| Posted by bluethundr_, 05-17-2009, 10:26 AM | | Hi,
I'm looking for a provider of fully managed Debian hosts, that is preferably US based, and has access to CDN's like Limelight Networks and UltraDNS. Etch would be fine, Lenny would be dreamy.
Am I dreaming? I've been looking long and hard and found bubkis.
Rackspace tells me they will install anything including Debian and provide it with what they call 'best effort support' as opposed to their usual 'fanatical support' which they reserve for Red Hat and variants like Centos.
I would not have a _humongous_ problem shifting my entire environment (which seems to be growing more complex by the day) over to Red Hat. I would just distinctly rather not do that. Plus I really enjoy working the debian way I want to keep it that way if I can.
How does 'best effort' support compare to 'fanatical support' in relation to rackspace? Can I build a business on 'best effort support'?
I know I can always go dedicated if I want my own preferred brand of OS on there. Problem is, I'm the only engineer in the company and I would vastly prefer to not have to work 24/7.
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| Posted by techryan, 05-17-2009, 10:36 AM | | I think you should hire people who specialize in Debian, generally speaking , I have seen people who supports Redhat/Centos over a period of time may find it difficult to work with Debian. Opinions may vary and I think you should stick with Debian, it is much stable than any other Linux distribution, but hard to manage. Everything which is good comes at a price.
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| Posted by hiabhilash, 05-17-2009, 11:54 AM | | Debian is for pure linux/unix lovers (rather fanatics) - for those who have the true feeling of OSS and GNU. A Debian based box, is secure on its own, as long as you enable auto updates. But yes, quite a lot of things can be done there as well.
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| Posted by Hesser, 05-18-2009, 11:56 AM | | Although, I'd not that techie, I thought Debian was easier to work in than the other linux systems. I would think most fully managed hosts would offer Debian in addition to the others.. How does it stack up against Redhat?
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| Posted by bluethundr_, 05-18-2009, 12:36 PM | | well, you would think that debian is offered right along other distros. In my experience, that is simply not the case.
I have an easier time of working with Debian rather than Red Hat because I've been using Deb for about 10 years as a hobbyist. Now I am being asked to work out everything including mysql, postfix, apache, tomcat and frankly it's a lot. I love learning my new job. My hobby has somehow become my profession.
If I have to start again with Red Hat I would almost have to re-learn everything I know.
Every time I ask a hosting provider if they provide Debian they always say "suuuuureeee!!!" Then you have to practically drag out of them that what you can do is rent a dedicated host from them you can put whatever you desire on that.
Know this... in case you didn't already.... dedicated != managed.
With a dedicated system I would have to do everything myself as I do now. NO vacation time, no weekends, 3am emergency calls the works. A managed system essentially puts a full support team at your disposal so you can do those little things like weekends and vacation time.
The only managed debian environment I have found after a lot of searching is Bodhost.
The closest thing to it I've found is something called "Best Effort" support at rackspace. How a "best effort" differs from "fanatical support" I would love to know if anyone out there does.
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| Posted by Hesser, 05-18-2009, 05:25 PM | | Are you saying that you don't think you can find a good host that offers a fully managed solution with Debian as the OS?
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| Posted by bluethundr_, 05-18-2009, 05:51 PM | | There is one and only one I've found. Bodhost. However, they do not:
1) offer cloud computing
2) give access to CDNs.
Rackspace does. They will only support managed debian at the "Best Effort" level. What I am still trying to figure out is if Rackspace "Best Effort" is good enough to build a business strategy on.
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| Posted by quad3datwork, 05-18-2009, 06:00 PM | | Well, you should inquire Rackspace what is this "Best Effort" entails. List generics of your current setup to them and see if they can support it via this "Best Effort" plan that they spoke of.
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| Posted by techryan, 05-18-2009, 10:28 PM | | This is exactly my point, someone who have worked with Redhat/Centos have to relearn everything. Managed Debian hosting is rare
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| Posted by SingleHopChris, 05-19-2009, 10:14 AM | | Managed Debian hosts are definitely out there, It just takes some looking around. In regards to the best effort support that Rackspace is willing to provide, have you given them examples of issues that you have had in the past that you needed resolved to see if they can resolve them? That might be a good way to get a rough idea of whether or not they can meet your needs. That said, if you do go that route, I am pretty sure they still require 12 or 24 month contracts, so be very sure before you say go.
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| Posted by SweetT, 05-19-2009, 01:54 PM | | I don't think you are dreaming at all....in fact, I know of at least one fully managed hosting company that Debian is their default OS and they actually have Debian Developers on staff plus they offer the Level 3 CDN so it sounds like they would be perfect for you.
--T
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| Posted by SingleHopChris, 05-19-2009, 01:57 PM | | You going to tell him who it is?
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| Posted by Scott.Mc, 05-19-2009, 02:21 PM | | I believe he would be referring to themselves (nationalnet.com)
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