My VPS Search continues..
I’ve been with SliceHost for quite some time now. For “Over 4 Years”, according to my SliceManager. Just one slice that I run a Facebook application on and use it for some testing and playing around. I have had very few problems and when needed, their various support methods (forums, wikis, chatrooms, etc.) have all proven VERY effective and friendly. There is one problem. They aren’t cheap. Back when I signed up, they seemed very affordable for what you got, but over the last 4 years, nothing has changed. I still pay $70 a month for a 1GB slice. So I’ve been looking for cheaper options…
It all started a couple months ago when I was looking for a cheap server to host a small MineCraft server on. After doing some research, I decided on 123systems.net. Pretty cheap. 3GB for $30! I’ve had them for just over 2 months now and have decided to grade them with a “meh”. They haven’t been terrible at all but my MineCraft server lags pretty frequently (usually with just me connected) and I’ve run into a time or 2 where everything just went down for a little while. So I’m moving on and continuing my search…
Brohoster was my next try. I actually only kept them for about half a day. My problem with them was that they weren’t a full VPS. The MineCraft server was up and running right away and it was just a simple FTP to upload my old world. There wasn’t a whole lot of lag which was really surprising since I apparently had a 256MB server (compared to the 3GB on 123systems). If all I wanted was the MineCraft server, I probably would have found a way to keep this option, but the lack of IPv4 addresses means your stuck with whatever port number they give you. They also are unable to run anything that isn’t a bukkit plugin, so my Pro license for MyMcAdmin would be useless. Still, not a bad choice for those looking for just a simple MineCraft server.
My newest VPS choice is Thrust::VPS (Formerly Damn::VPS?). They actually have Xen servers (as opposed to OpenVZ) for pretty cheap. I ordered a 2GB server for $29. I actually made the mistake of not doing enough research about the differences between Xen-HVM and Xen-PV. For those interested, HVM is much more like having a real box of your own. There is very little done for you. You get a VNC address and you can mount one of a bunch of OS distributions that you have to install. I don’t necessarily have a big problem with this but I’d much rather take the easy road and not have to go through all that. I ordered my server late last night and emailed them about switching it over. They didn’t hesitate to get back to me and are currently taking actions to switch it over. So support seems good! More will come when I take a couple of months to test things.
If anyone has any other good suggestions for cheap server that can handle a MineCraft Server and some Ruby on Rails projects?
