Cloud Server IQ Tax: Don’t Fall into These Traps!

1.Summary

If you're a beginner with cloud servers, you might think many operations are pretty simple. However, you may have already fallen into the “IQ tax” trap. These seemingly small pitfalls can quickly waste both your money and time, and in some cases, completely derail your project.

When I first started using cloud servers, I made plenty of mistakes myself. Today, I’ll walk you through the most common traps, hoping you can avoid them and save yourself from some unnecessary hassle.

2.Spending Big Money on “Big Brands” and Wasting Resources

This happens all the time! A lot of newcomers think, “Big brands are more reliable,” so they jump straight into services like Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, or AWS, choosing the “popular configuration” – 4 cores, 8GB RAM, 100GB SSD, and 20M bandwidth, all for over 2000 yuan a year.

It seems like a powerful configuration, but if your project is just getting started and your website traffic isn’t high, you won’t even use up all these resources. In the end, you’re just wasting money.

My advice: For beginners, a 2-core 2GB or 1-core 2GB setup is more than enough. Start small, scale up as needed, and you’ll save a lot of money.

3.Opting for Cheap “Shared Bandwidth” and Experiencing Terrible Speeds

“10M bandwidth for just 9 yuan/month!” Sounds enticing, right? But if you see “shared bandwidth,” be cautious.

Shared bandwidth means you're sharing the same bandwidth with others. If someone else is downloading or running scripts, your access speed can drop below 1M, and your website could load as slowly as a PowerPoint presentation!

The better option: Choose “dedicated bandwidth.” Even a 5M dedicated connection is far more stable than 10M of shared bandwidth. If you want to avoid wasting traffic, always prioritize “dedicated” bandwidth.

4.Choosing a Rarely Used Node and Being Unable to Connect

“Middle Eastern nodes are cheap,” or “A certain state in the U.S. has cheaper nodes,” so you pick one... only to find your website loads extremely slowly, latency is high, and sometimes, even SSH connections fail. In some cases, the entire IP range may get blacklisted.

And the worst part? Some platforms don’t allow you to refund or switch regions for these rare nodes, so your money is just gone.

My suggestion: If you're based in Asia, stick to nodes in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, or Vietnam. They have optimized links and stable access, ensuring you don’t waste time or money.

5.Forgetting to Turn Off Unused Services and Watching Your Bill Skyrocket

Often, when testing or debugging, we leave services like snapshots, object storage, or old machines running. The system keeps charging you without you noticing, and before you know it, your bill goes up by hundreds of dollars.

I remember a friend who forgot to shut down a testing environment, and his bill went up by 300+ yuan in a month—all due to auto-billing.

Tip: Always remember to turn off services you no longer use, especially snapshots, backups, and bandwidth peaks. Some platforms, like VMRack, charge by the month, so if the machine is shut down, it won’t incur any costs—perfect for testing projects.

6.Always Using the Root Account, Leading to System and Security Issues

When I first started, like many newbies, I was too lazy to configure things properly and just used the root account. The result? My server got hacked, passwords were leaked, and the system was even hijacked to run mining scripts, causing the CPU to run at full load, which inflated the bill.

How to avoid this: Once the system is set up, immediately create a regular user account and disable root login. Set up anti-brute force tools like fail2ban, change the SSH port, and monitor traffic and CPU usage to prevent malicious activities like mining.

7.Conclusion

As a beginner with cloud servers, the most common mistake is being fooled by “big brands” and “high configurations.” Making the wrong choices will not only waste money but also affect the progress of your project. Remember: The best configuration and platform for you is the one that meets your needs. Don't just look at the brand and specs—think about your actual requirements, and choose the right bandwidth, nodes, and billing methods to maximize resource utilization.

Key Points:

• Don’t blindly pursue big brands; many mid-sized providers offer flexible configurations and high cost-performance.

• Start with lower configurations and scale up when your project truly requires it.

• Always prioritize “dedicated” bandwidth for better stability.

• Rare nodes may seem cheap but can bring many problems.

• Turn off unused services promptly to avoid unnecessary charges.

If you’ve already fallen into these traps, I totally get it—I was once a loyal customer of the “IQ tax”! Hopefully, this article will help you save some effort and avoid wasting money.