[LRUG] Low usage production server options?

[Andrew Stewart]

On 9 Jan 2008, at 15:14, Simon Sebright wrote:
> So, can anyone offer and advice on getting my app running  
> somewhere, either on a machine of my own or a hosting provider  
> somewhere?  I don't mind installing Linux somewhere, but have  
> really no clue how to administer it.  Speed is really not a problem  
> - if so many people use the site, it becomes a problem, then I have  
> a good problem!

If you have a spare Linux box at home, you could get a simple  
deployment working fairly easily.  Forget about a web server (e.g.  
Apache, Nginx) initially; Mongrel (app server) will be fine on its  
own.  So install Ruby on your Linux box, then Ruby gems, then use the  
gem system to install Mongrel and Rails.

Alternatively you could use one of the many hosts out there.  They  
cover the spectrum from cheap, mass market (~£3/month) packages to  
dedicated VPSs (~£30-40/month) and beyond.

I strongly recommend avoiding the mass market end.  These hosts  
generally slap "We support Ruby on Rails" on their site because Rails  
is growing in popularity but they don't have any experience with it.   
It always goes wrong.

As for the rest, the trade-off of price, support and resources is up  
to you.  Some are dearer but pretty much do everything for you (e.g.  
Rails Machine) while some are cheaper but expect you to do more work  
(e.g. Slicehost).

One point to bear in mind is that a Rails stack is more akin to a  
Java stack, in terms of server resources, than, say, a PHP one.   
People coming from PHP are often surprised at Rails's memory  
requirements.

Personally I use Rails Machine because I'd rather pay somebody to do  
what I'm not good at (server administration) and spend my time on  
activities I am good at (e.g. application development).  But it's a  
matter of personal preference.

Good luck!

Andy Stewart

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http://airbladesoftware.com