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Digital Darkside is a web hosting provider based in Trinidad & Tobago. We offer shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated servers with primary infrastructure in TT and a replicated node in Miami, USA. All accounts are managed via the WHMCS billing portal, and hosting is controlled through Hestia Control Panel.
We are the only hosting provider in the Caribbean offering TTD payment via local debit card — no credit card needed for TT residents.
Primary: Trinidad & Tobago, hosted in a TIA-942 Rated-3 certified data centre south of the Caribbean hurricane belt — one of the most geographically secure locations in the region. Connected to TTIX-2 internet exchange with 10 Gbps capacity and multiple carrier-neutral ISPs.
Replica: Miami, USA via the Equinix MI1 facility for redundancy and international connectivity.
We offer a 99.9% network uptime SLA on all hosting plans. This equates to less than ~8.7 hours of downtime per year. Planned maintenance is announced 48 hours in advance via email.
Check real-time infrastructure status at status.digitaldarkside.net.
We use two panels:
/whmcs/clientarea.phphttps://server.digitaldarkside.net:8083Your Hestia login is emailed automatically when your account is provisioned.
Shared Hosting: 7-day money-back guarantee. Contact support within 7 days of signup for a full refund.
VPS: No refund after provisioning, as dedicated resources are allocated to your account immediately.
Dedicated Servers: No refund after provisioning. We recommend contacting sales with questions before ordering.
Section 215 of the US Patriot Act grants the US government the ability to demand access to data stored within the US or by US-operating companies. Data hosted in Trinidad & Tobago is outside US jurisdiction and not subject to these provisions.
This is a significant advantage for businesses and individuals who need data privacy, particularly those operating in regulated industries or who serve Caribbean-region customers. Note: If you choose our Miami (USA) node, your data would be subject to US law.
Technical support is available 24/7. Billing support is Mon–Fri 8AM–6PM AST.
At checkout in the WHMCS portal, select "TTD — Local Payment" as your payment method. You'll be redirected to our secure local payment gateway where you can pay using your Trinidad & Tobago bank debit card online. No credit card, no foreign currency, no international transaction fees.
Annual plans can also be paid via direct bank transfer in TTD — contact billing for details.
TTD prices are calculated at the current USD/TTD exchange rate at the time of payment (approximately 6.80 TTD per USD). The exact TTD amount is shown at checkout before you confirm payment. We do not add any currency conversion surcharge — you pay the fair market rate with no markup.
Services are billed monthly or annually as selected at checkout. You'll receive:
Services not renewed within 3 days of the due date may be suspended. After 14 days of suspension, data may be permanently deleted. We strongly recommend paying promptly or contacting us if you have difficulties.
Upgrades are available at any time from your WHMCS client area. You'll be charged the pro-rated difference for the remainder of your billing cycle.
Downgrades: Shared hosting plans can be downgraded. VPS and dedicated server plans cannot be downgraded after provisioning — the resources are reserved. If you need a smaller plan, contact support to discuss your options.
Log in to your WHMCS Client Area, navigate to Services → My Services, select the service, and click "Request Cancellation". You can choose immediate or end-of-billing-period cancellation.
We recommend downloading a full backup of your data before cancellation. Data is not recoverable after a service is terminated.
Common reasons for payment failures:
If paying in TTD, ensure your debit card is enabled for online/e-commerce transactions (most TT banks require you to enable this separately). Contact your bank or submit a billing ticket if the issue persists.
Your Hestia login credentials are emailed automatically when your account is provisioned. The URL format is:
https://[your-server-ip]:8083
Or if your domain DNS is pointed to us: https://server.digitaldarkside.net:8083. Use the username and password from your welcome email. If you can't find your credentials, open a support ticket and we'll resend them.
mysite.com)Your website directory will be created at /home/[user]/web/[domain]/public_html/. Upload your files there via FTP/SFTP.
When adding or editing a domain in Hestia:
Important: Your domain's DNS must be pointing to your server IP before Let's Encrypt can issue the certificate. The process takes 1–2 minutes once DNS is resolving correctly.
Access webmail at https://server.digitaldarkside.net/webmail or configure your mail client using the settings in the Getting Started guide.
localhost)admin.2024-01-15.tar)Use an FTP client like FileZilla (free) or Cyberduck with these settings:
server.digitaldarkside.net (or your server IP)Upload your website files to /home/[user]/web/[domain]/public_html/
Use SSH from your terminal (Mac/Linux) or PuTTY (Windows):
ssh root@YOUR.SERVER.IP
Your IP address and root password are in your provisioning email. After connecting, immediately change your password:
passwd
We also recommend setting up SSH key authentication to disable password login — far more secure. See our Getting Started guide for step-by-step instructions.
Use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP):
remmina or xfreerdpYour IP, username (Administrator), and password are in your provisioning email.
Your VPS will not be suspended or throttled when you exceed your monthly transfer allowance. You'll continue running normally.
Overage is billed at $0.01 USD per GB at the end of your billing cycle. You'll receive email alerts at 80% and 100% of your allowance. Monitor usage in your WHMCS client portal.
Yes. From your WHMCS client area, navigate to your VPS service and select Reinstall OS. You can choose a different OS distribution at this point. Warning: this wipes all data on the VPS. Take a backup first.
Alternatively, submit a support ticket requesting an OS reinstall and specify the distribution you want.
From inside your VPS (Linux):
sudo reboot # graceful restart sudo poweroff # graceful shutdown
From WHMCS client portal: Go to your VPS service → Power Management → choose Reboot, Boot, or Shutdown.
If your VPS is unresponsive and you cannot SSH in, use the WHMCS portal for a forced reboot. If that doesn't work, submit a critical ticket.
Log in to your WHMCS Client Area → My Services → Select your VPS → Upgrade/Downgrade. Choose your new plan and complete payment. Upgrades are typically applied within 1 hour and may require a brief VPS reboot.
Note: VPS plans can be upgraded but not downgraded after provisioning.
Yes — Hestia CP is free and can be installed on any Linux VPS. Connect via SSH as root and run:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hestiacp/hestiacp/release/install/hst-install.sh bash hst-install.sh
Follow the on-screen prompts. Installation takes ~10 minutes. You'll then access Hestia at https://[your-ip]:8083 — the same interface as shared hosting.
Standard catalogue servers are provisioned within 24–72 hours of confirmed payment. Custom configurations may take longer depending on hardware availability. You'll receive email updates at each stage of provisioning. Rush provisioning may be available — contact sales to check.
Unmanaged: You receive the server with OS installed and root/admin access. All software, security, and OS maintenance is your responsibility. We handle hardware failures and network connectivity only. Best for experienced sysadmins.
Managed: We handle OS installation and hardening, security patching, monitoring, and emergency response. You focus on your application. Additional monthly fee applies.
Yes. IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) access is available on request for all dedicated servers. This gives you out-of-band management including KVM-over-IP console access, power control (boot, shutdown, reset), and hardware sensor monitoring — essential for OS recovery without needing physical access. Request via support ticket.
Yes. Use the custom server request form on our dedicated servers page, or email sales@digitaldarkside.net. We can configure specific CPUs, additional RAM, custom RAID arrays, extra drives, additional IP blocks, and hardware firewalls. We'll send a quote within 2 business hours.
Yes — all dedicated servers include unmetered bandwidth with no hard monthly cap. However, our fair use policy applies: sustained bandwidth usage averaging above 500 Mbps should be discussed with our team in advance. DDoS mitigation may temporarily rate-limit traffic during active large-scale attacks to protect infrastructure.
Use these settings in Outlook, Thunderbird, Gmail (as external account), or your phone:
mail.yourdomain.com · Port 993 · SSL/TLSmail.yourdomain.com · Port 995 · SSL/TLSmail.yourdomain.com · Port 587 · STARTTLSname@yourdomain.com)Access webmail (Roundcube) at:
https://server.digitaldarkside.net/webmail
Or directly via your domain (once DNS is set up):
https://mail.yourdomain.com
Log in with your full email address and your Hestia mail account password.
To improve email deliverability, configure these DNS records in Hestia:
v=spf1 ip4:[your-server-ip] -all_dmarc.yourdomain.com with policyAlso ensure you're not sending bulk unsolicited email, which violates our AUP. If a specific domain is blocking you, contact support and we'll investigate the IP reputation.
Forwarders: In Hestia → Mail → click your domain → click on the email account → add forwarding addresses in the "Forward to" field.
Aliases: Create additional email addresses that deliver to the same mailbox (e.g. info@ → admin@). Set this up in the same account settings screen.
Autoresponder: In the email account settings, enable "Autoreply" and write your auto-reply message with optional start/end dates.
Log in to wherever you registered your domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, TTNIC, etc.) and update the nameservers to:
ns1.digitaldarkside.net ns2.digitaldarkside.net
Alternatively, if you want to keep your registrar's nameservers, add an A record pointing your domain to your server IP address (found in your welcome email or WHMCS client area).
DNS propagation typically takes 15 minutes to 24 hours globally.
DNS changes typically propagate globally within 15 minutes to 4 hours for A record changes, and up to 48 hours for nameserver changes (though usually much faster). You can check current propagation status using tools like:
To speed up propagation, lower your domain's TTL (Time To Live) to 300 seconds (5 minutes) a few hours before making the change.
Method 1 — via Hestia Web tab: Add a new domain as sub.yourdomain.com (treat it as a new website). Hestia will create a separate document root and configure it automatically.
Method 2 — via Hestia DNS tab: Go to DNS → your domain → add an A record with the subdomain name pointing to your server IP (or a CNAME record pointing to another hostname).
Our support team is available 24/7 for technical questions. Average response time for technical tickets is under 30 minutes.