How is DigitalOcean? I've never used it.

Aesahaettr

I have experience with Namecheap (what I currently use), GoDaddy, and A Small Orange. I've heard DigitalOcean mentioned here several times already and thought it might be worth checking out. What is everyone's opinion on it?

I like Namecheap, but their customer service can be pretty lacking at times, and I'm pretty sure their support staff is all Russian, which makes it hard for them to understand my issues, especially with technical terminology sometimes.

I'm working on a site right now that I am keeping under wraps at the moment, but will probably launch in a little less than a year.

Thanks!

rdn

DigitalOcean is a KVM VPS provider.
So your on your own with it.

It's not the same anymore with Shared Hosting.

Aesahaettr

rdn What do you mean I'm on my own with it? As in they don't do support?

Dominion

It means that you'll have to do many of the admin-related things that a shared hosting provider will do for you.

Using a VPS requires rather more knowledge of basic system administration.

Aesahaettr

Dominion Okay, thanks!

Kulga

Aesahaettr They'll probably support it, but only regardinng specific things like sudden I/O failures, network suddenly going down, moving a node from a certain location to another..
Stuff like installing programs, configuring them, setting up a webserver - that's up to you, expect to use a terminal and be comfortable navigating through a command line.
More power == more responsibility.
If you have the time, I greatly encourage it. Learn it once, benefit forever. You might even use it as a primary OS 😉
Ramnode is what I use and is very similar to digital ocean.

rdn

If not much experience with VPS/CLI.
Try EasyEngine or Centminmod 😉

Berlyn

I have not personally used it for any production purposes, but I think it's fairly robust and inexpensive for the services and API they offer. It's great for automated deployments to multiple locations around the world. I am hoping the open some droplet locations in Australia as currently I have to settle for Singapore. 🙁

Dominion

This is not a recommendation, since I haven't actually used it, but...

ServerPilot seems like it might be worth looking into, especially for someone who's new to VPSes.

henrywright

I use Digital Ocean; they're my first choice for root access. Cheap and reliable. If you want straightforward shared hosting then try GoDaddy. I've found them to be very good too.

Cheun

I hear it's great but I wish they'd cut the prices down a bit. I'm so cheap it's not even funny

tarun

Berlyn Do you happen to know how it compares to Linode? I haven't been able to make up my mind between the 2...

Berlyn

tarun I've also never used Linode for production, only for development purposes. It's essentially the same. What I like most about DigitalOcean is the API. I can automate new deployments of applications anywhere from an API, without needing to manually create a new VPS, etc.

Wombat

Ramnode, BuyVM are great as well.

Kulga

If you're looking for cheap + stable ramnode is pretty good. 128MB at $15/yr
Currently paying about $4/month for 512MB 2 core.
I stress tested it a bit here if you want to see.
If you go with 128MB, I'd suggest learning how to optimize a webserver since a LAMP stack can take +250MB but with nginx + php5-fpm got it down to 80-90MB. Don't expect to have a large userbase on it though 😉

Auk

henrywright If you want straightforward shared hosting then try GoDaddy

I wouldn't want to touch GoDaddy with a barge pole... @Aesahaettr, you're better off learning basic Linux commands first. Very simple stuff. To practice offline/for free: install Vagrant and Virtualbox.

Not required but this is highly recommended for the above purpose. Use Puphpet to generate a vagrant configuration file for you. Follow these instructions. If you're using Windows operating system, then install this tool to connect to your virtual machine/server via SSH. Once logged in via SSH, you can practice the linux commands. Have fun!

Aesahaettr

Auk Oh I agree, I hate GoDaddy. I am a big fan of Namecheap though, other than their customer service translation issues sometimes.

I have never touched command line though, but I will probably get into it in the future when I need to.

Thanks!

ElChorizo

Digital Ocean runs great VPS's... so does Linode and many other providers, ie. Amazon AWS.

Auk

@Aesahaettr, do it now! 😃 You can do it! Great tutorial - Stick with the defaults and you will be well on your way. If on Windows, Right click on VirtualBox installer, then select "Run as Administrator" to ensure VirtualBox installs correctly.

Aesahaettr

Auk =) What's the benefit? I've heard a lot about it, but could you explain what is so awesome about it?