[mikkom]

I have a dedicated server in Hetzner and I don't understand what this means. How do they decide when the server is "used"? Based on CPU allocation? SSH sessions? HTTP traffic? Power?

It's easy to shut down virtual servers and continue from the same position. It's not that easy to do the same for servers.

The linked page is very unclear about this.

[boredpudding]

If you have a dedicated server, you'll just be paying the monthly price. It's always in use.

If you decide to stop completely with the server halfway through the month, you'll pay for the hours.

Of course, a shut down server that's yours is still yours and you'll be billed for it.

[dmw_ng]

I'm not so sure about this, their description specifically calls out one-time-only costs like domain registrations as being the only things excluded. Cautiously optimistic in addition to the recent reappearance of new GPU models being offered to existing customers, Hetzner may be prepping an hourly-billed bare metal GPU product at a great price

Hetzner bare metal already deploys in a couple of minutes when renting existing hardware, and there is plenty of precedent for hourly-billed bare metal services around. I think they're intending to move all their bare metal over to hourly billing.

[sdwr]

On the cloud product listing they make it pretty clear that "in use" means "allocated" and not "consuming electricity". Pretty sure their fees are staying the same, and we are still paying for every hour a server exists.

[pretext-1]

„Used“ means as long as you rent them / as long as they’re assigned to your account / as long as you have access. Dedicated servers are physical objects in the real world, contrary to virtual servers they don’t stop „to exist“ just because they’re no longer yours.

Previously you could only rent physical servers for an entire month. If you’re doing this the price is still the same. But going forward it will be possible to rent for a portion of the month only (x amount of hours).

[devrand]

It seems pretty clear to me:

> How precisely does Hetzner calculate the hourly billing?

> The beginning of the hourly billing starts as soon as the product becomes available to you.

So for a dedicated server you start paying once the server has been commissioned to you. You stop paying once you return it.

[c0balt]

If I understand correctly your cost will stay the same. The bill for march might be a bit different but the total cost should be identical. Their usage will also stay the same-ish with usage = allocation for CPUS, Ram and storage.

[Vvector]

"If you use a product for the whole month, we will continue to invoice you for the same monthly amount as always."

[tiffanyh]

> How do they decide when the server is "used"?

If you turned on the server, it's being used.

[remram]

https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/billing/faq/

> Do you bill servers that are off?

> Yes. Until you, the customer, delete your servers, we will bill you for them, regardless of their state.

[lopkeny12ko]

A server that is simply turned on does not necessarily mean it is "in use."

[corobo]

A server that can't be sold to someone else is in use

[foofie]

I think you're getting lost in semantic games. Cloud providers sell you access to their computational resources. When you pay for a server, you're paying for the right to access that server and do what you wish to do with it. Much like when you rent a car, you still pay for it if you keep it parked.

[michaelmior]

This is true, but it still may be how Hetzner decides usage. I'm not sure if this is the case, but it seems pretty reasonable when you're talking about bare metal.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

Whatever that means, you will pay more.

[RobAley]

No, you'll max pay the same. May pay less.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

Wonna bet?

[tpetry]

They‘ve stated clearly that you pay the same. Its just calculating stuff differently that you can now remove a dedicated machine mid-month and get the remaining time‘s money back. Which wasnt the case until now.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

Why would they do that and lose money? Apparently, they plan to charge more and push you to cloud services, which are more lucrative.

[asyx]

They have been using this business model for years for their VPS products and Hetzner has slowly been moving to unify their products because it's such a disjointed mess right now.

Like, it's completely unreasonable to expect to pay more.

[StressedDev]

They are doing it to stay competitive. Remember, cloud computing is a highly competitive market and customers can and do switch providers.

[sodality2]

This is actually revenue-loss for them as canceling a dedicated server in the middle of the month will no longer result in a full month charge...

[jeltz]

Sure, I could bet $1000.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

Bet accepted, term: 1 year.