Wiki > FAQ
General
Are any BitTorrent trackers disallowed?
No; we do not block access to any BitTorrent tracker
Why do my torrents stay at 0%? Why don't magnet links work?
You're having issues to connect to the tracker. You can circumvent these issues by turning on DHT and PEX (Settings > Network/Bittorrent). These protocols will help you with decentralized tracking and peer discovery.
Shared servers
What is a shared server?
Currently all of Whatbox's plans are on shared servers. This means you are on the same server as other users, and you partially share resources such as CPUs and RAM with them.
Is my hard drive space shared?
No. We have space specifically reserved for each user on the server. If you paid for 2 TB, you'll have 2 TB available.
Is disk space measured in GB or GiB?
Your disk space and upload traffic is measured in base 10 bytes (B), like gigabytes (GB) and terabytes (TB). One gigabyte is equal to 1,000,000,000 bytes. This is the same way hard drive manufacturers measure hard drive storage. Some programs may still use base 2 gibibytes (GiB) to measure data. 1 gibibyte is equal to 1 * 2^30 bytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Can other users see my data? Is my information secure?
Access to your files is restricted to just you. We take every precaution to preserve your privacy and security.
Do I get root? Can I install stuff?
No, you do not get root. If everybody got root, nobody's data would be secure and private. Without root you cannot install software server-wide, though you may compile software in your home directory using the provided shell access. See our Software Installation Guidelines.
Can the hosts file be modified?
No, the /etc/hosts file is used by all users on the server and for security reasons can not be modified. If a particular website is not functioning properly you must either wait for the website to update its DNS records or use the IP in place of the hostname. For advanced users, there is a StackExchange question about how to modify the hosts file at the user level, however we will not be able to offer support for users attempting this procedure.
Why have shared servers?
Sharing certain resources among multiple users allows us to offer higher performance for lower prices.
Slots
You're currently out of stock of the plan I want. When will you have more?
At any one time, we have additional servers being prepared, so it should not take too long. Check the Plans page frequently.
How can I upgrade/downgrade my slot?
Open a Support Ticket letting us know which plan you want to switch to and whether you want your current data transferred to the new slot.
We will then inform you of what will happen, move your slot if required, adjust your days remaining, and reply with your new slot info. Please remember to be patient, slot transfers take time.
Can I have multiple slots for one user account?
Yes! Whatbox is fully compatible with multi-slot users. Just order the new slot from the Plans page.
Why is my slot locked? What does it mean?
This question is answered in detail here.
Can I make a late payment?
That's just fine. Open a Support Ticket letting us know and we can temporarily stay the slot's removal. Remember that slots are removed 7 days after expiration, but we can't hold them if we do not know that you will be late. However, we will not hold slots for long amounts of time. This is to be used if you have a paycheck a few days away, or you are having issues with the selected payment processor. The time that the slot is expired will be removed from the new billing cycle once you renew.
How can I find my slot's IP address?
The IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of your slot are available by clicking the Info link on the Manage page.
Torrent Clients
Which torrent clients do you offer?
Deluge, rTorrent (with the ruTorrent front-end), and Transmission are the clients available by default. You can install other clients to your slot if able to do so without root access, as per our Software Installation Guidelines.
Can I run multiple torrent clients?
Yes. The website will track one instance of each client we offer. You may run additional instances of a given client by starting it through SSH with additional parameters specifying its unique configuration path.
Traffic Caps
What counts towards my traffic cap?
What does count towards your traffic cap:
Seeding torrents.
Most software that you run on your slot (IRC programs, Dropbox, etc), excluding Plex.
What does not count towards your traffic cap:
Everything else.
This includes downloading data through torrents, downloading data to your local computer, uploading data from your local computer to the server, streaming media through Plex, and using an SSH tunnel or OpenVPN to proxy your web browser and other programs.
What happens if I exceed my traffic allocation?
Upload speeds of userland processes will be throttled until the traffic resets on its monthly cycle. Officially the throttles are 6 Mbps for Legacy plans, 16 Mbps for HDD plans, and 32 Mbps for SSD plans, however we may experiment with the throttled values as we grow our networks and have more room for leniency.
Download speeds do not get throttled, nor does anything listed in the above section under "What does not count towards your traffic cap."
When does my traffic usage reset?
Traffic resets on a monthly cycle starting from when you purchased the slot. Renewing the slot does not reset the traffic.
User Settings
Can I change my email?
Yes, just head over to the Preferences page. Make sure the new email is valid and regularly checked.
Can I change my username?
We will not change usernames. If you need a new username, create an account with that username. Make sure to keep some remaining time on the old account so that you have time to transfer data (assuming you need or want to) from your old slot to the newly purchased slot on the new account.
Other
I have a question that I cannot find the answer to anywhere on the site. How can I get the question answered?
Open a Support Ticket and we will assist you with your question.