Blog
Network notes, route updates, and product announcements from Riven Cloud.
8 Best Hosts in Singapore with China-Optimized Routing
Singapore comes up constantly in China-facing hosting discussions, but being hosted there doesn't guarantee good China routing. Here are eight providers with a genuine Singapore presence, and what to verify before choosing one.
CTGNet (CN2 GIA) vs. CUP vs. CMIN2: A Quick Comparison for China Routing
CTGNet (still widely marketed as CN2 GIA), CUP, and CMIN2 get used interchangeably in hosting marketing, but they're not all the same thing. Here's what each one actually is, which carrier runs it, and when it matters which one you pick.
6 Questions to Ask Before Trusting a Provider's CTGNet (CN2 GIA) Claims
CTGNet, still widely marketed under its former name CN2 GIA, gets printed on plenty of hosting pages that don't actually deliver it. Here are six questions worth asking any provider making that claim, and how to verify the answers yourself.
What Is "China-Optimized" Transit?
"China-optimized" gets used loosely enough in hosting marketing that it's worth pinning down what it actually means, carrier by carrier. Here's what China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile's own premium routes actually are, why standard transit performs poorly for China-facing traffic, and what the optimized versions actually buy you.
The 10 Best Self-Hosted Docker Apps in 2026
Our picks for self-hosted Docker apps worth running on a VPS, from Vaultwarden to Forgejo, with the security and upkeep trade-offs stated plainly.
How to Self-Host Actual Budget with Docker
Deploy Actual Budget 26.7.0 with Docker Compose and Caddy TLS, sync two clients, and rehearse the restore before you trust it with your finances.
How to Self-Host SearXNG with Docker
Deploy a private SearXNG instance with Docker Compose behind Caddy Basic auth, then make sure the limiter, backups, and upstream engines all behave.
How to Self-Host changedetection.io with Docker
Deploy changedetection.io 0.55.8 with Docker Compose and Caddy TLS, set the password before the domain goes live, and prove your backups restore.
How to Self-Host Forgejo with Docker
Deploy Forgejo 16.0.0 with Docker Compose and Caddy TLS, push over both HTTPS and SSH, and keep repository backups you have actually restored.