Should I be using CloudLinux?

Screen shot 2011 02 08 at 1.49.23 PM Should I be using CloudLinux?

CloudLinux is an extremely powerful operating system built on top of the open source operating system, CentOS. We’re proud to offer it – and it works tremendously well on the VPS.NET infrastructure. Just recently our sister company Midphase switched their shared hosting servers over to CloudLinux, and have seen loads drop dramatically on their servers. Does that mean that CloudLinux is right for you?

Do I have to run CloudLinux with VPS.NET? Does CloudLinux make me a cloud provider?
Despite its name, CloudLinux is not required to be used on cloud hosting infrastructure, nor is it required to be used on VPS.NET. We offer multiple operating systems, including CentOS, FreeBSD, Ubuntu, Windows and many more. Cloud Linux can also be used on dedicated servers, and traditional VPS servers without problem. As well, using CloudLinux does not make someone a cloud hosting provider. Cloud hosting is single-handedly derived from the underlying infrastructure; typically cloud hosting requires that there multiple servers working together to provide resources on demand, however a formal definition has not exactly been defined.

Is CloudLinux right for me?
Depending on how you’re using your cloud VPS from VPS.NET determines whether you really need CloudLinux. While it’s an extremely stable operating system, with numerous security enhancements it may not be something that is necessary for you to run. CloudLinux really shows its value when you’re hosting multiple websites on the same server. It does this by placing each user inside what it calls a LVE (Lightweight Virtual Environment). This LVE limits the amount of available resources to each user, which makes it so one single user cannot bring down the entire server. The actual resources limited include the CPU, RAM, and the total number of processes running by the user, like PHP scripts. The amount of resources that the user is limited to is completely definable by you, so CloudLinux actually makes it possible to offered structured shared hosting plans based of CPU/RAM usage, instead of the usual disk space and bandwidth. When a user reaches the defined resource limits, a 503 error is displayed to the website’s visitor, preventing the user from using up additional resources.

So why doesn’t it work well for single sites?
If you’re only hosting a single site it simply doesn’t make sense to a limit the amount of resources available to it. Usually if you just have one site on the server, you want the site to be able to use the whole server, which CloudLinux prohibits. If you’re looking for the security and stability of CloudLinux, CentOS is actually a free alternative, and offers an environment just as stable and secure.

How do I get CloudLinux for my VPS.NET Cloud VPS?
If you’re ready to build your first Cloud VPS with VPS.NET, simply choose the CloudLinux operating system from the “Build my VPS” screen and everything will be handled for you. If you already have the server built and are using CentOS then go to the CloudLinux templates page, and purchase a CloudLinux license for $7.50 a month. Once there, you’ll be able to choose the server to license it to and install the necessary addons that let CloudLinux works its magic!

Coming up next we’ll show you how to tweak CloudLinux to your exact specifications, using both command line and the cPanel/WHM plugin.

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Make your accountants love you: ShoeBoxed.com

I have a confession: I used to be absolutely terrified of the accounting staff, even though we’re not even in located in the same state. The nightmares of our CFO, Tim Holland, showing up on my doorstep and laying the smacketh down on me wouldn’t go away after trade shows. In order for me to get re-imbursed for expenses related to company trips, I have to turn in receipts related to the purchases. Keeping track of receipts is definitely not something I’d call a strong suit of mine. I tend to lose, or grow tired of them taking up space in my wallet and eventually just throw them away. Receipts are, simply put, annoying.

Thankfully Nick Nelson, the Managing Director of VPS.NET, who struggles from the same disorder as I, recently found a new service that completely organizes your receipts for you, ShoeBoxed.com. I know, affiliate links are lame, but let me explain a little bit more. ShoeBoxed has not only helped me out tremendously (the accountants love me now!), but they’ve also setup an affiliate program with us. We’re not taking the cash and running with it though. Instead, through our Hosting for Good campaign we’re going to donate any money earned this month to The Rockstar Foundation. We love the Rockstar Foundation, which was founded by the creator of WooThemes, Adii Pienaar. The Rockstar Foundation is about changing the lives of young women by giving them the proper education they deserve. When we recently heard about the struggles Adii was having at raising funding to expand the program, we knew we had to help. Any money collected from the affiliate link this month will go towards the Rockstar Foundation, so we can help fund future operations.

Why not make friends with the accounting staff by using Shoe Boxed and help change a life by supporting the Rockstar Foundation?

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VPS.NET 8/6/2010 Weekly Update

VPS.NET at Conferences

I think all of us are finally recovered from HostingCon, which was a great time and an ever great success. We had a several hundred people stop by the VPS.NET booth, and we certainly had an entertaining time with our money machine. It was a great time meeting up with a lot of the vendors that make VPS.NET what it is, and we were able to kick off some discussions which should lead to some even greater things. You can check out some pictures of the UK2Group staff at the blog. Following up HostingCon in our conference schedule is DrupalCon in Copenhagen, Denmark starting August 23rd, and cPanelCon in Houston, Texas October 6th. Stop by and visit us!

Windows & SAN 2.0 Testing

We’ve kicked off testing for Windows on VPS.NET. I actually got a chance to personally play around with it the other day and it’s looking remarkably stable already. I know the demand for it is high out there, so we’re working on getting it in your hands as soon as possible. Just as important, we’ve also started testing the new SAN configuration. This new configuration creates an additional layer of redundancy by having two SAN units store your data, instead of a single SAN. The way it works is there will be one SAN actively working, with another having all the data synced to it. If the active SAN experiences a problem, the backup will take over without any downtime to your VPS. If you’d like to help us test either out, send Nick an email at nick@vps.net and we’ll get you access to the new cloud.

DNS & API changes

We’ve redesigned the DNS interface, which should make things much easier for all of you. It’s been simplified and made dummy proof (which is great for me); I think everyone will like the changes. Along with the design change, we’ve also modified the API, so it now supports all the DNS functions including the use of DNS templates.

World Cup Winner

After calculating out all the stats, we’re proud to announce the winner of the World Cup challenge. Alberto Mesas has won, earning himself 3 free nodes. Hope you enjoy the free nodes! For those of you who enjoyed the world cup challenge, I encourage you to join us in the American Fantasy Football Challenge. We’re still looking to see if we have enough interest to start a league, so stop by the forum and let us know you’re in!

That’s all for VPS.NET this week. Hope everyone enjoys the “return of the weekly newsletter.” We should have some more exciting news next week to announce, so stay tuned, and keep in touch with us on the VPS.NET forum!

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A few teaser shots

We’ve been promising Windows, and as proof it’s getting closer to being released to the public, take a peak at the screen shots below…

Screen shot 2010 07 30 at 10.47.51 AM 300x244 A few teaser shotsScreen shot 2010 07 30 at 10.52.39 AM 300x235 A few teaser shotsScreen shot 2010 07 30 at 10.57.26 AM 300x236 A few teaser shotsBefore you get too excited, we’re still a good month or so away from Windows being released to the public. There’s some serious testing that need to go on before we can release it. Drool away for now though!

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The Post HostingCon Blues

As all of us settle back in to a normal work week, recovering from a week long trip in Austin for HostingCon 2010, we can now only reminiscence, thinking of the good times we had at the convention. Not only was it the first time I was able to meet my boss, and Managing Director of VPS.NET, Nick Nelson in person (and he picked me up from Houston Hobby Airport in what can only be called a Monster truck… thing could be wrapped in blue and called BigFoot), but we also had a great time meeting up with several VPS.NET clients and vendors, who were truly a great bunch to talk with.

This year the VPS.NET booth featured money booth. Any visitors could drop by and get a chance to win money and free VPS.NET nodes. It ended up being a tremendous hit, with us giving away several hundred dollars in prizes and quite a few winners of free nodes. We hope everyone who dropped by enjoyed it, and for the rest of you all, we hope you enjoy the pictures below!

DSCN0378 300x225 The Post HostingCon BluesDan (UK2Group), Terry (VPS.NET) & Andy (UK2Group)

DSCN0379 300x225 The Post HostingCon BluesVPS.NET Army

IMG00120 20100721 1552 300x225 The Post HostingCon BluesTerry setting up for day 2

IMG 20100720 094735 300x225 The Post HostingCon BluesNick Nelson prepping the money booth, with Tom from 100TB in the background.

DSCN0388 225x300 The Post HostingCon BluesDitlev Bredahl, UK2Group CEO inside the Money Booth.

DSCN0385 225x300 The Post HostingCon BluesLucky Money Booth Contestant

DSCN0386 300x225 The Post HostingCon BluesShowing off her winnings.

IMG 20100721 131533 225x300 The Post HostingCon BluesDennis from WebHostingTalk.Com taking the slow methodical approach.

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Meet the Grizzly bear, Nick Nelson!

Nick Nelson, the Managing Director at VPS.NET, sat down with Terry Myers today to go through a little intense interviewing. What we got out him was rather shocking!

Lets get started: what kind of bear is best? Keep in mind I said bear, not beer!
The grizzly bear … and the question should be beer!

Wrong! Black bear beats all. How’d you get started at VPS.NET?
I was working with the UK2Group in other areas, mostly business development.

Since we know web hosts rarely sleep, what is the longest you’ve stayed up straight?
I don’t think it’s anything too impressive… maybe 24 hours? I like to take little power naps.

Psh! And to think that you call yourself a web host!
I KNOW! BTW, ever heard of The Gas Light Anthem?

Hey! I ask the questions here. But no, I have not. How’s the traditional day go? Start with Twitter or the forum first?
The traditional day … wake up at 5AM, check email first. Then I get ready to head to the boat around 7:30-8AM. I like to check Twitter and the forum while on the boat. I’ll then finish the walk to the office, typically stopping for tea and breakfast with Ditlev at Spianata. I think they know us there.

What the heck is Spianata?
www.spianata.com. Just a place we stop by in the morning.

You’ve recently made the move to London … apparently you already have a favorite breakfast spot … how’s the rest of the relocation going?
It’s going great. The summers could be a little nicer … but London is nice – and great for traveling. And I of course, already have my favorite happy hour spots as well.

Besides London, how many other places have you lived and how does London rank?
Where else have I lived … wow … let’s see. Houston, West Texas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Southern Georgia … Los Angeles ranks lowest of those … London … it’s just slightly below Texas and Chicago … though the Chicago Winters are as bad as the London Summers … miserable.

Almost done… favorite TV show?
Two and a half men.

The advantage to knowing you for 8 years is I knew that answer and prepared for it. Do you view yourself as Charlie, Alan or even Jake? Admittedly I do see a little of Berta in you.
I’m pretty sure I have most of the charismatics of Charlie … don’t think we need to go into to many more details there. icon wink Meet the Grizzly bear, Nick Nelson!

I didn’t know you were much of a musician.
The musical talent is where I’m lacking! Although we’ll be sure to hit up the Karaoke bars while you’re in Texas for HostingCon … where I’ll be interviewing you!

What kind of cool stuff are you cooking up for the VPS.NET clients?
Cool stuff we have cooked up for VPS.NET … wow, let’s see..man, of few secrets..so Windows, Failover DNS, Load Balancing in all clouds, a new design and UI (designed by a very highly regarded designer who many of you will know..but we can’t let that secret out yet). Fully redundant SANs…And a lot happening in the service area too, which we can’t quite let out of the bag yet. But let’s just say..we’ll be looking back in September … and thinking, wow, what a Summer

Boo to you and your secrets! And that concludes the interrogation process. You’re free to leave. If you’d like to leave any closing statements, please do so at this time.
Ah … I was expecting something much more Juicy. We gotta work on these interrogations. I think that’s it – we should do some fun video stuff at hostingcon though

I try to maintain some sense of professionalism. And if I step into your truck and see video cameras (Editors note: Terry is riding with Nick from Houston, Texas to Austin, Texas for HostingCon) I’m going to run… fast.

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It’s Birthday Week at VPS.NET

Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened.
- Cora Harvey Armstrong

funny pictures birthday cat can count Its Birthday Week at VPS.NET

There are certain days bartenders look forward to. New Years Eve probably tops the list, followed closely by the Friday after Thanksgiving (At least in the USA) but there’s one day that you may not know about. June 3rd; The day of my (Terry!) birthday and the Eve of Nick’s birthday. What typically starts out as a fun get away from the office, always turns into an expensive mess. While I at least get to enjoy the benefit of a lower insurance bill thanks to turning 25, Nick doesn’t have it so good. He just got older. Granted, he’s only 364 days older than me, he’s still older and that much slower than me on the basketball court. Both of us however have survived, and thrived, and I’m pretty certain thanks to some enhanced creativity levels, come up with new ideas for VPS.NET! How many of these ideas we actually remember and then decide to be a good idea can certainly be questioned.

Fw  Color approval sample — Inbox 20100604 213520 183x300 Its Birthday Week at VPS.NETRecognize this little guy? We’ve ordered (I believe) 5,000 of the VPS.NET mascot stress balls. If you want one, the most fun way would be to meet up with us at HostingCon. For those of you who unfortunately won’t be able to attend, we’re cooking up a way to win one. Probably will involve some sort of fun contest, but it’s totally worth it right?

An update on the “Meet the Staff” blog post: we’re still looking for some more votes. So far Kody is winning. Based off what I know about Kody, it’d definitely be a fun and interesting interview, but lets see if we can get a few more votes. Give him a little competition!

We’ve released a new Cloud Linux template, with the release of 5.5 x64. All the versions you’re used to (Basic, Apache only, MySQL only, LAMP, LAMP w/ cPanel & ISP Manager) are all there. Go check it out; a lot of users are making the migration from CentOS to Cloud Linux, so it’s definitely become a fan favorite here at VPS.NET.

That’s all I have for you this week. Definitely keep in touch with us on the forums and through the VPS.NET Twitter. We enjoy hearing from you, so don’t be shy!

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VPS.NET in the clouds!

28350 128740043805298 100000079104163 322456 3048105 n.jpg (604%C3%97453) 20100525 163627 VPS.NET in the clouds!

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve done a “weekly” update here at VPS.NET. I promise you, the lack of updates certainly had nothing to do with the recent release of Red Dead Redemption. Purely coincidence.

The curious ones out there are probably wondering why the title of this weekly update is “VPS.NET in the clouds.” I have the answer for you. Oleh, our Support Manager, had this picture of him taken recently. Military fatigues and VPS.NET gear – that’s right, we do it hardcore! Please also remind me to never crack a joke at Oleh’s expense. Pretty sure he’ll snap me like a twig. Nick, sorry buddy, looks like you’re still the target of choice!

We’re also proud to announce that Slackware 13.0 is available for use on VPS.NET. You can find them in the Beta templates section; you have the options of the basic OS installation, MySQL only, Apache Only, or Apache, PHP and MySQL. This means you now have 9 different choices for operating systems at VPS.NET. Rumor has it a *TENTH* is real close to being released in beta… feel free to guess at which OS that is icon wink VPS.NET in the clouds!

For those of you who end up getting hit by Digg, SlashDot, Buzz, or any of those other sites that love to kill servers, you’ll be happy to hear of our new auto scaling feature. If you’re a ServerDensity user, you can sign up for auto scaling, which will automatically monitor your server for increased traffic levels (and thereby CPU & RAM usage). If it detects that additional nodes are needed, they’ll be automagically added to your account avoiding any unnecessary downtime for your site. Social media doesn’t have anything on VPS.NET users!

We announced this one on the blog earlier already, but in case you missed it, nodes are now billed by the minute. This means that if you purchase a node, and use it for a 20 days, you will be credited for the remaining time left in the month. The credit can then be used for future VPS.NET services, whether it be for your nodes, addon services or CDN purchases. This one is a feature that our resellers were virtually screaming for, so I’m sure you all out there who resell the VPS.NET services greatly appreciate this. If you’re interested in reselling our services, definitely contact us; our resellers benefit from the additional profit stream of offering Cloud VPS Services and CDN services, without any upfront expenses.

Finally, we’ve moved the VPS.NET website over to SoftLayer’s (A UK2.NET strategic partner) Washington DC location. This makes it much easier for us to use their anycast DNS features, along with giving us the ability to give updates in case we ever have any problems with our cloud servers.

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Social Media: How we use it, what we’ve learned, and how WE can do better!

One of my favorite sites, GigaOm, posted an article yesterday “4 Social Media Marketing Tips That Work.” It prompted me to start thinking about how we use social media here at VPS.NET, and what benefits we see from it. There’s certainly no question that our use of social media, especially Twitter, has helped our company grow. We’ve landed clients, we’ve learned a lot about our downfalls, and we’ve built some very strong relationships with clients and vendors.

Transparency
The first thing I’ve noticed about social media is it forces you to be transparent with your actions. Both your good side and your bad side are shown to the public; if you handle the bad right, it’s overlooked. If you handle it wrong, it can ruin you. What can you do to avoid handling it wrong? Being human. Acknowledge the problem, explain how you’re going to fix it, and then put that plan into place.

Being Human
When we use Twitter, our goal isn’t to just send PR notifications; we want to be human. We want to engage the community, replying to fun tweets, retweeting stuff we find interesting, and interacting with our customers. It gives us the ability to truly know our client as a person, and it gives our clients the ability to know us as a person. It makes our relationship much more enjoyable and it removes the traditional vendor/client relationship, which is oh so boring.

Being Authentic
I mentioned earlier about having a plan and actually putting it into place. There’s nothing that I, as a client, hate more than false promises. When we put something out on our Twitter it becomes our mission to accomplish it. We know that if we promise something and it doesn’t come through, we lose our legitimacy as not only a vendor, but also a person, and that makes the importance of delivering on our promise so much more important.

What can we do better?
As we grow, I feel we need to continue to improve on our ability to know you. We not only need to make our Twitter name more well known. If you don’t know of our Twitter, it makes it hard for us to know you. Not only that, but there are many other social media applications, Facebook is one that comes to mind, that we don’t use to the full extent. Not everyone is on Twitter, and we shouldn’t force you to signup for Twitter. We need to come to you.

We also need to have more fun with social media applications. It gives us, and the VPS.NET brand personality. Now I don’t mean a joke of the day, but we need to engage the community better. Whether it be discussion questions, input on VPS.NET, or even social media specific promotions, we need to give you additional value for bringing you into our social media network.

Feel free to discuss your thoughts on social media. From what I’ve found, it’s really changed the way a lot of businesses operate, and I hope that we can continue to innovate the vendor/client relationship, and add value to our hosting services.

Follow us on Twitter: vpsnet

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