Linode Review: Cloud Hosting & Linux Servers


Mangesh Supe

by Mangesh Supe· Updated May 03 2023

Linode Review: Cloud Hosting & Linux Servers

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Linode is a cloud hosting provider offering high-performance hosting services to more than 400,000 customers from around the world through multiple data centers in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. You can deploy powerful cloud servers in seconds, use industry-leading SSD storage on a 40Gbps network, and handle online business with powerful Intel E5 cores.

If you have not used this hosting provider, sign up for the 7-day free trial offered by Linode in order to test their platform.

About Linode

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Linode is a well-established cloud service hosting provider with an excellent reputation, specializing in SSD Linux servers with outstanding performance and responsiveness.

Christopher Aker founded the company back in 2003, and Linode has been growing ever since. By May 2008, the New Jersey-based operations center shifted from UML to Zen Visualization and launched a data backup service a year later.

Over the years, Linode has grown into a multinational company with data centers in the US, UK, Japan, Singapore and Germany. Although they suffered security breaches in 2012 and 2013, this eventually led them to build better security measures.

This VPS company is now focused on cloud hosting and already has many well-known customers. All in all, they provide hosting services to over 400,000 Linux customers, a number that has been continuously growing.

  1. 329 E. Jimmie Leeds Rd, Ste. A, Galloway, NJ, 08205, United States
  2. Official Website
  3. Facebook
  4. Twitter
  5. Founded by Christopher Aker in 2003

Custodial Services

Linode is a cloud hosting provider specializing in high-performance SSD Linux hosting and is known for its successful and innovative approach to security, which includes participation in the HackerOne Bug Bounty Program.

While not offering industry standard (e.g. shared hosting and dedicated servers) hosting plans, Linode's VPS is stable, secure and has an excellent reputation. The U.S.-based company has more than a decade of operational experience and customers in more than 130 countries worldwide.

Main features

As a VPS hosting provider, Linode prides itself on three key benefits: simplicity, power, and reliability that individuals and businesses at all stages of the process can benefit from.

1. Functional overview

In addition to a wide variety of hosting plans, Linode helps your business with the following features.

  1. Multiple data centers located in 3 different regions
  2. Virtual console for accessing the server
  3. Linode API
  4. Access via command line
  5. Custom Stack Deployment Features
  6. DNS Resolution Management
  7. Extensions and Clones
  8. Full IPv6 support
  9. Recovery mode (also known as rescue mode)

2. Uptime

One of Linode's main selling points is the high level of uptime, a metric that all online businesses rely on, especially in the current environment where availability of over 99.9% cannot be ignored.

Linode is a powerful solution with a 40Gbps network that boosts data transfer speeds as much as possible, while the Intel E5 processor is the fastest in the cloud market.

3. Easy to use control panel

Despite the powerful performance of the VPS, the control panel is designed to be very minimalistic and well laid out for easy navigation: the

They have also recently launched a new control panel that is much more refreshing to use: the

4. Quick start and API access

Once the account is activated, you can start the server in seconds, which gives you more time to focus on your online business and critical core.

An unmanaged VPS means you may need some extra work to get the desired results, but all the tools are there: easy-to-use panels, an advanced API platform, rich scaling facilities, and DNS resolution management that produce amazing results as long as you have the skills to use these resources.

Unlike most of its competitors, Linode offers a VPS that can not only be upgraded at any time, but also downgraded at any time. When adjusting the hosting plan, the data on the disk will be migrated to the new server, don't worry, your existing IP address will not change. Other add-ons include NodeBalancers and Longview, the latter of which helps make the system run more smoothly.

5. Manage VPS via cell phone

Smartphones are ubiquitous in modern life, and Linode offers a powerful mobile app for creating new VPS, tracking existing projects, and even managing payments and billing. There is also a nice plus feature - business monitoring.

6. Rich hosting plan

All hosting plans include SSH and root access with varying hardware configurations, meaning that any size online business can find the right level, the following chart shows the standard hosting plans.

In addition to the standard hosting plans, there are also high memory hosting plans that focus on providing larger amounts of memory.

7. Payment and settlement

All services are billed by the hour (less than 1 hour is counted as 1 hour) and if used continuously for a whole month, then the monthly price is calculated, in which case monthly billing is cheaper than hourly billing. It should be noted that if the traffic used exceeds the limit, then additional charges will be incurred.

8. Customer Support

Linode is customer-focused and offers a high level of support features on its website.

9. Online Guide

There are many tutorials on the official website, you can find them at all levels, from getting started to migrating existing projects to the Linode platform.

However, some users may wish to contact an expert directly, which can be done via phone or Skype. Quite frankly, Linode's customer service is excellent, which is a good selling point in the highly competitive cloud hosting space. After all, a few minor issues can dramatically impact profitability, and finding a quick solution is a top priority, and 24/7 rapid response is key regardless of the method used.

In addition to direct customer support, Linode provides a forum for discussing various issues, and is a great online resource for those struggling to learn to use Linux servers.

10. Security

Linode takes security seriously, and they have done a lot of work on this, such as

  1. Constantly scanning the network and systems to ensure that all configurations are in the correct state, that patches and fixes are up to date, and that there are no security vulnerabilities.
  2. Working with HackerOne, its security researchers can find and document vulnerabilities in Linode systems.
  3. Performing routine system testing, including penetration and application testing.
  4. Protecting owned data centers, authenticating employees only through biometrics, and restricting unauthorized visitors.
  5. Implement redundant routers, switches, and service providers so that systems can remain intact in the event of a failure
  6. Provide dual authentication to protect your account
  7. DDoS Protection
  8. Vulnerability management, Linode constantly scans the network and system for any anomalies
  9. Up to 9+ security certifications per region, with London, UK being the most

Linode has suffered several DDoS attacks in the past, culminating in its failure in January 2016, but since then, engineers have learned many valuable lessons and are now better equipped to defend against a variety of cyber threats.

Good news for new registrants: Linode is offering a $20 discount code, which is equivalent to 4 months of free VPS hosting service. How to get the $20 off? Please refer here: Linode promo code usage tutorial.

Standard Package List

Monthly Price

CPU Cores

Memory

SSD Hard Drives

Monthly Traffic

$5

1

1 GB

25 GB

1 TB

$10

1

2 GB

50 GB

2 TB

$20

2

4 GB

80 GB

4 TB

$40

4

8 GB

160 GB

5 TB

$80

6

16 GB

320 GB

8 TB

$160

8

32 GB

640 GB

16 TB

$320

16

64 GB

1280 GB

20 TB

$480

20

96 GB

1920 GB

20 TB

$640

24

128 GB

2560 GB

20 TB

$960

32

192 GB

3840 GB

20 TB

11 data centers

North America

Fremont

Dallas

Atlanta

Newark

Toronto

Follymont
California

Dallas
Texas

Atlanta
Georgia

Newark, New Jersey
New Jersey

Toronto
Ontario

Europe

London

Frankfurt

London
United Kingdom

Frankfurt
Germany

Asia Pacific

Singapore

Tokyo2

Mumbai

Sydney

Singapore

Tokyo 2
Japan

Mumbai
India

Sydney
Australia

Speed Test

Determine your best data center and choose the location closest to you and your customers. Closer servers will usually provide less latency and faster transfer speeds.
Click here to test the speed of Linode data center

Summary

Proprietary Linux solutions do present limitations, but unmanaged VPS enable greater possibilities for those with this background knowledge.

On the other hand, it means that users need a degree of expertise that is not necessary with other services such as web hosting and managed VPS. In the right situation, Linode may be the perfect cloud hosting solution.

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