From: Douglas B. <do...@ha...> - 2016-03-17 04:32:38
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hi Paul, > We have come to the point in time where we are going to have to start using > a VPS for our public upstage.org.nz host. > > Having weighed up a number of potential services, I am leaning toward using > Linode. > > Before going ahead, does anyone have any recommendations for services > they've used, or if they've had any issues with Linode they'd like to out > forward. I used Linode for a few years, and it mostly worked OK. I/O was slow, but since that time it seems to have caught up with SSDs and so forth. On the other hand it has had quite a few basic security issues lately http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/09/linode_ssh_security/ https://blog.linode.com/2016/01/05/security-notification-and-linode-manager-password-reset/ https://blog.linode.com/2013/04/16/security-incident-update/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/03/bitcoins-worth-228000-stolen-from-customers-of-hacked-webhost/ https://blog.linode.com/2014/01/19/an-old-system-and-a-swat-team/ mostly related to its bespoke infrastructure which is seeming more and more idiosyncratic. It is hard to say if it is really worse than elsewhere. Another security problem that isn't exactly Linode's fault is that your IP address will be in the middle of a range that all point to very similar machines. When there is, say, a new Debian security hole, it is very easy for attackers to sweep over that range and compromise a large number of machines (this happened to me with the December 2010 exim4 bug, when the machine was compromised on the day of the announcement). If you are using Linode, you really really need to keep up to ate with patches, and sometimes you won't be quick enough. Of course this applies with any other big supplier. Linode is easy to use and not too expensive. I'm not saying you shouldn't use it -- just be aware of potential problems. cheers, Douglas |