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So... It's been a year since leaving Linode
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So... It's been a year since leaving Linode

twvancetwvance Member
edited May 2014 in Providers

A year ago I left (what I thought at the time) was the best VPS provider on the planet -- Linode. Don't get me wrong -- Linode is great -- their plans just had a price tag that was too high for the resources allocated.

I had just finished migrating from a very old, very outdated, customized deployment of OSCommerce. The custom work on the OSCommerce site was done by a group that was hired to make some changes that made it impossible to keep up-to-date. At the time, it was worth paying this webdev firm to save me time -- in the end, it was a security nightmare. And boy was it a resource pig!

After deciding that it was best to change from OSCommerce to Opencart, I thought I would give another, less expensive, VPS provider a try. I'm sure glad I did. Not only have I saved hundreds of dollars the first year, my VPS is rock solid! How? LowEndBox and RamNode!

Before settling on RamNode, I tried a handful of companies that I found via LEB. My experience with other low end providers sucked. From terrible I/O and high latency to outdated OpenVZ templates, these other companies seemed to be only good for hobby or tinkering setups. NOT consistently reliable service that I required. I won't mention the bad providers, but they seem to consistently get bad ratings.

Thanks LEB & RamNode!

PS. I wanted to mention another company -- FluidRhino. These guys are great too.

Comments

  • Good you're happy with it. IMO the savings are worth it if you don't mind being a more hands-on sys admin should it go tits up.

  • twvancetwvance Member

    Oh yeah, I am definitely hands on. I hate control panels. For me, nothing is better/faster than vi. I've been a system administrator since early 1998 for both myself and a dial-up provider with a few thousand customers :)

    ALWAYS make sure you back things up yourself off-site and test those backups often!

    Thanked by 1iKeyZ
  • Personally I like working in a terminal. Sure sometimes it gets heated when it's all going wrong but you feel accomplished having total control over your own server (and administering it well).

    I might be a sadist though...

  • twvancetwvance Member

    99% of the time Terminator and Sublime are the only things running on my desktop

  • twvancetwvance Member

    I guess I could have posted affiliate links or something with this thread, but then I would feel like folks would not take my review seriously. (or may be against the rules?)

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • It's not against the rules, but especially with new members some people have a stick up their ass about it and it derails the thread. Probably for the best for now.

  • sleddogsleddog Member
    edited May 2014

    said: A year ago I left

    Ahh, you missed all the upgrades :)

  • twvancetwvance Member

    right-o

  • twvancetwvance Member

    @sleddog
    I still have 1 VPS with Linode for another client. I'm about to switch that one.

  • twvancetwvance Member

    I also have a couple other VPSs with various well-known LEB providers. To put it nicely -- they are lacking.

  • NekkiNekki Veteran

    twvance said: I guess I could have posted affiliate links or something with this thread, but then I would feel like folks would not take my review seriously. (or may be against the rules?)

    Nothing wrong with affliate links so long as you mark them up as such, don't think anyone minds that.

  • @twvance thanks for the kind words!

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran
    edited May 2014

    Nekki said: Nothing wrong with affliate links so long as you mark them up as such, don't think anyone minds that.

    Still, any positive review of a provider is thrown into question if it ends with an affiliate link, even a marked one.

    Thanked by 3netomx Maounique Pwner
  • twvancetwvance Member

    @rm_
    I think you are right.

  • rm_ said: Still, any positive review of a provider is thrown into question if it ends with an affiliate link, even a marked one.

    Let's be fair here, I would be much more suspicious of a bad review followed by an affiliate link ;)

    Thanked by 1Maounique
  • twvancetwvance Member

    @AThomasHowe hahaha!

  • Thank you, sir, for this review! I'm glad everything work out for you with one of the most popular providers around here!

    Thanked by 1twvance
  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    RamNode is indeed awesome.

    I like and use Linode as well - they're almost two different markets.

    I think of them as:

    RamNode, BuyVM, ServerDragon, etc. - high quality, no support.

    Linode - high quality, some support. They'll answer 24x7 and will dig in a bit, but they're not going to login to your VPS and do work.

    KnownHost, WiredTree - high quality, full 24x7 handholding - you can open at a ticket at 3am and they'll go in and fix some cPanel config for you

    Damn, I should have made all those links with affil codes...:-)

  • Nick_ANick_A Member, Top Host, Host Rep

    Thank you very much! Glad you've been enjoying our service.

    Thanked by 2netomx twvance
  • yernsunyernsun Member

    @Nick_A said:
    You did great work ,give us quiet nice offer

  • @twvance said:
    99% of the time Terminator and Sublime are the only things running on my desktop

    You use a desktop environment? Pfft...

    Thanked by 1raindog308
  • twvancetwvance Member

    On my desktop, yes I need a window manager. Never, ever on a server!

  • twvancetwvance Member
    edited May 2015

    A year ago I shared my view on leaving Linode. Since then, they have changed their pricing and are much more competitive. I'm glad to see that, and wish the very best of luck to them because their business is in my backyard (I grew up in Atlantic City).

    I want to let anyone that cares to read this know that I am still using Ramnode, and I love them. My VMs are FASTER now then the day I signed up -- and I thought they were fast then. They do a great job at making their network speed and server uptime as high as possible. I do not get a discount, I do not work for them, or have any affiliation to them or their business. I am a random customer that is satisfied by the service I get. If you are not happy with your provider, give Ramnode a try.

    If it wasn't for LEB and LET I wouldn't even know about these guys. So... again, thanks to them too.

    Thanked by 1Nick_A
  • emilvemilv Member

    Are there any more providers besides Linode that use Enterprise SSD's in their servers? As far as I know most use Desktop grade SSD's.

  • JonchunJonchun Member

    @emilv said:
    Are there any more providers besides Linode that use Enterprise SSD's in their servers? As far as I know most use Desktop grade SSD's.

    Dediserve

    Thanked by 2emilv dediserve
  • dccdcc Member, Host Rep

    @emilv said:
    Are there any more providers besides Linode that use Enterprise SSD's in their servers? As far as I know most use Desktop grade SSD's.

    We use Intel DC S3500 even for Bandwagonhost nodes. A few years back we were messing around with desktop-grade Crucials and Samsungs in an attempt to save a few $$$ but those sucked quite royally under our loads even in 12-disk RAID10.

  • Nick_ANick_A Member, Top Host, Host Rep

    Thanks @twvance!

  • NdhaNdha Member

    @dcc said:
    We use Intel DC S3500 even for Bandwagonhost nodes. A few years back we were messing around with desktop-grade Crucials and Samsungs in an attempt to save a few $$$ but those sucked quite royally under our loads even in 12-disk RAID10.

    So, when xvm restock again ?? :p

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