Bit more detail on Linode

Last week, when I figured I'd have to move servers, I figured I had three options:

• Regular hosting: no go, since I wanted flexibility and shell access.
• Colocation: too expensive.
• Virtual machine: "But the one in the middle was just right!"

This Ask Slashdot gave me lots of suggestions, and after puttering around for a while I narrowed it down to either JohnCompanies or Linode. They both had lots of good references, both in the article and elsewhere, but in the end the lower cost of Linode got me.

I ordered the 384 plan -- 384MB RAM, 12GB disk space -- and within a couple hours I was set up. Static IP (coming from cable, that's ver' nice), reverse DNS however you like (w00t!), and more transfer than I figure I'll use in a year (seriously).

The Debian install took, like, four minutes, tops. It was maybe an afternoon's work to figure out all the packages I needed (including stopping an accidental upgrade to -testing). Big shout out to rsync and ssh, without whom yadda yadda. All in all, dead dead simple.

The one thing that maybe should've been a bit more prominent in Linode's advertising is their use of the IO limiter patch for UML. I found out about this in passing after I'd signed up but before I'd had a chance to log in. (There are a few details about it here, and you can read the patch here.) In fairness, though, I've run up against the limit in untarring big-ass home directories, but not since.

Anyhow…pretty damned satisfied with Linode so far. Their web management panel is slick, the console access is lovely to have, and I've no complaints about performance yet. I'll probably just stick with them for a few months, as I hope to switch ISPs once I get back from vacation...but I think it'll be very tempting to stay with them.