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How to Find a Good VPS Provider

 by: raindog308

If you're just feeling lazy, you could always take my advice and use one of the VPS providers I recommend.

But if you want to dig deeper, or if they don't meet your needs, read on.

First, I recommend you have a good idea of your needs. Trying to run a CPU-intensive game server on a 128MB $1-a-month VPS is going to be painful regardless of the provider.

Second, do you know anyone who currently has a VPS? I would take the word of a friend every time over anonymous reviews on the Internet, due to problems discussed elsewhere. Ask your friends, people you know online, people you work with, etc.

Is there a web site or forum you love? If so, who is there provider? If the site is always up and performs well, that's a clue that they have a good provider. Contact the owner of the site or admin of the board and usually they'll be happy to tell you who their provider is. You can also use traceroute, whois, or nslookup to do a little detective work.

Still looking? Start reading up on WHT. Make a list of names you see. Invest a little time. You'll see the same names coming up over and over again. Focus on those that serve your needs.

It's worthwhile to see how often a provider has been in business. whois will tell you when their domain was registered (though that's not completely accurate as people buy companies). You can search WHT further and see what their earliest post was. Every good provider participates on WHT.

Once you have some you're considering, talk to them. Email their pre-sales. If you don't get a response, strike them off the list! But you likely will. A quick email like this is good:

Hi, I'm researching VPS providers and saw your VPS-3 plan, which seems to be a good starting point. I have four sites running Wordpress and a busy (1,000 visitors/day) vBulletin forum. Do you think I'm in the right ballpark? I've never admin'd a VPS before. Thanks.

A good provider will write back with his opinion. He wants your business. It's probably not fair to ask a question like "I'm thinking of providers X, Y, and Z, why should I pick you instead of them?" because most business owners don't want to directly criticize a competitors (especially via email, since they have no way of knowing if you'll keep it private). However, it's certainly fair to say "I'm looking at many providers and they all the look the same to me. Is there any particular reason I should pick you?"

Does the provider offer a trial or money-back guarantee?

Does the provider's pricing seem generally in line with others in his class and service level? If it's significantly less, that could be a warning sign.

Finally, if you have done your homework (and have your checklist answers), post on WHT and ask for advice. "I'm considering these providers and here are my needs - what do you think?"

I have no financial stake in any VPS provider. If you would like some advice, feel free to contact me.