Codesion FAQ

General Codesion Questions

EU Data Center Questions

Security Questions

Backup and Storage Questions


 
 

Why should I use a Subversion / Git hosting service like Codesion instead of doing it myself?  (back to top)

No matter how you rationalize it, you will save substantial amounts of time and dramatically reduce upfront costs by outsourcing to Codesion- 3,000 hours per year for the typical 10-person team, while also minimizing risk of data loss or corruption. Downtime, lost data, failed backups, permissions configuring (and re-configuring), patching and installing, cost you many hours each month to fix and maintain. Yes, technically you can do these tasks yourself, but how many half-days can you afford to lose on maintaining your own open source development infrastructure? Particularly when Enterprise-secure plans with Codesion start at $7 per month? Codesion ensures secure multi-site access, 10-minute backups, commercial support for your open source software, security-centric policies, and has even invested in Carbon-neutral green hosting. But don't take our word for it- try us out for 30 days, no credit card required, and see for yourself.

What would happen if Codesion were taken over as a company, or shut down its business?  (back to top)

Codesion is a profitable, enduring business. We have been running profitable operations since 2002, and in that time we have never lost any customer project code or data. From day one, Codesion has prioritized information security, investing large amounts of time and money to constantly improve. In the case Codesion were ever merged, acquired, or stopped trading, we guarantee that the customer will have a 90-day window to recover all project data. Codesion maintains cold customer backups on prepaid annual servers under a separate, arms-length contract with our hosting provider. Although this has no effect on how you would recover your projects, from an operational standpoint this allows us to guarantee you will have 90 days to recover your projects.

Who uses Codesion?  (back to top)

Codesion customers are typically innovative organizations who adopt efficiency-creating tools like open source software and Software as a Service (SaaS) to improve data security, reduce upfront costs, and facilitate secure distributed software development. We provide project hosting and collaboration services to thousands of:

  • Distributed software teams
  • Small to medium software businesses
  • Development groups within leading Enterprises, as well as whole-company deployments
  • Digital design agencies
  • IT consulting firms
  • Web development companies
  • Universities (Classes and departments, and research groups)
  • Governments, open source projects, and non-profit organizations

 

Can I upload an existing SVN repository to the Codesion service?  (back to top)

A: Yes, we allow users to upload svn repositories. For Subversion users on a plan that supports WebDAV (Network drive), we allow customers to upload an archive of their "svnadmin dump" file via WebDAV, we will then import your module under your account for you. For other users please contact support, and we'll send you a temporary FTP login where you can upload your module(s) archives. Please note, all customers must contact us at support so we know if there is an upload to process.

Are there any bandwidth limitations on the different account types for subversion?  (back to top)

Our official bandwidth limitations for different plan levels are available on the product comparison page, but historically no customers have every had their access restricted due to the limits, primarily because our customers are typically modifying very small file (source code). Even with large repository (20+ GB) multi-user accounts (100 developers) have not overloaded our servers or exceeded our bandwith quotas (typically 5TB per month per server).

How do I export my projects, for example if I wish to terminate my account?  (back to top)

Codesion does not lock customers in - you can leave at any time, and you will only be charged to the end your current subscription period (although paying for a year upfront earns you two free months). If you wish to exit, you may simply request a complete backup of each of your repositories- a DUMP file for SVN, and a tarball for Trac/Bugzilla.

Can I upgrade or change my plan at a later date?  (back to top)

We know your account needs change quickly, so we have designed a billing system that provides you the flexibility to change your subscription plan at the drop of a hat. Customers may upgrade your plan level or extend your subscription service at any time through your billing manager. Your billing cycle anniversary date is set on the first day you make a payment and never changes. This means that if you decide to upgrade halfway through a billing period, your invoice at the end of your billing cycle (i.e. month, quarter, or year) will reflect a pro-rated balance for the days you upgraded. Plan downgrades and cancellations can only be provisioned at the end of the billing cycle. This is because when a customer upgrades, we allocate upgraded server and/or human resources to cover that plan for the duration of the purchase.

How can I use manage user access to my projects, and do you offer fine-grained permission support?  (back to top)

Yes - you will use the Codesion graphical Access Control List (ACLs) editor to configure per-directory (or sub-directory) read/read-write/deny access for each user or user group that you create. See Red Bean for details of the per directory access control.

What operating systems and SVN / CVS clients are Codesion compatible with?  (back to top)

Codesion is platform-agnostic, and works with any operating system that has a Git, Subversion or CVS client available. These currently include: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, BSD.

Is there any command line access, e.g. to change hook scripts manually that check for certain property setting?  (back to top)

For security reasons, we offer limited svnadmin access via our web interface, although we can add customized changes at your request via a support ticket (Premium support customers only). We will not execute uploaded scripts without first checking and approving them. We cannot provide clients with direct command line access.

What is the URL of my online Codesion repositories (Git, Subversion, CVS, Trac)?  (back to top)

You will receive a Codesion-based URL for your business when you sign up, such as "node3.codesion.com/YourBusiness/". Alternatively, you may create your own-customized URL with our customizable domain name option, such as "svn.mycompany.com." Users do not get a unique IP address unless they opt for the "dedicated server" option.

Can I add a custom field to tickets in Trac?  (back to top)

Yes- please contact Codesion Support and we will add a custom field for you (customers of Premium Support only).

Why should I move my subversion repositories to the EU data center?  (back to top)

You will see significantly faster network access in Europe and parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia – on occasion better than 100% improvement.

Do I have to migrate all of my repositories at the same time or can I do them individually?  (back to top)

Yes- the migration includes all the repositories in your account. If you decide to migrate, all your repositories in the same Codesion account will be migrated.

How do I test the performance of the EU data center?  (back to top)

Use this link to guide you through the performance test, which compares checkout speeds for EU vs. US data centers. We’d love to know how it goes, post your results or submit them at support@codesion.com!

Is the EU data center hosting all of my Codesion services (i.e. Trac & Bugzilla) or just Subversion?  (back to top)

Only Subversion will be hosted in the EU data center. Other services will still be hosted in our US data centers. However, we plan to improve this in a near future.

Are there any Bandwidth limitations to this data center?  (back to top)

Our official bandwidth limitations for different plan levels are available on the product comparison page, but historically no customers have every had their access restricted due to the limits, primarily because our customers are typically modifying very small file (source code). Even with large repository (20+ GB) multi-user accounts (100 developers) have not overloaded our servers or exceeded our bandwith quotas (typically 5TB per month per server).

Is my quota going to change, if I migrate to the EU data center?  (back to top)

No.

Now that I've tested my speeds, how do I move my SVN repositories to the EU data center?  (back to top)

Please email us to support@codesion.com and request to be migrated to the EU SVN data center.

How long does the migration take?  (back to top)

We will schedule a 2-hour window for the migration, but unless your repositories are unusually large it will only take 15-30 minutes to actually migrate your data.

What are the disadvantages of moving to the EU data center?  (back to top)

The main disadvantages are:

  • Slower AJAX repository browser, which is used for the roles editor. It adds a one or two second delay.
  • Slower Trac, due to Trac's Subversion integration. This causes most Trac page loads to be a couple of seconds slower.
  • A slight commit delay of 5-10 seconds, which is caused by the delays in the pre- and post-commit hooks. With large commits the improved network speed makes up for this, but it might be noticeable with large numbers of small commits.

If you are located in the Americas or Australia (and possibly parts of Asia and Africa), you will also experience slower network access, so we recommend you stick with your current data center.

 

Can I migrate back to the US data center if I decide to do so?  (back to top)

We ask you to please test the performance before you make the decision to go to the EU data center, and if makes sense, voluntarily ask to be migrated. (see question about performance test). However, if you decide to go back, simple send us an email to support@codesion.com and request to be migrated back. Please include the reason why you would like to be migrated back to the US data center.

How can I trust that my valuable source code is stored securely with Codesion?  (back to top)

Codesion is a risk management and date security service provider for your valuable source code. Codesion Security ensures that:

  • Security policies and procedures are reviewed every 6 months
  • Only authorized Codesion administrators have shell access to Codesion servers
  • All Codesion servers are physically housed in Tier-III datacenters, protected by hardware/software firewalls
  • 3rd party applications are regularly updated with the latest security patches and/or versions
  • Customers may only access their repositories via secure protocols (e.g. HTTPS for Subversion & Git)
  • Project backups are taken every 10-minutes to hot & cold onsite/offsite servers connected via a private subnet
  • Backup servers are pre-paid 12-months in advance, ensuring that customers will always have at least 60 days to recover lost data
  • Emergency Response "firedrills " are performed at least once every six months

 

Is the Codesion architecture and system verified by an external third-party security auditor?  (back to top)

Not currently, but we will be hiring an external security auditor in the coming quarter to review our infrastructure and architecture, and will publish those results. Our datacenter, where our servers are housed, is SAS-70 compliant (Softlayer.com). Our subscription billing and credit card processing facilities are managed by Zuora.com, a PCI-compliant online billing vendor.

Are customer passwords encrypted?  (back to top)

Yes at two levels: secure transfer of data using SSL, and encrypted password storage.

How are Codesion repositories backed up, and how are the backups secured?  (back to top)

Codesion backs up up all customer data every 10 minutes via our 10/100 Total Backup System. Backups are made to a multiply redundant, active/static multi-site archiving system. Hot backups are taken to live failover servers (on-site) that can be re-deployed in under 30 minutes if required. Cold backups are pushed to an offsite datacenter within our provider network, and if required can be deployed to new or existing live server clusters within 60 minutes. Finally, customers can take advantage of our Total Backup service and download Codesion repositories to your own on-premise servers daily.

Can I backup my projects to my own local servers?  (back to top)

The downloadable backup is a dump file for each service that has one, otherwise a tarball of the data for that service. For Subversion it's a dump file. For Trac it's a tarball.

Can I delete older revisions or repositories to free up storage space?  (back to top)

The short answer is no. The way Subversion and CVS work is that they keep an entire history of changes, including deleted files, binary files, etc. Each revision is dependent on the last revision, so you can't just chop out a revision somewhere in the middle or you corrupt your repository. There are 2 things you can do if you are running out of space: 1) Delete your module, and re-create it using just the HEAD revision, which will clear out all old revisions (but you will lose your commit history). 2) The better option- upgrade to a higher plan :-). This is less of an issue with Git since it has a much less server side storage requirement.

How much does additional storage cost?  (back to top)

See our Optional Extras page for pricing. But our general philosophy is to offer plans that fit your needs. If you find yourself needing a large amount of extra storage, you'll probably be better off upgrading to a higher level plan than to buy an equivalent amount of extra storage, which will translate into a range of valuable extra services and higher support priority.

What protection do you have against repositories becoming corrupt?  (back to top)

Subversion & Git repositories are generally very robust, and complete corruption is rare due to the way that SVN handles commits. Subversion stores each svn commit as a separate file. When you make a new commit, it does not modify the files that store previous commits, which means that even if one commit became completely corrupted, you would be able to recover your repository mostly intact. All repositories stored on Codesion are multiply-backed up to offsite datacenters, ensuring that even a hardware failure or natural disaster at your primary-stored center would not endanger your valuable project data. And Codesion's unique 10/100 Backup system allows you to roll back to restore points up to 100 days in the past, prior to the date of corruption.

 

 
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