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512/1024MB RAM VPS in Europe with stable performance
Hello guys,
I need your help in choosing a cheap VPS that is suitable for my needs.
What I need
- a cheap VPS: up to 4€ monthly or 40€ yearly (VAT included, or none at all)
- in Europe (IT, FR, DE, NL in order of preference)
- under any hypervisor: OpenVZ, KVM, Xen (HVM or PV)
- with 512 to 1024MB of RAM
- with 1 qualitative or 2 reasonably good (v)CPU cores [more on this below]
- 10/20+ GB HDD/SSD (don't care, but must not be awful io)
- don't care about bandwidth (not even 100 visitors/month other than me)
- no firewalled/NATed ports or other network limits (other than bandwidth)
- rDNS setup available (for mail server)
- for hosting Wordpress and personal projects, plus casual (lightweight) game servers
- with a responsible provider and good/nice support
- with a no-nonsense TOS/AUP [more on this below, too]
What I already have/know
Link to my Google Sheet of VPSs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oLJ9rO-xSEWCLR-8cFMMYh-fdoT-s2JuLwab3M0dJ0M/edit?usp=sharing
I have been following and searching sites like this very one since like 4 months ago and still have some doubts about what to choose, but I already have some ideas.
These are the providers and plans I have in my current list:
- Prometeus: I heard nice things about this italian provider (that they don't oversell and that the CEO is a nice person to work with) [expensive for me]
- InceptionHosting: the actual LES provider, run by a very nice and helpative person (@AnthonySmith)
- EvoBurst: apart from NATed plans, 1GB RAM with 24+ cores in fair share... I read about servers being directly suspended if 15min load avg is over 2.00, I don't like that
- nanobit.pro: seems like a viable option but seems also permanently out of stock
- RamNode: a bit on the high end of my budget but likely the most affidable provider
Some concerns
- I live in Italy and have a pretty decent connection (for italian standards): real 20M/2M with direct connection to the Milan MIX. This means that my ping is between 10 and 20ms to Milan, about 30ms to OVH in France, near 40ms to Germany and Netherlands. The problem is my friends (and probably most of Italy itself) who ping to Netherlands at 70ms: it may be a problem since most of the low end providers have their servers in the NL and my friends may want to play on my server...
- I currently still have a Classic 1 VPS at OVH in Roubaix for 2,5€ monthly VAT included. What can I say, their support is slow as f... (three days for one small question to which they didn't even actually answer) and the CPU is a single-sliced-core of a 2.8GHz AMD Opteron with crappy performance (load avg spiking over 10 with an empty TS3 server [thanks also to Teamspeak's optimization]), their Ubuntu images have issues with ncurses, reinstall and reboot tasks from their control panel usually crash, pings to my VPS often peak over 150ms. But anyway, you get what you pay for.
- I also had an experience with OVH's RunAbove Cloud. Pretty good performance and prices, but they never mention they block outgoing port 25... TS3 server ran fine.
- I have talked with Anthony from InceptionHosting and with his prompt replies he convinced me to actually consider his services. What I don't really like are the fees that are specified in their TOS in case of violation(s): I read that some people got suspended, not-refunded and others fraud-reported even after just starting an empty VPS... but I think that's just some incompetencies on the customer's part. I think I will trust Anthony at least for my first buy
- I'd like to store encrypted data on my server: is it legally doable? I know it depends on the country too... And what about hosting Tor hidden services? [No, I'm not talking about Tor exit nodes] What about hacking related content? [Not "illegal" content]
So, in the end
This is pretty much all I have to say for now, please help me decide which provider I should give my money to, and maybe advise me other providers if you know any. If any provider wants to prove me they have what I need, I'm willing to accept offers And I know I may seem a bit paranoid but I am spending my money and I'd rather not spend it on things that don't work.
Thank you very very much,
Antonio (LaXiS)
Comments
hmmm, just EU.......
Do you mean that I'm asking too much for the budget I have (being Europe more expensive than US)?
http://vultr.com - i have good experience with them.
nah, just that we do not have EU services yet
anyways, if you're looking at stable services and fast servers, it'll be good to have a higher budget
Vultr definitely.
Or this XenPower (Prometeus) @ 36eur/yr
http://xenpower.com/
Ramnode is really good also, but 70ms might be a lot for gameservers. Also keep in mind you an get 10% off with the coupon SSD10
Check your PM
Regards,
ConstantVPS
If you are in Italy, the DomFlow products from SeFlow are a decent choice and I think they can fit your price. Prometeus is great and worth it too, in case you can up the budget a bit.
I can assure you Anthony is a very reasonable person, I know from personal experience.
Legally yes, of course. Technically, you would like to remove OpenVZ from your list.
Maybe you can check my signature
First from 20 to 120ms with average of 50ms are perfect for gaming server.
Second EU providers are colocated in big awards winning DataCenters that why the prices are not so dirty cheap like US where most small providers keep their servers in garage calling it DataCenter
Now.. OP .. for the $$$ budget you wont find anything good in EU .. forgot the SSD part
I can reffer you to qhoster.com they are good and stable.
Prometeus, if your budget allows it. The best in Italy, no doubt
I'd always go for prometeus or their (sub)brands if budget allows it. Good alternative in Italy would be seflow/domflow.
HostHatch and RamNode come next.
Edit: btw, if you poke Mao, sometimes a discount could appear in your invoice magically.
As for DE location ZXPlay offer is close to your request and budget.
Thank you very much guys for your replies!
@desperand: Yeah I considered Vultr too... Nice plans but it's a bit on the high end of my budget.
@century1stop: Your plans are really powerful but would still be on my high end (if they were in EU).
@hostnoob: In fact I was considering either Prometeus' XenPower 1G or their other OpenVZ SSD18 which both are 36€ yearly +VAT (near my high end but very good). I'll keep in mind RamNode's coupon, thanks
@Nyr: I heard about SeFlow, but their site is a bit confused... The only service I found is their FlexCloud which for 3.33€ monthly at 512MB looks affordable. Regarding encryption I didn't mean the volume-level one since I understand that containers don't have this feature, but rather a generic software implementation. In the end I'm really considering Anthony's services.
@warih: Thank you, that looks like a really really interesting provider! I'll add it to my list. It's good that they accept bitcoins and specify their actual hardware infrastructure. But I couldn't test the connection quality since their test IP is down.
@thehostbay: Well I think I may just let my friends play with their own pings, in the end I'm not buying this VPS for them
I understand that in EU prices are higher and that my budget is really tight for what I want, but I just want the best bang for my buck. I looked into QHoster, way out of my budget.
@marrco: Yep, they were my first choice until I expanded my views and lowered my budget
@DalComp: Is @Maounique from Prometeus? I may ask him if I can get for example a 1GB 2core OpenVZ in Italy instead of their lowest plan (1.8GB RAM + 1Gb swap + 4core at 36€ yearly +VAT) which is a bit overkill for me. I will really look into HostHatch, they have some appealing plans.
@bersy: ZXPlay pings really well and their offer is actually affordable. Might give them a go.
Thank you again very much guys, I appreciate your help.
For OVZ ssd smaller plans, look here:
http://my.iperweb.com/cart/
Please read ToS/AUP first, we do not allow DDoS, either incoming or outgoing and this is often the case for gameservers/teamspeak, our protected IPs are only allowing for casual and light incoming attacks (1 mil pps and 10-12 Gbps max after which the IP is nulled). The latency and stability are also worse in the protected network.
Here it is in plain English:
http://board.prometeus.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1390
Looking glass:
http://lg-milano.prometeus.net
That is €3.33/month billed hourly (much like DO or Vultr)
Their last offer was some free €10 credit for €3 deposit. Not sure if it is still active, would be nice to run some tests. Rep here is @matteob
@Maounique: Thank you, I have already read your TOS/AUP and it's ok for me. My voice/game servers will all be private so DDoS (either incoming or outgoung) shouldn't be a threat.
What I wanted to ask you is if it was possible to get a yearly OpenVZ which has lower specs that VZSSD18 and therefore lower price. Because currently IperWeb's OpenVZ SSD 1024 (1GB RAM 2cores) is at 64€ yearly (don't know about VAT, is it included?) while Prometeus' VZSSD18 (1.8GB RAM+1GB swap 4cores) is at 44€ yearly (VAT included)... I know about Prometeus' yearly discounts but IperWeb does not seem to follow their parent's trend.
If I may ask for something like an offer I would really go for it since the location is perfect and the support is known to be good.
Thank you.
@DalComp: Yeah I am familiar with cloud providers, but as my VPS will be running full time they don't make much difference. I will have to read thoroughly through their site and see what they offer, unless @matteob wants to join the conversation
Their sales live chat is online most of the time, and usually manned by Matteo himself. Just saying if you need other means of communication with him.
FlexCloud share infrastructure with out CloudFlow platform. Is a simplified account with package (like DO or vultr as mentioned above), but use our distribuited storage in HA enviroment (not local disks) and is limited to Italy location.
Within next 48 hours we will launch our multilocation market officially with a big promo. Will include free credit & new affiliate program. You can start taking a look on the service here http://www.domflow.it/market.php
Please keep in mind that our market include italian location that start from 1,44€ /monthly. We're adding new locations weekly. We should start covering U.S. in the end of this week or next one.
Every location include features, dedicated prices and full benchmark
http://www.domflow.it/market-london.php
Soon we will add the customer feedback to had total trasparency.
If everyone had some feedback or feature to add we will be happy to hear
@LaXiS , if you can wait our new promo, within next 48 hour you should had a great deal!!
Will the promo also be available for existing customers?
Will there be a Germany location in future?
Yes, will be avaiable for all customers as will be related to affiliate program to get free credit.
Yes, german is a planned location, as we consider main location probably will not be a market location, but own one.
Regards
The iperweb offer is on different servers, much smaller, larger share of port and cpu, cannot go for the same or lower price as the ones in the big servers with more risks and lower shares of some resources. They are something intermediary between our budget and biz brands, can even be customized.
If you need a lot of cheap resources, check www.overzold.com, but i doubt you will go for it, as you say you need small servers, but, in this case, I doubt they can run gameservers efficiently.
As a compromise, I can reactivate for you the 18 years special offer, 18 Eur for 6 months on VZSSD18 plan, just open a ticket after placing the order.
@matteob: I'm looking forward for the official launch then. I could give you a try even though you're still expensive to me, but the idea is interesting.
@Maounique: Now I understand. I don't need you to reactivate that plan as it would still be 36€ yearly and I would just buy the already available VZSSD18. You're right I wouldn't go for an OverZold since it's way overkill for me, and anyway my main need is not for a game server, it's rather for a multipurpose server.
I know I may be asking too much, but would it be possible (taking my risks as you already said) to have a 1024 2core OpenVZ on Prometeus' infrastructure instead of IperWeb's one? If it's not, I perfectly understand.
Thank you.
I would suggest prometeus, using Iwstack. With 1024 MB, 2 vCPU, 1TB incoming btw, the monthly cost is €4.32. And it is a real HA cloud built with cloudstack. I experience always there very good performance and I like the guys working with Prometeus.
I also use domflow cloud for a small icecast streaming server. Absolutely great network with the lowest prices!
At the end, apart Prometeus, InceptionHosting is one of the best choices out there. I host a news portal site with iver 6K unique visitors per day with absolutelly great performance. 150 days up, no downtime since I moved it to the new server (from a server also by IC, that had over 250 days up).
We mau have an offer that suits your needs: http://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/57763/the-netherlands-vps-1024mb-ram-100gb-hdd-2tb-1gbps-4-99-month-limited-time-stock#latest
@jvnadr: Yeah, thanks, I already know Prometeus and their plans, but I prefer a fixed price monthly VPS with its limits and risks to a Cloud infrastructure and its flexible payment system... also I can't invest 30€ if in the end I may want to change. As regards InceptionHosting, I am going to get one OVZ1024 right now for one month, just as a test. I believe Prometeus and Inception are the best out there in terms of support, too. The thing is that I don't have much money at the moment and I'd like to get the best I can with the least money (therefore Prometeus and SeFlow/DomFlow, even though they seem real good here in Italy, are not contemplated by my budget).
Anyway I was waiting for a reply from @Maounique regarding a smaller OpenVZ on Prometeus' infrastructure instead of IperWeb's one, but it looks like it's not an option.
@VPSSLIM: Those are interesting plans... I may consider your services in the future (if you will have another offer).
Laxis please contact me via sales ticket and we will start negotiations on getting you a custom plan built for your needs and wants.
https://my.cubedata.net/client/plugin/support_manager/client_tickets/add/1/
and yes I still have room on my hetzner node.
Yeah, thanks, I did not forget about you. I just bought an InceptionHosting to test their NL location and as soon as I get on a computer I'll send you a ticket. Thank you.
I just wanted to say not once have the fee's mentioned for spam etc ever been imposed in 5 years and frankly they probably cant be imposed even if I wanted to
it is more of a deterrent to frighten away would be spammers etc although how good of a job that does I seriously question myself.
There have been refused refunds in the past I wont say that is not the case but it has always been due to user error or someone going straight to claim without contacting me first.
It is also true I will not refund over payments due to subscriptions, if you look back over the years I have always defended that but if you set up a subscription (not forced) by the time your first invoice is due you will have had 12 separate notifications regarding your subscription payment either on screen, paypal emails welcome emails, invoice emails etc and when you cancel you get a big bold yellow highlighted request asking you to cancel your subscription, I honestly believe that every possible effort is made to give end users all the info and choices required.
When WHMCS 6 is in production that problem will go away as it has an subscription auto cancel on termination/cancellation feature built in.
I honestly don't believe I have ever reported anyone for abuse that was not an abusive user and to be frank, I am a person before I am a 'host' I understand mistakes happen and will deal with most things on an individual basis.
Hope that clarifies, if you have any doubts but want to give it a try then feel free to take the first month on the house, no charge you have clearly done your research at the end of the day if Inception is not right for you then no hard feelings and nothing lost.
Cheers.
Ant.
@AnthonySmith: I see you are a very reasonable person. I did not doubt in any way that you could have abused your position. I do understand that usually customers are the worst kind when you're doing business on the Internet.
As you may have noticed I signed up for an OVZ1024 for testing and all I can say is that, so far (just a couple hours), I'm really happy of the choice. VPS seems pretty stable, IO is stable and rather good, inbound network speed is average, OS templates are few but well optimized (fresh install of Debian 7 64 non-minimal weighs in at 6MB of RAM usage at boot, is this even real?
) and the control panel is intuitive and "completely essential". I had never used SolusVM but at first glance it looks like a good panel.
And don't worry about discounting me anything, I'm good with the 2€ I paid even if the service doesn't fullfill my needs. I should actually pay twice just because of your kindness
I'm currently waiting for a quote from @timnboys, as his DE locations is better suited for my latency.
Thank you very much guys.
Edit: Actually SolusVM is a bit off, the RAM usage is at 26MB. And just a question for you, @AnthonySmith: why, during ordering, I am asked for two subdomain names for DNSs? There does not seem to be installed any kind of DNS server on the OS templates...
that is possibly whmcs for you asking for that info even if it isn't used.(as I have run whmcs before and it asks for that info even though I have nothing tied to the backend to do anything like that.)
And @LaXis I have replied to your sales ticket.