Having struggled a lot with our current VPS, finally decided to go the cloud way.<p>[Those interested to know more about what we've been facing can refer to my two recent threads:<p>1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6348903<p>2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6367198 ]<p>We're now trying to decide between linode and DigitalOcean.<p>One major difference between the two that we think we've found is that while DO offers SSD storage, linode (we think, again), has regular hard drives.<p>What do you all suggest? Linode or DO? Or something else?
Linode is straightup incredible. I've been with them for about 5 years now. Almost every year they've given some sort of free upgrade -- I still pay the same amount I did 5 years ago and I now have something like 10x the bandwidth, a bit over 2x the storage, 2.8x the RAM, etc. AND faster processors. They're a company who seriously know their shit, and they're FAST.<p>The $20/mo base can be a bit much for some usages -- I still have a few $2-7/mo boxes from LowEndBox for various side projects, but for anything I really care about, I wouldn't put it anywhere but my Linode.
Linode may have "regular" hard drives, but they're fast. I ran a legacy PHP commerce package for a client and it would log gigabytes of data due to deprecation warnings, I wasn't as knowledgeable about downgrading and freezing packages as I am now, but Linode handled it fine. I think they're 10k RPM SAS drives, so they're quite fast.<p>On the other hand, Linode gives you access to 8x Xen CPUs from the base package. While to get the same out of DigitalOcean you need to pay $160/mo. The pros/cons I see are:<p>DigitalOcean: SSD, RAM (2x), and therefore price (for low CPU apps)
Linode: CPU, HD space, transfer (2-4x)
Based on the pricing, the security leaks, and the technology, Linode strike me as one of the 'old' breed of hosting providers, who are trying, but struggling to keep up with newer companies.<p>I've got an account with Digital Ocean, and while they can be a little slow releasing kernel updates, they've been great so far. Good performance, great price, good support.
Toss a coin. VPS offerings are more or less a commodity nowadays. The price difference is ignorable for a person at first world income levels? Linode is a full cup of coffee price more expensive than Ocean over a month. The specs will be exactly equivalent shortly, if not already. Unless you happen to end up on the same machine with an abusive neighbour, you'll be fine.
I can't comment on DigitalOcean, but I've been using Linode for a couple of years and have been happy.<p>They've offered several free hardware upgrades (CPU cores, transfer, storage) and one optional upgrade (Doubling RAM) that set me back an extra five cents a month.<p>I haven't had any issues, but from what I have seen Linode is very responsive.
I have used both, would choose neither. Linode has awful security, and security policies. Digital Ocean's offerings were not consistent and rather unstable/buggy. Some of their OS images did not work. Their support was a bit on the slow side for me.<p>I've had really good luck with Webfaction. Do look into them.
Thanks to all who have responded.<p>We've decided to try each one-<p>DigitalOcean - already ordered, up and running (very well too)<p>Linode - will order soon<p>OVH - already ordered (per my comment below), now trying to figure out a way to pay them