Rackspace Virtual Servers

[Bruce]

I've been trying out a virtual server for NetTalk lately using the Rackspace service.

http://www.rackspacecloud.com/1220.html

Full Disclosure: The above link, if you use it, tells them I recommended Rackspace to you. If you then purchase I get a small cut (5%) of your spend over a couple years.

That said, I've been very happy with the server so far. At the moment it's running our mirror for the main CapeSoft web site (http://mirror.capesoft.com)
Setup was really easy - just two things I had to do to the machine;
a) Uninstall IIS as it's installed by default.
b) Manually add my web server to the Exceptions list for the firewall - In Windows 2008 R2 it didn't pop up automatically.

Access is vis Windows RDP (Remote Desktop) so it's pretty much the same as sitting at the machine.

Pricing:
RAM    Disk     Network Throughput    Hourly Charge
1,024 MB    40 GB    30 Mbps                         $0.08
2,048 MB    80 GB    40 Mbps                         $0.16
4,096 MB    160 GB    50 Mbps                         $0.32
8,192 MB    320 GB    60 Mbps                        $0.58
15,872 MB 620 GB    70 Mbps                        $1.08

The low rate runs to about $60 per month. Bandwidth is extra at around 22c per gig.

I'll be keeping an eye on it, and posting back here from time to time - but so far so good.

[Rene Simons]

Nice on Bruce,

Are there any rules to be considered on the amount of RAM, Disc-space and bandwidth that I should need for a NTWS5 app?

Rene

[Mike Grigsby]

Somewhat related to this: Has anyone used, or know of someone, using the Google or Amazon cloud to store data? I'm curious how you would modify a NTWS (or any Clarion program) to work with the cloud, possibly as a virtual drive(?).

[rjolda]

Mike,
I think that Oak Park was set up with virtual servers with clarion in mind - e.g. IP driver and Net Talk.  Don't have their address handy but you can find it on the clarion related boards.
ROn

[Bruce]

Hi Rene,

Disk-space wise 40GB is plenty for most things. Depends on the size of your static files I guess, but we're hosting the whole of the NetTalk site, including all the download files, and we've got a LOT of room to spare.

Ram-wise, again it depends on your app, but you can always run the program to see how much Ram it's consuming. We're running on an earlier offering of Rackspaces - with 512M ram and 20 gig drive, and that seems to be doing fine.

if you're running SQL then it's a bit different - you need to allow for the disk & ram requirements of SQL. I suspect that's why they've upped their entry-level system - I don't think you'd want to run SQL in less than a gig of Ram.

cheers
Bruce

[Johan van Zyl]

I've been trying out a virtual server for NetTalk lately using the Rackspace service.

http://www.rackspacecloud.com/1220.html

The low rate runs to about $60 per month. Bandwidth is extra at around 22c per gig.

Hi Bruce, are you still happy with RackSpace? Any other alternative? Is the pricing still about the same?
Can I serve multiple domains from there for that price?

Cheers
JVZ

[Bruce]

Very happy Johan. There are other alternatives, but we haven't looked any further. We've got 3 windows servers running now, and a Linux box as well (doing other stuff).

Yes you can serve multiple sites - if they are not SSL - using the Multi-Site Host program. We have about 10 sites currently running on one of the boxes. You can also do multiple SSL sites _but_ only with sub-domains of the same domain. So that's a lot more limiting.

cheers
Bruce

[Johan van Zyl]

Using Multi-Site with Rackspace Virtual Servers:

Can you run various domains' webpages or would that be sub-domains of the a single domain?
i.e.
can you host
www.jvz.co.za and ww.acctual.co.za etc in one MultiSite server app.

Can one have more than one Multi-Site server app running at the same time? (using different ports obviously)

And all this for 50/60 USD or whatever per month?

When/why would one need more than one Virtual Server?
And each one costs you 50/60 USD or whatever per month?
Could one install FireBird/PostgressSQL/MySQL and/or Drupel/Joomla in your Virtual Server

[Bruce]

>> Using Multi-Site with Rackspace Virtual Servers:
<< Can you run various domains' webpages
yes.

<< can you host
<< www.jvz.co.za and ww.acctual.co.za etc in one MultiSite server app.

yes.

<< Can one have more than one Multi-Site server app running at the same time? (using different ports obviously)

yes (although why would you?)

>> And all this for 50/60 USD or whatever per month?

The price depends on the specific server - ie you pay according to RAM and Disk usage.
the bottom end one is with 1 gig of ram and 40 gigs of disk (I think) - and that's about $60 per month plus some bandwidth charges. You also get machines with more ram, and more hard-drive space.

>> When/why would one need more than one Virtual Server?

Partly for Ram - especially if running Sql. But partly for all the other normal reasons - when one machine becomes overloaded then you get more machines. We have 4 machines running at the moment - 1 linux and 3 windows.
Also if you want to do SSL sites then you can't use the multi-host as easily (in that case you're limited to sub-domains).

>> And each one costs you 50/60 USD or whatever per month?

yes. Well no, the linux one is half that.

>> Could one install FireBird/PostgressSQL/MySQL and/or Drupel/Joomla in your Virtual Server

sure, you can do anything you want. You just need to balance Ram and Disk requirements so you get the right server.

Cheers
Bruce