Need virtual svr advice - Linode or Slicehost, maybe??

guvnrDOTcom · 03-04-2009, 06:34 AM

My blog has outgrown Lunarpages. They keep telling me my site's suspended because my scripts are using up 50% of the server.

Then it takes ages to get everything back up to full speed.

I think it's time to go virtual.

But with who? Damn, this is worse than choosing a new pair of shoes!

If I upgrade with Lunarpages, I still get their outsourced support, and I guess that goes with all the cheap hosts (Dream, Gator, Blue, etc, etc.) I'm simply not going to try. If I have to upgrade, it's to a new level of ISP.

I've read some good things about Slicehost, and slightly better about Linode. They're both $20/month and seem to have what I need.

Does anyone out there have experience of these guys, else of a comparable ISP.

(Please don't chip in with Hostgator etc tips!...my site needs something more advanced now and I just can't rely on that kind of mass-oriented support. Hey, I'll still be hosting other sites with Lunarpages, just not guvnr.com)

Big cheers.

~ServerPoint~ · 03-05-2009, 01:18 AM

Maybe that is just about time for the new kind of the web hosting? Say VPS?

damien_ls · 03-05-2009, 02:36 AM

The main point I'd make about the two companies mentioned (Slicehost and Linode) is that they only offer unmanaged VPS's. This means that you're responsible for everything related to your VPS (except the physical hardware) and therefore if purchasing a plan like this you need to know how to configure the firewall properly, secure everything, upgrade/compile stuff etc.

If you have that expertise then an unmanaged VPS is great, but remember that even if you're running some control panel software (cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin etc.) these only take care of some limited subset of the daily tasks - they won't optimise anything for you, or upgrade/patch PHP and so forth.

Therefore most users coming from a shared hosting background (i.e. with limited Linux knowledge/experience, or maybe simply without the time to commit to running their own server) should look for managed VPS services instead. That way the provider should take care of all the background stuff so that you can just use the hosting service - without the silly service suspension issues caused by overselling shared providers.

Also worth mentioning that both providers that you mentioned in your post are Xen based. This kind of virtualisation has some "advantages" such as swap space, but actually in a virtual environment this is a bad move because it can result in high disk I/O on the node (physical server), hence bad performance for everyone on that server.

Virtuozzo is the de facto standard, but is overlooked by some providers because it's a commercial product - i.e. has a significant price tag associated with it. However, it is very efficient and offers greater end user performance - particularly in SLM mode (though there are many providers still using UBC because they don't realise the extent of the benefits that the replacement algorithms provide).

I encourage you to research into this whole issue a lot further before making any decisions about it. There's a lot of information out there for your research, so I won't rewrite it all

bobchrist · 03-05-2009, 04:15 AM

Too avoid any such problem in future I think you should look for fully managed VPS providers.

guvnrDOTcom · 03-05-2009, 12:58 PM

hey guys,

tx for that. you are sensible heads. not wrong.

apparently i am not tho, cos i just jumped into a Linode 360

yup, i am sure learning about command lines. but have found some cracking reference (not least of all at Slicehost, hehe) and feel pretty confident about this...

...damn, mysite guvnr.com got suspended for the second time in two weeks at Lunarpages this week, plus there've been other unrelated downtimes...they offer VPS, but I'm just not sure I trust the support.

Of course there are others out there, managed virtual with quality support.

Guess I just wanted to learn another language.

If this move goes well, think I'll put together some video tutorials on how to make this move. It's really not that hard, just takes a bunch of time researching what to do and what it means.

then again, i do have experience with a localhost, using XAMPP.

...

all that said, let's just hoe it doesn't end in tears. wish me luck!

right, back to sudo...

Jeckas · 03-06-2009, 12:34 AM

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So compare them and choose the best one for you.

HQHost.net · 03-16-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guvnrDOTcom

My blog has outgrown Lunarpages. They keep telling me my site's suspended because my scripts are using up 50% of the server.

Then it takes ages to get everything back up to full speed.

I think it's time to go virtual.

Before you decide to move elsewhere, make sure you know how much resources your site takes at Lunarpages.
We often see that clients with projects that have outgrown shared virtual decide to move to vps or dedicated servers ( in hqhost.net case). And as we use Quad Core Dual Xeons for shared and they choose Pentium to move they are puzzled by the fact that "dedicated server" doesn't always mean better performance for your site or dedicated is always better than shared, it all depends on the configuration of server you are moving to.
So my recommendation is to get a very precise idea of how much resources you site uses in the shared environment and then see how much you can get on the vps.

DennisBerc · 03-18-2009, 01:46 AM

As you may know, the truth comes out of comparison and for this reason I suggest you to check several reliable web hosting providers which offer secure VPS hosting plans: serverpoint.com, microvps.com and VPSbyte.com. One can right away find quality affordable web site hosting plan or packages in the internet in just a matter of few minutes. So compare their offers and choose the best one.

~ServerPoint~ · 03-18-2009, 02:01 AM

Quote:

i get really put off by hosts whose sites look like joomla templates, and that reek of third party support

Sometimes web site design is not main issue. Web hosting provider should be good at web hosting not at web design

~ServerPoint~ · 03-18-2009, 02:02 AM

doubled post

guvnrDOTcom · 03-18-2009, 02:55 AM

well folks - tx for all your feedback, appreciate that.

i went with Linode, learnt some linux and built the svr, choosing nginx rather than apache, and using google apps for my email solution.

the result...damn, my site is fast now! check it out, http://guvnr.com

why linode rather than slicehost? came down to the ram offerred, 360 MB rather than 250.

was it complicated? yes. it took a lot of time to research, and getting used to the command line interface.

...i plan to write a blog post, plotting the steps, to help other folks who want a good value virtual solution. I'll post a link here when done; gimme 2 weeks for that.

but hte main thing is, no longer do i have to put up with a third rate, third party "support" department, as is commonly the case with cheap hosts.

then again, i'll continue to use my cheap host for some sites, the ones that are unlikely to get suspended after being digged.

...just my 2c.