[clug] Linux VPS hosting recommendation (Linux Digest, Vol 99, Issue 30, Message 3)

[Miles Goodhew]

Anshul,

> Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:18:41 +1100
> From: Anshul Gupta <email.agupta at gmail.com>
> Message-ID: <F816BFD9-D865-44F8-B6DB-F940EC3477CD at gmail.com>
>
> I am looking for a Linux VPS hosting provider and I am just wondering if people have any recommendation and/or any disaster story.
>
> What is your experience with the provider you recommend or hate in the following areas:
> 1. Performance - ratio of VMs, steal time etc
> 2. Latency - Australian (~50ms - local peering arrangement, muti-homed etc) vs US (~250ms?)
> 3. Availability - downtime scheduled and unscheduled
> 4. Usability - bundled tools, cpanel, restrictions etc
> 5. Access - full root access, firewall etc
> 6. Features - Any other feature / functionality

  I've used a couple of these, but I should qualify that I've only
ever used them for personal/tinkering, nothing "business critical", so
they're all "bargain basement" options.

  I've heard http://ninefold.com/ is a good local option. I've never
used them (I'm too cheap for them). I thought they were a Canberra
operation, but the business is registered in Sydney.

  I have however used:

  * Dreamhost.com: No root access, no control over installed software
(Some version-diffs between host's software installations too). Shared
virtual servers w/ pretty good control over "sub-user" account and
group management, but you occasionally bump into other users this way.
Implausibly large bandwidth and storage limits (Always expanding too).
Reasonable response and throughput, given shared nature (Occasional
slow-downs from other users). "CPU-hog" processes get randomly &
automatically killed too (e.g. ffmpeg if it hangs-about too long).
  * vpslink.com Used to be good, but got bought-out and Ubuntu Linux
support was broken and never fixed (apt-get update results in a
mangled package repository). Root access and control over installed
software (apt-problems notwithstanding). ~260ms ping time from here.
Performance generally similar to Dreamhost AFAICR. DNS-service broken.
  * Amazon EC2: Really good performance. Fine-grained pricing and
control (also w/ related S3 storage, database servers, static-IP
products), good if you can manage and load-balance that, but too
complicated/expensive for a "set-and-forget" low-use server like I
wanted. Complications due to their "virtual everything" approach (e.g.
static-IP NATs to an RFC1918 address for the actual instance, etc.).
  * Damn::VPS (damnvps.com) - Similar to how vpslink used to be. Very
cheap. Readonable response (~175ms ping). Storage access seems
moderately slow. Occasional paging-delay it seems when accessing a
service for the first time after a long time away. Root access,
working package repository. Good storage and throughpout options (Not
as vast as Dreamhost though). Slightly fishy looking company structure
(Not sure of the point of the different brands)

  I currently use damn::vps for my US VPN access, etc.

M0les.


--
Miles Goodhew,
Executive Computer Scientist