guide
'''Note: I found bits of information all over the Internet and put it together(Frankenstein style). This is an ongoing WIP. If you have any new info please let me know so I can update it. Thank You.'''

So you are curious about a seedbox but not sure where to start?

This information is collected to help you understand how they work before jumping into the swarm.

The main steps in understanding about a seedbox are:

A Seedbox is a dedicated server at a high speed datacenter with a public IP address for the downloading and seeding of bittorrent files.
 * 1) Renting a Seedbox.
 * 2) Setup a Seedbox.
 * 3) How to administer a seedbox.
 * 4) Use it for torrents and to buld up ratio.

The entire premise of setting up a seedbox is to upload, or seed. Which is probably why they don’t call them leechboxes.

The very first step is to do some research. What do you want from your seedbox? Features? Speed? Storage? Payment options? Location? Speed caps?

Seedbox recommendations
'''First of all A seedbox guide is a guide only. It gives you a idea of what a seedbox is and what to expect of one.It also gives you a idea of what questions to ask before you apply for one. It is your responsiblity to ask questions and to well inform yourself before taking any actions. '''

Benefits of a seedbox
Seedboxes can range anywhere from ~$15 a month all the way up to however large your check book is. The cream of the crop servers are the latest technology processors with terabytes of hard drive space and a 1Gb/s (1000Mb/s) or even a 2Gb/s connection. The fast speed allows for users to achieve high ratios on torrents very easily, thus increasing their upload to the tracker. Reasons for choosing a capped provider over an un-metered one include - better peering to the provider, better prices, less congested network etc. Some providers offer 'free' internal bandwidth within their own network. This is one of the reasons why providers such as OVH are so popular. Most providers offer a Bandwidth Graph or counter to monitor. It is worth running your own app as well in case of any disagreements with their stats. Windows: Netmeter, BWMeter, PRTG or Networx Linux: VNstat, cacti (rrdtool), mrtg
 * 1) No ISP limitations
 * 2) Insane speeds for seeding
 * 3) Seeding occurs 24X7
 * 4) Lot of people in private trackers use Seedboxes hence a lot of the seeders prefer from own network, which definitely boosts your ratio.
 * 5) None of the resources of your home Personal computer is used.

Some seedboxes you could look into

 * Dentoo seedbox


 * Feral hosting Federalhosting


 * Kimsufi


 * Seedhost.eu


 * Superseeders.eu


 * Ultraseedbox

CPU
Pretty much all modern CPU's can handle a torrent client. If you plan to do other things with your seedbox too then CPU choice is important.

RAM
If you want more users logged onto the server you will need more RAM. More RAM also helps with disk caching and HD usage (especially on a gigabit server).

RAID
Some providers offer some form of RAID - I generally just ask them to turn this off for a normal seedbox so that I can have more usable space on the server.

When you get your server always check that the hardware provided is that which you have paid for (they might 'accidentally' give you a single core CPU instead of a dual-core etc.).

IP Addresses
Most providers offer more than one IP address. It can be useful to have more IP addresses if you want to run other services on the server to keep them separate from your torrenting activities.

Hardware Firewall
You do not need this for a seedbox.

KVM
Allows you to connect directly to the server during boot-up and use your keyboard to control it. Helps to troubleshoot problems. Not generally needed for a seedbox.

Remote Reboot
Allows you to reboot the server from the control panel if it isn't responding - physically cuts the power and restarts the server - generally included for free. I wouldn't recommend paying for it as you can just open a ticket and ask a tech to reboot it if you are not in a hurry.

Operating Systems
The most common operating systems used on servers are Windows Server & Linux distro's.

Windows: The great advantage of a Windows server is that for most people it is just like using your computer at home as the interface is the same!

Most hosts are now selling Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 however some hosts are still only offering Windows Server 2003.

Windows Server comes in a number of different editions such as web, standard, enterprise etc. For most people Web/Std is fine.

Windows Server allows 2 people to be logged in at the same time. To allow more people to be logged in you need to buy Client Access Licenses (CAL's) - these do not work on Web edition you need Standard or better. In Windows Server 2003 you can use the /admin switch to log in a 3rd user (must be an admin account) - the admin switch does not exist in Windows Server 2008. One way to get around the limit without paying MS is to run some virtual machines in VMWare and have people connect to them.

There is usually an extra monthly Windows license charge if you wish to use windows on your server. (Some hosts waive the fee if you can provide a legit license key - do NOT provide a hacked/cracked key - unless you want Microsoft asking the hosting company what your billing address is...)

Linux: Most hosts offer a wide variety of Linux distributions - however the most popular are Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu. If you are new to Linux I would recommend Ubuntu as it's popularity means that a lot of programs and support is available for it.

You will usually be given a CLI server edition. But you can install Gnome/KDE as a GUI.

Being free Linux doesn't lead to any extra monthly charge!

Instant Activation
Some seedbox Co. now offer instant activation so the seedbox is provisioned and setup automatically once we receive the payment. Customers will receive there seedbox details via email within 1 minute of the payment reaching us.

Streaming Videos In Your Browser
Streaming your videos can now be done on some seedboxes, you will need to download the Divx plugin for your specific browser to enable you to stream your videos in your browser from your seedbox, this means you can watch a video located on your seedbox without having to download the data to your computer.

Duration Of Contract
Most hosts will have monthly/3-monthly contracts. Though you can usually get discounts/no setup fee by signing up for longer periods.

Once you don't want to use it anymore just give notice, pay anything due and it should stop working on the day the notice ends.

I generally recommend upgrading a dedicated server every year as hardware gets better and prices come down. Though this does mean that you have to transfer your data and set up the server again.

Payment Methods: Most hosts accept Paypal, Credit cards and Bank Transfers. If you wish to use some other payment method contact them sometimes they can accommodate you.

You may also be required to pay VAT/Sales Tax.

ID: Some companies might want you to scan/fax them some ID (this is a reason why some people prefer to buy from a reseller).

Managed vs. Unmanaged
Managed Servers: With these you are required to pay a management fee. This then gives you the option of having the server providers staff help you install a webserver, configure your firewall etc. (They can do a lot more depending on how much you are willing to pay!)

Unmanaged Servers: You do all of the above yourself. This option is better for seedboxes.

Connection
The idea of a remote seedbox is so that you can seed faster than your home connection. Most seedboxes come with 100mbit ports. Some come with 1Gbit ports (however watch out as some providers like only provide 1Gbit connectivity within their own network outside it is limited to a lower amount such as 200mbit). 10Mbit is virtually finished but a few VPS providers offer it.

Remember just because you have a gbit network card in the server it doesn't mean it is connected to a gbit connection - it may just be 100mbit.

Also just because your server is 100mbit doesn't mean you will get full speed download to your home connection as other factors such as network load/peering have an impact on this.

Bandwidth
Some providers provide unlimited/unmetered bandwidth. Some provide unmetered until a certain limit and then reduce the speed of your connection beyond that limit. Most providers have a bandwidth cap i.e. 5TB/month.

Re-Installs
Hosts with automated re-install systems usually do it for free, others which require manual intervention may charge a fee.

Support
They will replace failed hardware free of charge (unless it is a co-located server) on a 'best effort' basis i.e. when they have the time to do it.

If you want them to do it immediately (even if it is at 2am in the morning) you can usually pay extra for a 'Service Level Agreement' of which there are many types.

Some hosts have better support than others - so consider their record when buying a server.

Adding .torrent files to a seedbox (starting a torrent)
There are three ways you can add a torrent to a seedbox.
 * 1) Upload the .torrent file via the webui. This method is very straight forward and does not require settings to be edited or use of an FTP client. Simply download the .torrent you want to start, select "add torrent" from your seebox's webui, click browse and find the .torrent file you just downloaded, after uploading the torrent should start. (There can be a few disadvantages here, some clients such as TorrentFlux have a file size limit of 2 MBs for .torrent files, while that is pretty big, some .torrent files found here at PD are over 2 MBs such as the MESS software list roms. Another disadvantage can be that if you want to add multiple torrents this can be tedious)
 * 2) Add the .torrent file to the watch folder on your seedbox via FTP. Most seedboxes have a watch folder already setup, but you may need to configure "AutoWatch" through the client webui. With ruTorrent you will go to "settings" --> "Autotools" then tick "Enbable 'AutoWatch' Feature", then click [...] to browse to the folder you want to be watched, and tick "Start download automatically" if that is what you disire. You will need to us an FTP client to connect to your seedbox, once you have connected and found the watch folder simply upload the .torrent files and the torrents will start automatically. If you delete a .torrent file from the watch folder the client will stop and remove the torrent. Pros: You can add multiple torrents easily this way, also, you will already be using an FTP client to access your seedbox  Cons: it is still tedious to download each torrent file and upload it, and it can be cumbersome to manage many torrents through FTP instead of the convenient webui
 * 3) Start the torrent by adding it via the torrent's URL. This method can be the quickest and easiest, though it still requires settings to be configured. You will need to configure cookies in the webui, and you will need to find two items of information from the cookie manager in your web browser, your user id (uid) and password (pass). I tried to find a way to simplify this process so that those reading this could just copy and paste the information, however, both fields are unique to each user. Follow the guide here...  This will show you how to find the necessary information in Firefox and apply it to ruTorrent. If you are using a different browser the process of finding those fields should be similar. This should also work for other webuis (Worked for me on two different versions of torrentFlux and ruTorrent). Once you have cookies configured torrents may be added with a simple copy&paste of a url. (Right click on the floppy disk icon on the torrents page, select copy link as, and paste in appropriate box in your webui)  Pros: Torrents can be quickly and easily added, no need to use an FTP client, no file size limitations  Cons: It can be a pain to find the necessary information

Restart The Server
You should be able to do this in the same way as a normal computer i.e. on Windows:

Start Menu > Restart - you will rarely need to do this (sometimes with windows updates etc.)

DO NOT! Shut Down the server you probably won't be able to turn it back on and will need to open a support ticket!

Connect To The Server
Windows: You can use 'Remote Desktop Connection' (mstsc.exe) in Windows to connect to a Windows Server.

Linux: You can install a VNC Server on the seedbox and a VNC Client on your home pc and connect to the GUI via this or use Putty to connect to the command-line if you prefer.

Torrent Client
If you have access to the OS you can install any client that is available for your OS.

If you only have access to a webui then you will need to wait for your provider to update the client.

Some clients supports encryption enable it.

Get Torrent Files Onto The Server
There are a few options:


 * 1) Log into the website using a browser on the seedbox.
 * 2) Download at home and upload via FTP.
 * 3) Upload through a torrent client webui.

Accessing The Files
Ultimately you will want to get the files that you have seeded on the server from the server to your home PC.

The most common way of doing this is to install an FTP server on the seedbox and use an ftp client on your home PC.

Windows FTP Servers: Filezilla Server, Serv-U Linux FTP Servers: VSFTPd, Proftpd, glftpd, Pure-FTPd

Windows FTP Clients: CuteFTP, FTPRush, FlashFXP, Filezilla Client Linux Clients: Filezilla Client, gFTP, KFTPGrabber, lftp

You may wish to use FTPs (encrypted ftp).

You can also use this in reverse to transfer files from home to the seedbox.

How to Transfer From Seedbox to Seedbox
Seedboxes are dedicated servers for file hosting, most commonly used for sharing and distributing files with others through FTP, or file transfer protocol, and other clients. If you need to organize your files or move your data to a new server, you can transfer files between seedboxes with an external FTP client, regardless of your hosting server.


 * 1) Open your FTP client, such as FlashFXP, FTPRush or SmartFTP.
 * 2) Click "Tools" and select "Site Manager." Create a "New Site."
 * 3) Enter the information for your first hosting server. You will need the hosting address, username and the password for the account.
 * 4) Create another new site for your second hosting server. Enter your login information for this account, as well.
 * 5) Connect to both servers. Your log should indicate a successful connection, or any problems encountered with the server or inaccurate login information.
 * 6) Locate your seedbox directory within each server, using the internal browser windows to navigate the server's directories. Drag and drop the files from one server to the other to begin the FXP, or file exchange protocol, process. If you want a client on your PC that can move files directly from one FTP-server to another FTP-server (without files passing on your PC), you will have to look at clients that can utilize FXP.  Some seedboxes for example Seedhost.eu contains  filezilla in their VNC console - so all  you have to do is log into that FTP in to your other seedbox and copy all the pleasurdome goodness across.  There is no need to download from 0% on all seedboxes.
 * FTP Rush freeware


 * How to use FXP with FTP Rush

Anti-Virus
Most servers don't come with AV and most people don't install one - you can if you want.

Encrypting Your Hard Drive
The most popular to use is TrueCrypt on Windows Server 2008.

You can also Google Encrypting Linux Hard-Drives.

This is optional but can provide some extra security incase the server company's technician's need to log onto your server to fix something. But before I started encrypting the drives I have had techs log on and either they didn't bother looking at what files I had or didn't care.

The best idea is to change all the passwords on the server when you get it. I created a special account for tech's so I don't have to give them my password (but if it is an admin account as it probably has to be they could change your pw and log on as you in theory)Passwords/Passkeys etc.

Other Uses For A Seedbox (these mainly apply to Dedicated and VPS)
Run Websites: The original use for a remote server - just install something like apache or lighttpd and serve your website! (You might also need php and mysql)

Connect To IRC: You can use the server to connect to IRC (and be connected 24/7) and take advantage of sitebots/IRC RSS etc. (Most hosts allow IRC but a few do not so check before buying).

FTP: You can run an FTP server for friends and family to download from.

Distributed Computing: SETI or Folding@Home can utilize a seedbox efficiently.

As mentioned a Dedicatedserver is just like any other PC and you can do lots of different things with it.

Choosing A Location
You Should Consider A Few Points When Choosing A Location:


 * 1) Generally the closer the server is to you geographically the better the peering/speeds are likely to be.
 * 2) If the torrent site you wish to use it on has a lot of a certain type of server (i.e. OVH) you may be disadvantaged by having a seedbox in a different place (as OVH boxes will get faster speeds to other OVH boxes). You can check what boxes are popular by looking in the peer list in your client - you will see things like ns0001.ovh.net etc.
 * 3) The legal status of torrenting/filesharing in your country and the country that the server is located in.
 * 4) Some countries just have better internet! The Netherlands for example (mainly because a number of major European internet exchanges are located there and that server companies and their infrastructure is quite well developed).
 * 5) Some routes have bad peering/speeds - i.e. from France to the U.S.
 * 6) Exchange rates - normally you pay in the currency of the country that the provider operates in (Euros and USD being the most common). If your currency fluctuates a lot against this it may be an issue. One way to tackle this is to pay upfront for an extended period (then you don't get affected by your currency depreciating but also don't benefit if it appreciates - also a small risk that they company folds and you don't get a refund). Some firms may also agree to a fixed price in your own currency for a set period.
 * 7) Timezones - if the time difference is large you might not be able to get efficient support.

Do I need a seedbox?
Seedboxes are good for buffering an account, a large number of users use them in order to keep their home IP address out of the swarm. They also use them if their home connection can't handle the stress caused by the large amount of BT traffic. They are very beneficial to users who have poor home connections where it would cost more a month to upgrade your home internet connection then purchasing a seedbox to do the work for you.

How large a buffer can I get my accounts in one month?
If you are using a dedicated server, you can get anywhere from 500gb to 8tb on a single account. It all depends on how you have your box set up. And depends highly on how active the tracker is and how fast you seed the torrents.

VPS is a virtual server, meaning there is 1 computer and 4 users have access to that computers resources. Each user has its own hard drive space and own desktop, however system resources are shared between them all. These usually have 2 100Mb/s lines connected to them in order to deal with the extra traffic generated by the added number of users. These setups are very cheap compared to the dedicated boxes.

BEST: Dedicated Servers are a computer that only you have access to. You have your own individual connection to the network, have complete control over resources, and pay a premium for it.

If you are using it for a 1 time deal, you'll want to get very good specs and you will pay a premium.

Recommended set up:

Dedicated, not VPS

100mb/s connection

SATA Hard drive (at least 80gb)

non-metered

2gb of ram is recommended however you can survive with 1gb

Total traffic per month~ Easy 4-7TB

If you are going to keep it for a while, you can do lower stats as you will not be needing to seed every torrent to 15.0 ratio, your serve wont be as good as the above, but it will easily do 6mb/s uploading and keep seeding away. It also will be a great deal cheaper then the above.

Recommended set up:

VPS

100mb/s connection shared

IDE or SATA...obviously SATA is better, but IDE is fine for this set up

1gb ram is recommended however you can survive with 512mb

Total traffic per month ~2-4tb

The thing about seedboxes is they are addictive.

Disk overload
I have a seedbox, but I keep getting disk overload and my speeds drop off the charts. Why Does this happen and how do I fix it?

What is happening is that your bit torrent client is downloading faster then your hard drive can write to the disk. This usually happens with IDE hard drives when the memory set aside to buffer the disk becomes full. The data comes into the server too fast and the server doesn't know what to do with it so it just loses data.

How to fix it.

If you start to see all your uploading approach zero, then decrease the download speed to 2.5mb/s. That is a sign that the disk can't keep up. If everything is stable at 3Mb/s, try 3.5Mb/s and continue tweaking back and forth until you are stable.
 * 1) First, do a clean install of utorrent to clean out any custom settings you may have adjusted. As something might be corrupt. If you are on VPS, start at the default recommended settings for xx/100Mb. Check to see if it still happens.
 * 2) Upgrade your harddrive.

Pick Your Torrents Wisely!
This should be common sense by now if you have used any bittorent client before. Look for torrents that have a high number of leechers, while having a low number of seeders. Again, I repeat a low number of seeders. Just because the torrent has 10,000 leechers doesn't mean it's good for uploading if it has 100,000 seeders. You want a higher leecher count than seeder count. But again, this shouldn't be new material. Also make sure to check the peers list if possible on a big pack. Partial seeders (ie; people who download just a piece of the entire torrent) are listed as leechers even though they aren't downloading anything anymore.

Download Large Files + Packs One mistake people use is loading their new seedboxes full of small torrents that may be hot for a couple of days maybe. Instead, look for bigger in size they usually stay active for a lot longer. Your seedbox has the power to pump out tons of pieces to other leechers and large packs are a goldmine.

Don't Stack Dozens and Dozens of Torrents in Your Box! Each torrent you add, you consume more RAM. Once you get close to using all of it up, your speeds will drop severely. Having a few in there is cool, as I'm sure you box could handle it, but make sure you don't go crazy. This is usually only a big problem if you're on a shared server. However, if you have a Dedi or semi-dedi box, then feel free to add as many as you want as long as you don't overpower your machine.

Basic Info
Minutes after you complete your order and pay, you will receive an email with the basic details of your seedbox.

Please keep that in a safe place, you might need it in the future! In this email, you will find:


 * Your client area login details
 * Your seedbox login details
 * General information about support and how you can contact us.

With the above info you could:


 * You can change your seedbox password.
 * You can change your default client instantly.
 * You can restart rtorrent in case it crashed.
 * You can generate a Filezilla configuration file, to connect to your seedbox via FTP with Filezilla.
 * You can login to your seedbox.
 * You can check your billing history, pay unpaid invoices and add funds to your account, so that future invoices get paid automatically.
 * You can raise support tickets, if you need technical support or want to ask anything related to your service
 * You can change your contact information, email and password for the client area (please note the password for the client area is different from your seedbox)
 * You can see all history of emails sent by us
 * You can order more services

Logging in your seedbox

 * Details on how to connect to your seedbox have been sent to you via your activation email, depending on the default client you chose during the order. Also, if you login in your client area and go to "My Services" and select your seedbox, you will find links for both your VNC Desktop and your Client's web interface.


 * Use the link in your service detail page and use your username and password (also listed there) to login.

Server is down
First of all the reason why you cannot connect to your client, might only be that the web server has crashed (this rarely happens) and the server is still up. If this is the case you can check it by trying to connect to your seedbox via ftp or ssh.


 * If you connect successfully, then only the webserver is down. In this case use your "Restart Seedbox" function from within your control panel. This will trigger a check that all services are up on your server. The webserver should be back online within 2 minutes. If its not, then please raise a ticket with the technical support, to look it out.


 * If you cannot connect with FTP or SSH, then probably the server is down. Don't panic. First look at the Latest news (Blog) on our website. There might be a reason why your server is down. Scheduled maintenance, unexpected hardware failure etc, most probably we already know about it and we are working on it. If you cannot find an announcement about it, then please raise a ticket with the technical support to check it out.

Odds and ends
Thank You
 * 1) Remember you can seed from different IPs. The problem arises when you download the same torrent from two IP's simultaneously.
 * 2) Yes, you can use a seedbox here at PD.
 * 3) Yes Pleasuredome is a private tracker.
 * 4) This Video will show you how to connect to use a seedbox (Bytesized Seedbox Co.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5XRx7-qHgg
 * 5) What about Uploading from a Seedbox and Downloading from your Home PC?. Yes, you could do that.
 * 6) What you usually do is use your seedbox to download and seed back then ftp into the seed box to get the files.
 * 7) Yes, you can seed with the seedbox AND your home client at the same time.
 * 8) When a person uses a seedbox they use the hdd space and bandwidth of the host and not their own. Yes.
 * 9) Remember you get what you pay for.
 * 10) The main reason people prefer private trackers over public ones is that private trackers are a lot safer than public trackers. With public trackers you could easily download a Virus or a Trojan.
 * 11) For anyone who has a slow connection or bandwidth caps a seed box is a good way to build ratio.
 * 12) How does the tracker know it is me downloading and seeding? Each member account on the tracker has a unique Personal ID (PID).  This PID is present in the torrent files you download from the tracker and is part of the communication between your torrent client and the tracker.
 * 13) So now I just wait for someone else to start downloading so I can seed huh. You become a seed(er) the moment your client reports you are 100% complete on a torrent.
 * 14) Is using a seedbox cheating? No
 * 15) Seedbox location does matter. (See above)
 * 16) If you have a Private tracker(torrent) option. Enable it.
 * 17) I need support, how do I get help? Seedbox providers have support ticketing systems and or support forums on their sites. Simply visit the support section, outline your request, and they’ll get back to you.
 * 18) All seedboxes have a FAQ read it.
 * 19) Please avoid this client "-JS0900-" its no good.Its just plain b0rked.   Your "-JS0900-" client seems to be announcing every 10 seconds, which should be once every hour. This is unwanted behavior from the tracker's point of view.
 * 20) I am receving this message in my seedbox (feral hosting, rutorrent 3.5): Tracker: [Peer certificate cannot be authenticated with given CA certificates]  Is it normal? The download does not begin.  Either accept the self-signed certificate manually or use the standard torrent instead of the secure one.  It's a self-signed certificate so yes, that's normal. You have to add it to the trusted certificates manually (at least that's what you would do on Windows, I have no idea how that works on a Linux box tho).  Alternatively, use the non-secure torrent.  Where can i get this non-secure version of the torrent?  Go to your user control panel, click on "Change Profile". Under "Announce type" select either "Ask at download time" or "http:// protocol".  It worked! Thanks, downloading now.
 * 21) Money Back Guarantee During the first week of your service, some seedboxes offer a full money back Guarantee.
 * 22) Some seedboxes offer HTTP Proxy. "A standard http proxy is provided in addition to our complimentary vpn access, in cases where you want to proxy only the browser traffic".
 * 23) Any doubts about a seedbox ask first before paying for it.
 * 24) Does a seedbox keep seeding once you logout / close your browser? Yes, that's the general idea of a seedbox. It's a remote server you control that will run 24/7/365 unless you tell it otherwise.
 * 25) If you don't have money, you could rent one for the 12 days of pleasuredome, build up your ratio and have it disconnected afterwards.
 * 26) Some seedbox companies don't allow public trackers.(Only private)
 * 27) Some companies don't allow web-hosting.
 * 28) Some companies let you buy more IPs.
 * 29) Can I share the box with a friend to split cost? Yes. But you need to use two different IPs.
 * 30) Do I need to notify the staff I'm using a seedbox. No.
 * 31) Do I need permission to use a seedbox? No.
 * 32) Can I use more than one seedbox. Yes
 * 33) Is it better to log in to the seedbox GUI with VPN ? Thats up to you.
 * 34) Should I first try a seedbox company giveaway before buying a plan? Yes,  or ask for a 7 day trial.  Most providers will agree.
 * 35) Is there any chance the private tracker I have recently joined does not accept seedbox? Most private trackers accept seedboxes, but play it safe ask first. But many trackers may want to know if you are using a seedbox ~ at least if it has a shared IP so they don't ban you for possible account dupes.
 * 36) Seedboxes tend to be extremely popular with private torrent trackers, where maintaining a download/upload ratio above 1.0 can be very important.

Peace24845