I wouldn't recommend the Dreamhost VPS over Linode, and I'm a solid Dreamhost user and supporter of their shared hosting.
The tradeoff would be performance vs convenience. Linode will do what you want better and more reliably, but Dreamhost has more in place to help you out with managing the VPS.
That is what I would make the call based on if I were you. The fact that I dived head-first into Linux administration with Slackware in the 90s probably explains my choice.
Also keep in mind that with a VPS, the RAM is not userspace limits like on a shared host you are used to, but your virtual box.
So that RAM is needed for the OS, services, etc. etc.
Just doing something as straightforward as a couple Tomcat style apps requires 1024MB just not to thrash the swap image. Not surprising I guess since Java isn't the most efficient of systems but there you go.
1024MB Linode costs $40/month, 1024MB with Dreamhost costs $51.25/month, and with Linode I can pick the OS image (I'm using Ubuntu LTS), control the services, etc.
It gives me the peace of mind knowing that all issues I run into can be resolved by (a) increasing the performance with $$ or (b) configuration/software. I am not tied in or restricted in any fashion when it comes to (b) since I'm doing it all myself. From past projects, nothing sucks more than running into scaling issues and finding out your current infrastructure has to be abandoned to deal with it.
I'd consider something like a common Linode chain that several people pitch in for and a couple experienced admins (I'd volunteer) manage.
We pool some money and get a resource budget, then allocate some VPSes. People get their own portion of resources as a fully controlled server, the core admin can help with the OS/setup/installs/updates so that people who need a custom VPS but don't know how to manage it can get what they need.
Probably a good way to cheaply and easily get in on some VPS for hobby/side projects. You can easily migrate to your own Linode account, leave the nest so to speak, if you needed to.
I'd consider something like a common Linode chain that several people pitch in for and a couple experienced admins (I'd volunteer) manage.
We pool some money and get a resource budget, then allocate some VPSes. People get their own portion of resources as a fully controlled server, the core admin can help with the OS/setup/installs/updates so that people who need a custom VPS but don't know how to manage it can get what they need.
Probably a good way to cheaply and easily get in on some VPS for hobby/side projects. You can easily migrate to your own Linode account, leave the nest so to speak, if you needed to.
Hrmmm, is there interest in that?
I don't need it, but I'll chip in if there is interest.
Also, I do like the idea, just not sure how much development people do out of the workplace. Still, it could certainly be useful to those still in college and/or learning.
That might be kinda neat. You can use these VPS for hosting websites and such like?
Anything you like. It's a Linux server, I use it for web hosting, portal hosting, scoreboard/game servers, IRC bots, etc. That's the idea, you can do anything so long as it's Linux capable.
Setting up a domain on Linux/Apache without a CPanel type system is daunting for most people. I can handle that for folks that can't. It'd be a great way to give back and I'd be happy to volunteer, possibly a second admin would be ideal if anyone else has a lot of experience here.
I'd consider something like a common Linode chain that several people pitch in for and a couple experienced admins (I'd volunteer) manage.
We pool some money and get a resource budget, then allocate some VPSes. People get their own portion of resources as a fully controlled server, the core admin can help with the OS/setup/installs/updates so that people who need a custom VPS but don't know how to manage it can get what they need.
Probably a good way to cheaply and easily get in on some VPS for hobby/side projects. You can easily migrate to your own Linode account, leave the nest so to speak, if you needed to.
Hrmmm, is there interest in that?
I don't need it, but I'll chip in if there is interest.
The only real question would be how to manage the money and resources. I've kept the books for larger clans and guilds where we would share game/voice hosting costs so I have workable ideas, but I wonder the opinion of those who would actually be involved in this. It would be basically a commune, since you can use it 24/7 but everyone has their own space and then some common areas.
Donations supporting this PA-VPS-commune-thinger would be fine I suppose! Isn't really a necessity that you use it but it's intended that those paying do.
Edit: Infid, I'm not very good at discussing ideas that are up in the air. I'd love to give an opinion as soon as it gets a little more concrete;o)
Edit2: I don't mind paypal.
Edit: Infid, I'm not very good at discussing ideas that are up in the air. I'd love to give an opinion as soon as it gets a little more concrete;o)
It would certainly be less of a shitty thing.
But I don't think there's any wire-transfer services short of Western Union. Guess I recommend no one link paypal to their personal bank account and/or get another account just for paypal that you can transfer money into in case they do one of their infamous locks on it?
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
I'd consider something like a common Linode chain that several people pitch in for and a couple experienced admins (I'd volunteer) manage.
We pool some money and get a resource budget, then allocate some VPSes. People get their own portion of resources as a fully controlled server, the core admin can help with the OS/setup/installs/updates so that people who need a custom VPS but don't know how to manage it can get what they need.
Probably a good way to cheaply and easily get in on some VPS for hobby/side projects. You can easily migrate to your own Linode account, leave the nest so to speak, if you needed to.
Hrmmm, is there interest in that?
I don't need it, but I'll chip in if there is interest.
Also, I do like the idea, just not sure how much development people do out of the workplace. Still, it could certainly be useful to those still in college and/or learning.
I'd be interested, I do a bunch of personal projects and I was thinking of getting a real server at some point anyway
I would probably pitch in a bit, if only because that sounds like a really neat idea. Would it be possible to host a vent server on it? Or do you need a premium version of ventrilo for that?
Does anyone know of a good place to look for public domain images? I'm specifically looking for one that shows a group of people working together on something, or happy customers or something like that... I cannot seem to find one at all.
I would probably pitch in a bit, if only because that sounds like a really neat idea. Would it be possible to host a vent server on it? Or do you need a premium version of ventrilo for that?
You'd be limited to 6 users because we're not a ventrilo reseller.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
I would probably pitch in a bit, if only because that sounds like a really neat idea. Would it be possible to host a vent server on it? Or do you need a premium version of ventrilo for that?
You'd be limited to 6 users because we're not a ventrilo reseller.
That's what I thought. Though having somewhere to put stuff online just on hand is a neat enough idea that I'd still be interested.
Does anyone know of a good place to look for public domain images? I'm specifically looking for one that shows a group of people working together on something, or happy customers or something like that... I cannot seem to find one at all.
Does anyone know of a good place to look for public domain images? I'm specifically looking for one that shows a group of people working together on something, or happy customers or something like that... I cannot seem to find one at all.
I would probably pitch in a bit, if only because that sounds like a really neat idea. Would it be possible to host a vent server on it? Or do you need a premium version of ventrilo for that?
You need to be a licensed reseller to get the unlimited Vent server. Not interested in being one.
And the idea here is more about projects. You have webhosting needs for a simple hobby project web service? This is here you can host it and have some assistance from us at PA. Want to run a custom bot? Sure.
This is the PA programming community, so it's more about running your own code than someone elses. If you want a game server, a voice server, straight forward webhosting etc. then you can get what you want by just paying someone else the $$ and they'll probably be a lot easier. A pet project that isn't going to be a lot of space or traffic or resources, but you need something to put it on, and a VPS cost/maintenance is daunting? That is what I think this should be for, a home for those.
I am also thinking that if we did this, a common central server where everyone has an account could be maybe useful? Maybe a place for small stuff or testing grounds, and some common assets?
Repository software, basic webhosting/database support so you can mess with user code before setting up a domain/server proper, etc.? Probably other things, and also it could host a simple page that explains the server project and has info relevant. Feeds about maintenance issues/updates, user feeds about what they're doing with it, make it a social and network thing?
It seems like a novel and fun project to be a part of. I am getting a PA hackerspace vibe.
Yeah that's what I was thinking. We'd obviously need a way to virtualize user sessions too so someone doesn't run a rogue app that eats up 100% of the resources and cause us to incur tons of financial woes.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
It would be open to community only and that would be a liability of using the common nodes. So we know who is involved and maliciousness would be rare and accidental, and dealt with if otherwise.
I was thinking of a model like such:
Access fee: something nominal that gets you account and access to the hub nodes. Space to do what you wish, admins can assist in setting up services that are not already common/available on it, you can host things automatically under a core domain (http://users.pahackers.org/bowen/blah etc.) without any setup required, yadda yadda. Good for hobbyists and simple projects that don't need anything too fancy.
VPS fee: an amount that actually covers the costs of resources. You get a dedicated node and root access. The cost will probably be whatever Linode charges. The benefit? Community administered, so you don't need to know how to handle that side of things.
I don't know fee: Some other levels required or not?
It also makes it easier to have some flexibility. For example, entry level for Linode is $20/mo. If you want, you could go halfers with another person, send me $10/mo each and I setup a VPS with the $20 of resources for you and get you rolling, the two use it as they can agree on. You also get involved with the hub stuff as a VPS level user of course.
Oh god slackware. At least it wasn't caldera's linux in the early 90s. I made that mistake.
You say that as if Slackware is a bad thing! Slackware was awesome for the time when it was relevant. I agree it desperately needs updating now, though. These days Gentoo is probably better (haven't touched it in forever, there may be something better these days) if you're a tinkerer or want super custom builds of everything and Debian (and it's variants) and even Red Hat (and variants) are better if you just want a simple to set up, does almost everything you could want from the system packages setup.
Back in the days of shitty repos and broken package management systems Slackware's really basic package management and ease of adding custom software due to the very generic vanilla builds of everything made life a LOT simpler for me.
Posts
So far the cheapest I've found is $15/month with DreamHost.
http://dreamhost.com/servers/vps/
Less RAM then Linode offers, but I doubt I'd need more then 300Megs.
The tradeoff would be performance vs convenience. Linode will do what you want better and more reliably, but Dreamhost has more in place to help you out with managing the VPS.
That is what I would make the call based on if I were you. The fact that I dived head-first into Linux administration with Slackware in the 90s probably explains my choice.
Also keep in mind that with a VPS, the RAM is not userspace limits like on a shared host you are used to, but your virtual box.
So that RAM is needed for the OS, services, etc. etc.
Just doing something as straightforward as a couple Tomcat style apps requires 1024MB just not to thrash the swap image. Not surprising I guess since Java isn't the most efficient of systems but there you go.
1024MB Linode costs $40/month, 1024MB with Dreamhost costs $51.25/month, and with Linode I can pick the OS image (I'm using Ubuntu LTS), control the services, etc.
It gives me the peace of mind knowing that all issues I run into can be resolved by (a) increasing the performance with $$ or (b) configuration/software. I am not tied in or restricted in any fashion when it comes to (b) since I'm doing it all myself. From past projects, nothing sucks more than running into scaling issues and finding out your current infrastructure has to be abandoned to deal with it.
We pool some money and get a resource budget, then allocate some VPSes. People get their own portion of resources as a fully controlled server, the core admin can help with the OS/setup/installs/updates so that people who need a custom VPS but don't know how to manage it can get what they need.
Probably a good way to cheaply and easily get in on some VPS for hobby/side projects. You can easily migrate to your own Linode account, leave the nest so to speak, if you needed to.
Hrmmm, is there interest in that?
I don't need it, but I'll chip in if there is interest.
Also, I do like the idea, just not sure how much development people do out of the workplace. Still, it could certainly be useful to those still in college and/or learning.
Anything you like. It's a Linux server, I use it for web hosting, portal hosting, scoreboard/game servers, IRC bots, etc. That's the idea, you can do anything so long as it's Linux capable.
Setting up a domain on Linux/Apache without a CPanel type system is daunting for most people. I can handle that for folks that can't. It'd be a great way to give back and I'd be happy to volunteer, possibly a second admin would be ideal if anyone else has a lot of experience here.
The only real question would be how to manage the money and resources. I've kept the books for larger clans and guilds where we would share game/voice hosting costs so I have workable ideas, but I wonder the opinion of those who would actually be involved in this. It would be basically a commune, since you can use it 24/7 but everyone has their own space and then some common areas.
Donations supporting this PA-VPS-commune-thinger would be fine I suppose! Isn't really a necessity that you use it but it's intended that those paying do.
Cash by pigeon.
Edit: Infid, I'm not very good at discussing ideas that are up in the air. I'd love to give an opinion as soon as it gets a little more concrete;o)
Edit2: I don't mind paypal.
Is there an alternative that works for anyone coming at me trying to send me money?
I've been using Paypal for PA related funds for a good while now. I front money for PAX, take donations, etc. There are fees but hey.
Western Union. :P
But seriously this sounds like a great idea. But I'd have to know the cost... The lower the better so I can sell it to my wife.
But I don't think there's any wire-transfer services short of Western Union. Guess I recommend no one link paypal to their personal bank account and/or get another account just for paypal that you can transfer money into in case they do one of their infamous locks on it?
I'd be interested, I do a bunch of personal projects and I was thinking of getting a real server at some point anyway
You'd be limited to 6 users because we're not a ventrilo reseller.
That's what I thought. Though having somewhere to put stuff online just on hand is a neat enough idea that I'd still be interested.
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
http://www.sxc.hu/
http://sixrevisions.com/resources/15-best-places-for-designers-to-get-free-stock-photos-online/
I posted pages ago. Bitbucket. Unlimited private repos.
WELL THIS IS A NICE DEVELOPMENT WHY THE FUCK DID I MISS THIS
Yeah, it seems like they added git in October and I also missed it at the time.
Thank you sir!
You need to be a licensed reseller to get the unlimited Vent server. Not interested in being one.
And the idea here is more about projects. You have webhosting needs for a simple hobby project web service? This is here you can host it and have some assistance from us at PA. Want to run a custom bot? Sure.
This is the PA programming community, so it's more about running your own code than someone elses. If you want a game server, a voice server, straight forward webhosting etc. then you can get what you want by just paying someone else the $$ and they'll probably be a lot easier. A pet project that isn't going to be a lot of space or traffic or resources, but you need something to put it on, and a VPS cost/maintenance is daunting? That is what I think this should be for, a home for those.
Repository software, basic webhosting/database support so you can mess with user code before setting up a domain/server proper, etc.? Probably other things, and also it could host a simple page that explains the server project and has info relevant. Feeds about maintenance issues/updates, user feeds about what they're doing with it, make it a social and network thing?
It seems like a novel and fun project to be a part of. I am getting a PA hackerspace vibe.
I was thinking of a model like such:
It also makes it easier to have some flexibility. For example, entry level for Linode is $20/mo. If you want, you could go halfers with another person, send me $10/mo each and I setup a VPS with the $20 of resources for you and get you rolling, the two use it as they can agree on. You also get involved with the hub stuff as a VPS level user of course.
Back in the days of shitty repos and broken package management systems Slackware's really basic package management and ease of adding custom software due to the very generic vanilla builds of everything made life a LOT simpler for me.