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Mithras · Oct 9, 2007, 09:16 AM

I think I'm growing past what a shared Dreamhost account can offer -- it's time for root access on a 'virtual private server', i.e. a virtualized Linux instance. I don't think I want to spend the bucks on colocation, though -- it's more the control that I want, not the dedicated resources.

It looks like I can get something for $20 - $40 a month, which I can live with. The one part that sucks is giving up the ridiculously generous Dreamhost disk space allowances -- from a 200+GB limit to more like 15 or 20. (I'm using about 12GB on my Dreamhost account now).

Anyone have any advice on a reliable host that offers this kind of service at a decent price?

turtle777 · Oct 9, 2007, 09:24 AM

What kind of things do you want to do that you can't with Dreamhost, other than sudo rm -Rf / ?

-t

AngelaBaby · Oct 9, 2007, 09:39 AM

For virtual I've heard decent things about hostgator.com

nonhuman · Oct 9, 2007, 09:50 AM

I'm thinking about switching to Media Temple. I intend to be reselling some of my hosting capacity to clients, and they make it easy to do that.

Mithras · Oct 9, 2007, 10:09 AM

I'd like to run my own Zimbra instance, for one.

Chuckit · Oct 9, 2007, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

I'm thinking about switching to Media Temple. I intend to be reselling some of my hosting capacity to clients, and they make it easy to do that.

FYI, it's not possible on MediaTemple to sandbox parts of your site as far as I'm aware. There's effectively only one level of Webmaster access.

turtle777 · Oct 9, 2007, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by Mithras

I'd like to run my own Zimbra instance, for one.

Actually, that sounds like a good idea. I haven't looked into the details of Zimbra, at the time, it seemed to complicated for me.

-t

besson3c · Oct 9, 2007, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by Mithras

I'd like to run my own Zimbra instance, for one.

Yes, that in and of itself is reason enough to go for your own server, as Zimbra (like Kolab) installs and controls all of the pieces it interoperates with. If you want to run your own hosting service, be careful about this, because you may be giving up a lot of control you have over how these individual services run. Also, Zimbra (like most Groupware solutions) does not scale well. This was a stopping point for us, although we provide a very large email system.

That being said, I've sat through a private Zimbra sales presentation offered to us and was impressed with the level of service that is offered to the end user by Zimbra. Zimbra is the best Exchange competitor I know of.

To answer your original question, I don't know about which dedicated virtual server host I'd recommend, but you can get a full dedicated server for around $100 - $150 or so per month, maybe even less if you colo. If you *really* want to be accountable for every aspect of the services you are offering including performance, uptime, etc., you ought to have full control over the box, IMHO, not just your own virtual machine. If you can find 10 - 15 people that want to host with you at $10/month, you'll have recouped your monthly costs. This may be worth it, as it gives you some room to grow and eliminates having to migrate to a different server if your needs to grow to this point.

I pay $125/month for my dedicated server with my current provider... Before that, I was paying even a little less with a different provider.

nonhuman · Oct 9, 2007, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

FYI, it's not possible on MediaTemple to sandbox parts of your site as far as I'm aware. There's effectively only one level of Webmaster access.

That's ok, I'll just be reselling the space and bandwidth. I'll be managing the sites myself.

legacyb4 · Oct 9, 2007, 11:06 AM

With the Grid Service, you can't sandbox your clients but with the Virtual Server option, it's full blown Plesk on a virtual server. Prices aren't in the $20-40/month range though for anything significant.

nonhuman · Oct 9, 2007, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by legacyb4

With the Grid Service, you can't sandbox your clients but with the Virtual Server option, it's full blown Plesk on a virtual server. Prices aren't in the $20-40/month range though for anything significant.

Yeah, that too. I'll be starting out with the $50/mo (dv) plan. Of course I won't be making the switch until I've got my first client that's actually paying for hosting. But I ought to be signing that contract this month.