Posts Tagged ‘Linode’

Proud to be hosted by Linode

19.01.2011 17:20

I thought I’d show off some appreciation to my hosting provider today.

This year started a little slow for me, both in health and in economy. You know, Christmas shopping taking its toll on the credit cards. This also meant that the annual charge for my blog’s hosting didn’t go through. Usually, they give me 10 days to sort things out before they shut down my virtual server, but after a quick question to their support, I was able to extend that for a few more days (my payday is the 15th every month, and since January 15 was on the weekend, the payday is that Friday leading up to the weekend). Needless to say, 5 days ago, I paid off my annual hosting bill (for that virtual server), and shoulders went back into relax mode. It also gained a mountain of trust and friendliness towards my hosting provider.

Who is my hosting provider, you ask? Linode.com, of course. About a year ago, I set up my third virtual server with them at their newly-created datacenter in London, providing a perfect location for my blog to be hosted. It’s mid-way between my own location (Norway) and the US.

So what does Linode.com provide? They provide me with a virtual Linux server, which is almost as customizable as dedicated server, and I can set up all the software I want on it, as long as it’s legal to use. And since I have more than 1 virtual server with them, the bandwidth allowance is pooled together to combine one huge traffic allowance (800 GB total per month – and I’m nowhere near reaching that total yet).

If you know a little bit about Linux administration, I would certainly recommend getting a Linode.com server. They’re very flexible.

I’ve also used ProHosting in the past, and I still use them for my basic e-mail and some leftover sites to host.

Note: All my Linode.com links use my referral code, which gives me a small account credit ($20) per new customer that sticks around for more than 90 days. Then again, if you like fiddling around with Linux, you’ll probably be with them for a much longer time. And not to worry, if you don’t, you’ll be refunded for the time you don’t use (ie. if you paid for a month and decided to leave after only a week, you’ll be refunded for the remaining 23-24 days).

You can either use my referral code or not, I recommend them either way.

Hosting options?

01.10.2010 02:37

In my blog comment spam queue, I found a question about what my hosting provider was. It was probably just spam, as detected (which is why I’m still not letting the original comment through), but I thought I’d answer it anyway.

I’m using Linode as my hosting provider. I have three virtual Linux servers with them (two in Dallas, Texas, and one in London, UK). My blog in particular is hosted on the one in London – mainly because it’s “midway” between the US and Norway, where my intended audiences are located. I don’t have that many readers, I know, but you never know. Then again, I don’t get any comments to my posts (aside from about 30-40 spam comments a day, which are intercepted by the spam filter).

It’s a Linode 512, with 16 GB storage space, 512 MB RAM, 200 GB transfer per month (pooled against my other two Linode servers), all for $19.95 a month (plus a 10% discount for paying annually). I’m managing the server myself as if it was a full-fledged server

That spam post mentioned some provider having “unlimited” disk space and transfer, and I just have to say that any provider claiming this, is downright lying in their advertising. There’s just no such thing as unlimited disk space or transfer. You’ll always find limits to their “unlimited” buried deep in their terms and conditions. In the spam post, a provider was mentioned by name (which I’ll leave unnamed), and sure enough, deep in their terms and conditions, they reserve the right to suspend your account if they feel your disk or transfer usage is excessive. The only usage mentioned with actual defined amounts, regards downloading sites for “video, audio or other files” – where the download limit is 25 GB per month.

Point is, if a hosting provider promises unlimited space and/or transfer, pick someone else, or at the very least, be very skeptical.