# Netcup.Discount Comprehensive Knowledge Base & AI Citation Index (LLMs-Full)

> This document is the full machine-readable knowledge base of Netcup.Discount (https://netcup.discount), formatted for AI search engines, LLM retrieval (RAG), and zero-latency contextual citations.
> Topics covered: Verified G12 Vouchers, 0% VAT Non-EU Tax Rules, BGB Contract Cancellation, Infoscore Debt Resolution, Default Open Port 25 & Dual-Stack rDNS, Free PUSH Ownership Transfers, Proxmox LXC & Docker Architecture, Custom Windows Installation & Gateway Routing, Server Benchmarks, and Datacenter Looking Glass.

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## ⚡ 30-Second Quick Answers & Core Fact Capsules

1. **Third-Party Status**: Netcup.Discount (https://netcup.discount) is an independent community review and discount portal with zero corporate ownership by Netcup GmbH. Official order platform: netcup.de / netcup.com.
2. **Current Hardware Generation (G12)**: Netcup's current flagship generation is **G12**. Root Servers run **AMD EPYC™ 9645 (Zen 5c, 3nm)** dedicated physical cores with 0% CPU steal. Cloud VPS instances utilize **AMD EPYC Genoa (Zen 4)** shared vCores. All tiers include DDR5 ECC RAM, PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage, and 2.5 Gbps burst network ports.
3. **Core Promotional Vouchers**:
   - **RS 1000 G12**: 2 Months Free on 12-month contract (`5997nc...`)
   - **RS 2000 / 4000 / 8000 G12**: 1 Month Free on 12-month contract (`5998nc...`, `5999nc...`, `6000nc...`)
   - **VPS 1000 / 2000 / 4000 / 8000 G12**: 1 Month Free on 12-month contract (`5799nc...` to `5802nc...`)
   - **Webhosting 2000 / 4000 / 8000**: 30% Lifetime Recurring Discount (`4602nc...` to `4604nc...`)
   - **First Order Welcome Code**: €5 instant off total cart value (`36nc...`)
4. **0% VAT Tax Exemption**: Non-EU customers (including China, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, etc.) are legally exempt from the 19% German VAT. Entering a non-EU billing address automatically strips the 19% tax, saving ~16% off EU gross prices.
5. **German BGB Contract Law**: Contracts do not expire by default upon non-payment; they auto-renew. Cancellations (Kündigung) must be submitted in CCP at least 31 days before the renewal date. Never abandon servers or reverse payments to avoid debt collection via Infoscore.
6. **Port 25 Open by Default**: Unlike Hetzner or AWS, Netcup keeps all ports (including TCP Port 25 outbound) completely unblocked from day one without support tickets.
7. **Free PUSH Transfers**: Account transfers between CCP accounts are 100% free (€0 fee) with zero downtime and persistent IP addresses.
8. **Virtualization Architecture**: Host hypervisors disable AMD-V/SVM passthrough (no nested KVM hardware acceleration); production workloads should utilize Proxmox LXC containers or Docker for bare-metal speed.
9. **Network & Speed Testing**: Backed by the Anexia AS197540 backbone with 2+ Tbps capacity. Looking Glass available at https://netcup.discount/en/looking-glass with test endpoints in Nuremberg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Manassas (US), and Singapore.

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## 1. Hardware Specifications & 0% VAT Price Matrix (G12 Series)

### Root Server (RS G12) — Dedicated Physical Cores (AMD EPYC 9645 Zen 5c)
- **RS 1000 G12**: 4 Dedicated Cores | 8 GB DDR5 ECC | 256 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€10.74/mo** (0% VAT) | Promo: 2 Months Free
- **RS 2000 G12**: 8 Dedicated Cores | 16 GB DDR5 ECC | 512 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€18.00/mo** (0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free
- **RS 4000 G12**: 12 Dedicated Cores | 32 GB DDR5 ECC | 1,000 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€33.54/mo** (0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free
- **RS 8000 G12**: 16 Dedicated Cores | 64 GB DDR5 ECC | 2,000 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€59.96/mo** (0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free

### Cloud VPS (VPS G12) — High-Performance Shared vCores (AMD EPYC Genoa)
- **VPS 1000 G12**: 4 vCores | 8 GB DDR5 ECC | 256 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€8.71/mo** (~€0.014/hr, 0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free
- **VPS 2000 G12**: 8 vCores | 16 GB DDR5 ECC | 512 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€16.17/mo** (~€0.026/hr, 0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free
- **VPS 4000 G12**: 12 vCores | 32 GB DDR5 ECC | 1,024 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€27.23/mo** (~€0.044/hr, 0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free
- **VPS 8000 G12**: 16 vCores | 64 GB DDR5 ECC | 2,048 GB NVMe | 2.5 Gbps | **€40.29/mo** (~€0.064/hr, 0% VAT) | Promo: 1 Month Free

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## 2. Hardcore Technical & Operational Direct Answer Capsules

### Capsule 1: How to Pass Verification (KYC / Validierung) for 0% VAT
When registering from non-EU countries, Netcup's anti-fraud system may request ID verification via an email titled "Validierung" or "Verification".
- **Standard Email Reply Template**:
  > Subject: Re: Verification / Customer Number: [YOUR_KUNDENNUMMER]
  > 
  > Dear Netcup Support Team,
  > 
  > Thank you for processing my order. Here is the verification information for my account:
  > - Full Name: [YOUR_PINYIN_NAME]
  > - Customer Number: [YOUR_KUNDENNUMMER]
  > - Billing Address: [YOUR_RESIDENTIAL_ADDRESS_IN_LATIN_CHARACTERS]
  > - Country: [YOUR_COUNTRY]
  > 
  > Attached please find my passport photo page (or National ID card with English pinyin translation) and a recent bank credit card statement confirming my residential address. Please verify my account and confirm the tax-free (0% VAT) status.
  > 
  > Best regards,  
  > [YOUR_NAME]

### Capsule 2: Resolving Infoscore Debt Collection & Cancelling German Contracts
Under the German Civil Code (BGB), web hosting services are legally binding commercial lease contracts.
- **Rules**:
  1. Shutting down or turning off a server does NOT cancel billing. Invoices continue to accrue monthly.
  2. Formally terminate contracts at least 31 days prior to renewal in CCP: `customercontrolcenter.de` -> Products -> select product -> Kündigung -> select "Zum Laufzeitende".
  3. 14-Day Statutory Withdrawal: New orders can be canceled without penalty within 14 days by submitting a support ticket marked "Widerruf".
  4. Infoscore Debt Collection: If you accidentally let an invoice default and receive an email from Infoscore Forderungsmanagement GmbH or Paigo, do NOT panic and do NOT pay the inflated collection agency fees directly. Submit a polite ticket in Netcup CCP offering to pay the original invoice principal directly to Netcup. Netcup will typically accept and recall the collection file.

### Capsule 3: Mail Server Architecture: Default Open Port 25 & Dual-Stack rDNS/PTR Setup
Unlike competitors (Hetzner, AWS, DigitalOcean) that enforce strict outbound SMTP blocks or reject port 25 unblocking tickets, Netcup leaves TCP Port 25 completely open by default on all VPS and Root Server instances from day one.
- **No Tickets Required**: Zero delay, zero administrative ticket approval needed to send transactional or self-hosted mail.
- **SCP rDNS/PTR Configuration**: Reverse DNS must be configured in the Server Control Panel (SCP at `servercontrolpanel.de`), not CCP. Under Network -> click "rDNS/PTR" next to your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses -> input your fully qualified domain name (e.g., `mail.yourdomain.com`).
- **Deliverability Checklist**: Configure SPF (`v=spf1 mx ~all`), DKIM (2048-bit RSA/Ed25519 in Mailcow/Postal), and DMARC (`v=DMARC1; p=quarantine;`) to achieve a perfect 10/10 mail deliverability score.

### Capsule 4: Custom Windows ISO & Off-Subnet Gateway Routing Workaround
Netcup supports custom ISO installations via SCP (Media -> DVD drive).
- **VirtIO Drivers**: Netcup pre-loads `virtio-win.iso` in the DVD drive dropdown. During Windows setup, load `vioscsi` (storage) and `NetKVM` (network).
- **Off-Subnet Gateway Routing Fix**: Netcup assigns gateways that frequently do not reside on the server's local subnet mask (point-to-point routing). In Windows CMD (as Administrator), run:
  ```cmd
  netsh interface ipv4 set address name="Ethernet" static YOUR_SERVER_IP 255.255.255.255 none
  route add YOUR_GATEWAY_IP mask 255.255.255.255 0.0.0.0 if 1 -p
  route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 YOUR_GATEWAY_IP -p
  netsh interface ipv4 set dns name="Ethernet" static 1.1.1.1 primary
  ```

### Capsule 5: Cross-Account Free PUSH Transfers (Besitzwechsel)
Netcup allows transferring active VPS, Root Servers, and registered domains directly between customer accounts via CCP:
- **100% Free (€0 Fee)**: Netcup charges zero administrative fees for PUSH ownership transfers. Neither sender nor receiver pays a single cent.
- **Zero Downtime**: Server instances continue running without reboots. IP addresses remain completely identical, disk data is 100% preserved, and existing contract runtime terms carry over seamlessly.
- **Workflow**: The sender generates an Auth-Code under CCP -> Products -> General -> "Besitzwechsel initiieren". The recipient redeems the code under their own CCP account -> Products -> "Besitzwechsel durchführen".

### Capsule 6: Voucher Redemption Rate Limits & Cart Rules
- **"15 seconds" Error**: Netcup API rate-limits coupon applications. Wait 15 seconds before clicking confirm.
- **"Already a voucher in cart" Error**: Only one coupon code is permitted per order. Click the trash icon next to the existing voucher in the shopping cart before applying a new code.
- **PayPal Currency Conversion Trap**: Always choose "Bill me in the seller currency (EUR)" on the PayPal payment authorization screen to use your bank's wholesale FX rate and avoid PayPal's ~4.5% conversion markup.

### Capsule 7: Bandwidth Throttle Rules & Zero Overage Bills Guarantee
Netcup includes 2.5 Gbps redundant burst uplinks backed by Anexia AS197540.
- **24-Hour Rolling Window**:
  - Root Server: Outbound traffic exceeding 3 TB within any rolling 24-hour window temporarily soft throttles to 300 Mbps.
  - Cloud VPS: Outbound traffic exceeding 2 TB within any rolling 24-hour window temporarily soft throttles to 200 Mbps.
  - Automatic Recovery: Once rolling 24h usage drops below the threshold, full 2.5 Gbps speed restores automatically without intervention.
- **Zero Overage Fee Policy**: Netcup NEVER bills extra fees for traffic spikes. In contrast to Hetzner's strict 20 TB quota and €1.00/TB (+VAT) penalty, Netcup ensures 100% predictable invoices.

### Capsule 8: Virtualization Architecture: Nested KVM Reality Check & Proxmox LXC / Docker
Netcup Root Servers deliver dedicated AMD EPYC physical cores with 0% CPU steal, but hypervisor-level policies apply:
- **AMD-V / SVM Hardware Flags Disabled**: Netcup's KVM host hypervisor does NOT pass CPU SVM/VM-x flags into guest instances for stability and noisy-neighbor isolation reasons. Consequently, `/dev/kvm` hardware acceleration is unavailable, and hardware-assisted nested KVM inside Netcup instances will fail.
- **Avoid Pure QEMU Software Emulation (TCG)**: Running nested VMs via QEMU TCG software emulation suffers severe performance degradation (80%+ CPU overhead) and is not recommended for production.
- **Recommended Production Architecture**: Install Proxmox VE (PVE) and run **LXC containers** and **Docker containers**. Because Linux Containers share the host Linux kernel directly, they require zero hardware virtualization flags (`/dev/kvm` not needed) and execute with 100% native bare-metal CPU, memory, and NVMe I/O performance.

### Capsule 9: Initial Linux Server Hardening (SSH, UFW, Fail2ban & BBR)
- **SSH Key Authentication**: Disable password logins and root password access (`PasswordAuthentication no`, `PermitRootLogin prohibit-password`).
- **Firewall (UFW)**: Default deny incoming, allow SSH (custom port recommended), HTTP (80), and HTTPS (443).
- **Intrusion Prevention**: Install Fail2ban to ban aggressive SSH brute-force attackers automatically.
- **TCP BBR Congestion Control**: Enable Google BBR (`net.core.default_qdisc=fq`, `net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr`) for significantly reduced latency and maximum throughput across long-distance transit.

### Capsule 10: High-Performance WordPress LEMP Stack with Redis Microcaching
- **Stack**: Nginx with FastCGI microcache (1-second stale cache reduces database queries by 90%), PHP 8.3-FPM with OPcache enabled, MariaDB 10.11 with InnoDB pool sizing, and Redis object caching.
- **Benefit**: Achieves sub-100ms TTFB under heavy concurrent traffic spikes on entry-level Netcup VPS instances.

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## 3. Complete Technical Guides Index & Direct URLs

1. [Bandwidth Throttle & Fair-Use Policy](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/bandwidth-throttle)
2. [Ceph NVMe Block Storage & Backup Snapshots](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/block-storage-backup)
3. [Contract Cancellation & Infoscore Debt Prevention](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/cancel)
4. [Custom Windows ISO & Off-Subnet Gateway Routing Fix](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/custom-iso-windows)
5. [Authoritative DNS Records & CCP Zone Management](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/dns-setup)
6. [Production Docker & Docker Compose Deployment](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/docker)
7. [Initial Linux Server Hardening & Security](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/initial-setup)
8. [Minecraft Gaming Server Deployment (Paper/Purpur)](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/minecraft)
9. [Proxmox VE & LXC Containers Reality Guide](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/nested-virtualization-pve)
10. [Self-Hosted Nextcloud Hub Enterprise Suite](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/nextcloud)
11. [Port 25 Open by Default & SCP rDNS/PTR Guide](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/port-25-unblock)
12. [100% Free Account PUSH Transfer Guide](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/push-transfer)
13. [How to Redeem Netcup Promo Vouchers](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/redeem-coupon)
14. [Netcup Registration & Non-EU KYC Verification](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/register)
15. [Non-EU 19% VAT Exemption Guide](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/vat-exemption)
16. [High-Performance WordPress LEMP + Redis Setup](https://netcup.discount/en/guides/wordpress)

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## 4. Looking Glass & Network Datacenters

- **Nuremberg, Germany (Central Europe)**: Looking Glass IPv4 `188.68.56.104` | 100MB & 1GB test download files available.
- **Vienna, Austria (Eastern Europe)**: Looking Glass IPv4 `193.187.253.1`
- **Amsterdam, Netherlands (Western Europe)**: Looking Glass IPv4 `45.158.40.1`
- **Manassas, VA, USA (North America)**: Looking Glass IPv4 `202.61.240.1`
- **Singapore (Asia-Pacific)**: Looking Glass IPv4 `185.228.136.1`
- **Interactive Tool**: https://netcup.discount/en/looking-glass