Ask HN: Which VPS hosting do you use?

[remthename]

I don't have much experience with VPS hosting but all the companies seem similar enough. What companies have you had good experience with?

Note: I am looking at the cheapest solution at the moment but I would pay a bit more for quality.

[tdfx]

I've used SliceHost, Linode, and AWS, as well as some "no-name" providers. Linode is my top pick. I've thought about moving my stuff to AWS (due to the hourly vs monthly billing) multiple times but always ended up staying with Linode.

[remthename]

I should have added this as part of my original question but how easy is it to upgrade your hosting solution. Say I have a 20$ a month one but then one of my websites takes off and I need bigger and better. Is the transition painless?

[oomkiller]

Linode customer here. It really depends on your architecture, but I'd say it's just as easy to scale at Linode as it is with AWS. You can simply upgrade your linode, but that involves some downtime (depending on how much disk space you used). The other alternative is to setup a separate one then once you have everything switched over shutdown the old one.

[filipcte]

I'm using both http://www.intovps.com/ and http://www.linode.com/ currently, and I'm super-happy with both! IntoVPS is the cheapest VPS you can find, but their quality and uptime is outstanding. Linode... well... awesome.

[Swannie]

I don't have much experience with VPS either, but I'm using Linode and finding their platform super easy to use.

When I asked around my friends, http://www.wizzvps.com/ was recommended if I didn't need the 'support' of Linode.

[migrantgeek]

Having used Linode, SliceHost, and AWS I would say they are all about the same.

I had a severe crash at Linode years ago causing a complete loss of data. They did work with me for days trying to recover the filesystem and I found their support staff knowledgeable and helpful.

I never had problems with SliceHost so I don't know much about their support.

I'm using AWS because a reserved micro instance is super cheap at just under $10 and because I manage a much larger AWS infrastructure at work so it's nice to work with the same APIs for my own stuff and work. I also think the skillset is more transferable if you're learning.

[wladimir]

Like others in this thread, I have very good experience with Linode. I've used some local VPSs here, but Linode has the best specs for the price, and haven't had any reliability issues or mysterious out-of-memory issues with them.

[b3b0p]

For cheapest, I have yet to see something less expensive than prgmr. Luke, I'm not sure if he owns it or is just the main administrator is a member here.

http://prgmr.com/xen/

[lvvlvv]

I like them too. Cheap and simple.

[arctangent]

My first personal VPS was with Bytemark and we use them at work for our Disaster Recovery box in case our datacenters get hit by meteors or whatever. They're a good team and know what they're doing.

I have also spent a couple of years with Slicehost, who have excellent docs and a reliable service. It's fair to say that I learned most of what I know about syadmin stuff while hosted with Slicehost.

When Slicehost got bought out, I switched to their new parent RackSpace to get some experience with "cloud" stuff. It's working out very well so far. They're a bit cheaper than Slicehost.

[elithrar]

I've been using Slicehost for a while now — since May 2008, according to my email records. I use my slice mainly for development work, as a static media server (w/ nginx) and it has occasionally hosted the odd Django app.

It's been rock solid, they have a simple (yet great) administrative interface, and the two times I needed their support, I had a response within minutes (even at 2AM in the morning). Plus they contribute some great docs to budding sys admins and devs, and make it easy to pick up some sys admin basics. Very happy with them.

[wewyor]

Linode and arpnetworks are what I use at the moment. Arpnetworks is more on the cheap side but I use them only for freebsd and for linux I use linode (I was a customer of prgmr for a year before and only had 1 minor downtime with them for a hardware failure.)

[chopsueyar]

Was on Rackspace, thought about slicehost.com, but pricing wasn't that good.

I switched to Linode and have been very happy. Pricing is good, and bandwidth overage fees won't kill you.

[rublind]

Do you guys have any preference for hardware or software virtualization? (i.e. xen vs. openvz)

[migrantgeek]

Xen.

OpenVZ and Virtuozzo are more like chroot on steroids. Those technologies make it easier to oversell hardware and you'll often end up with some pretty crappy performance.

[regularfry]

Bytemark. I've used them for years.

Dislaimer: as of last month, I'm also employed by them.

[ZeroMinx]

I'm using Linode, London data centre, very happy with them.

[austinbirch]

I also use Linode, the London data centre. Very happy too.

[neeleshs]

Linode. No downtime so far, awesome support.

[raniskeet]

i'll go with either linode or slicehost.

[kvdr]

lowendbox.com is where I look for cheap experimental boxes.

[devan]

vps.net