Site: https://fern.rf.gd/62.php
I used to be able to read the server uptime from /proc/uptime and then I couldn’t (probably due to tighter sandboxing), so the uptime on the reader was no longer accurate.
When it worked, I noticed the server was running for around 1 year straight. Well done 
Can you publish uptime somewhere so users can see how reliable the hosting is (I haven’t yet encountered downtime)?
Why look at the Server’s statistics? InfinityFree does say, pretty much everywhere, that they have a relible 99.9% Uptime.
Technically, you shouldn’t be querying the server for stuff like that. The server is used by many, and it’s purpose is to host many websites, including yours. “Poking” at the server, even if it just to check it’s runtime, isn’t allowed.
Oh, ok, thanks for letting me know.
The site below is not managed by InfinityFree, but shows uptime stats for the free hosting servers:
https://freehostinguptime.tinkerhost.net/
Due note that the page is relatively new, so there is no data more then a few months old (making long-term uptime ratios incorrect).
It’s likely that access to the /proc filesystem was blocked at some point. There is no good reason to be able to access it.
What do you suppose the /proc/uptime data will tell you?
All it tells you when the server was last rebooted. It doesn’t tell you how long it was down, and it doesn’t tell you anything about the plethora of other issues that could result in your website being down without the server itself actually shutting down.
Decades ago, nerds used to boast about “look how awesome I am, my server has been up for xxx days!”. Nowadays, keeping a server up for years is not that difficult (everything is more stable). But if you choose to do that, it generally means you’re behind on security updates and your procedures to maintain servers with minimal downtime are lacking.
Uptime metrics are not that useful for the most part. A server is a complex beast, and a hosting platform even moreso. There are plenty of issues that could happen that can make your website be “down” without the server itself being down.
Their main benefit is for companies who really want to stress that “99.9% uptime guaranteed” marketing, by just showing some numbers that omit the majority of issues that happen.
Really, the best way to know if hosting is reliable is through experience. Whether from yourself or from others (i.e. reviews). That’s a much more complete picture than whether a server is running.
Thanks @Greenreader9 and @Admin.
that page linked looks quite cool with it’s colours, graphs and more.
BTW, the only thing the /proc/uptime told me was time since restart and approx idle time (I didn’t find the idle time as useful so ignored it).
Definitely, uptime from restart isn’t the golden metric, though I was using it as a rough estimate to compare how often I have to restart, vs a professionally hosted server.
The key point is that you should regularly install and apply security updates, which may require a restart. And being able to restart a server with little to no service impact is also a good metric. There is no magic number that’s best for everyone.
Also, keep in mind that some hosting servers use software like KernelCare to apply OS updates without having to reboot, which may skew your metrics.
Definitely, updates keep sites more secure.
Live patching is awesome.
Restarting with minimal downtime is cool too, I’ve a feeling redundant servers can allow for it (along with other hardware / software redundancies)