Linode

So far so good, currently my 2nd go-to hosting provider – Linode is currently my 2nd Go-To hosting provider. My first is Digital Ocean. While they both are very similar, they share their differences, pros and cons. One of the things I liked about Linode is the ability to easily scale up and down (unlike DO, which only supports going up, while going down takes a bit more technical procedures) Another pro from Linode is that it's dedicated cpu start at a much cheaper rate compared to DO. One con I have noticed is that the resources its using are quite dated compared to it's competition thus not performing as good as DO under load.

This is my go to solution for Virtual Machines in the cloud – Having tried Microsoft Azure, Google Compute and Amazon Lightsail I have settled on Linode for my cloud computing services in Australia (They now have Sydney based servers). They bill by the hour and the pricing structure is simple in comparison to the services mentioned earlier and also competitive if you have the time/energy to work through Google, MS or Amazon's price calculator. Linode may not have the flexibility of some of the others but if you just want to simply spin up a virtual computer you can literally be connecting to it within in minutes of deciding to create it! They also have GPU processing (NVIDIA RTX 6000s), though sadly not in their Sydney datacentre, which I have been using with Blender 3d for my hobby as my home computer is not up to the task. I have done some comparisons and for big render jobs it costs me about half of what I would have to pay to use a cloud render farm. Distinctions: - Really quick and easy to use - It is cost effective. Their smallest $0.0075/hr (USD) plan is more than enough to run a pretty robust webserver! - It is billed by the hour though I believe Google bills by the second which would be even nicer. - No learning required to get started - Really powerful and feature rich interface that is still simple to use. - REST API that allows pretty much everything to be controlled/monitored programmatically. - Tech support are quick to get back - There are a wide range of Linux distributions to choose from. - Configurable email notification if a server goes down (or is powered down), if it starts to experience high network access or CPU usage. - Stackscripts which are scripts that can be set to run on creation that can set-up your Linode how you want it so everything is ready when you first connect.

Negatives: - Priced in USD. It would be really nice to have the option of paying in AUD. - New accounts are restricted. These restrictions can be removed in a few days but it requires an support query. E.g GPU servers can't be created until you have a chat with them. - They have an custom Image storage system but it is still in Beta doesn't work very well yet. Lastly - I think they were feeling left out and have created a "Understand Total Cost Of Ownership" calculator which is equally as Amazons calculator. Don't bother, it will cause headaches, they have a really easy to use table detailing prices that doesn't require the user to enter any data!