Likelihood to Recommend I actually recommend this service to all my students and colleagues. It's got more storage space for free than any provider I've found (and for students and teachers, this is a BIG deal). It's wonderful if you want to upload video, too, because where Dropbox and other providers severely limit file upload sizes, Copy is much more generous. Also, since Copy is cloud-based, you don't even need your own computer to use it necessarily since you can access it online. I can't really think of a situation where it would be less appropriate unless you wanted to store classified documents (in which case I'd wonder why you're uploading them to a cloud-based server in the first place).
Read full review Linode provides a wide range of configurations and prices, suitable for many budgets and needs. They also have a lot of experience in providing these services for many years. We have almost exclusively used Debian distributions for our work, but they offer a large number of other versions of Linux. Beside "raw" distributions of Linux, they also offer other VMs containing specialized installations of a variety of applications, such as Wordpress, Drupal and Docker.
Read full review Pros Copy is similar to Dropbox, in that you have a folder on your computer where you store the files you want to be able to access and sync via Copy's online service. It's very reliable about making sure files are synced across machines. You can create "shortcuts" to files on your main computer in order to access them from other locations without it impacting the amount of space you're using on your account. It seems to work almost like a VPN (but not quite). You can share folders and files with others, allowing various privileges and rights. This process is incredibly easy. It also sends your affiliate link in case the people you are sharing with want to sign up (bonus space!). Copy is attractive and simple to use. It's not complicated, and their support site is clear and monitored. Copy is great if you regularly need to upload or share video files. It allows a larger upload size than Dropbox which means that those videos you shoot on your smart phone can be uploaded and shared more easily. Read full review It's super easy-to-use - set up a complete virtual environment in a few minutes. Linode is the ONLY service I know that will let you DOWNSIZE a VM - super useful. The price is right - spin up any size server and add additional block storage if needed. Object memory is cheap and integrates very well with S3 CLIs and applications. I've been very happy with the knowledgeable and friendly customer service. The more recent additions of a firewall and Kubernetes is a welcome plus. The load balancer ("Load Balancer") service is easy to spin up and configure. Read full review Cons One thing Copy doesn't do is allow you to sync any folder on your hard drive (like Sugar Sync does). You have to save the file in the designated Copy folder. However, Dropbox and most other popular cloud storage services don't allow this either, so although this is a negative, it's so common that it's hardly a major drawback. EDIT: You can work around this by creating shortcuts in your Copy folder that point to the folder in its original location on your hard drive. There are a few areas of support (instructions, primarily, in regards to file shortcuts) that are a little vague (although at the time of this writing they may have been clarified and detail added). Copy isn't as well known as other cloud service providers, so your friends may need to be caught up on its awesomeness. This also means that it isn't as well integrated into apps and programs. I'm hoping time will change this as the service grows. Read full review I have not succeeded in using the DNS of Linode with a website not hosted in their server. I hope their DNS is as user-friendly as DO and Vultr. Cloud storage user interface is not as easy as DO. I want to see their cloud storage on a pay-per-usage scheme, not monthly. For VPS, I wish Linode to increase the SSD space storage of their basic VPS larger than those of competitors. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It's by far the most reasonably priced storage solution. Microsoft
OneDrive has great pricing, but most would agree that this service isn't quite as easy to use as some of the others (I do actually use it, but not for sharing or collaborating). Also, Copy's less stringent file limitations makes it a step above every other service I've tried. And, it's super easy to explain to others how it works and how to use it.
Read full review I've been with them a long time. They provide me with the capabilities I need coupled with knowledgeable support that's not pay-for-extra. However, if I move to a non-Linux OS, the level of support by necessity will drop off. I can still ask questions about the infrastructure but I my ability to ask about OS features will decrease.
Read full review Usability Copy is so easy to use, it's beautiful, and it just works well. Although finding my referral link could be easier, I'm constantly recommending it to others. I love that there are no restrictions on the size of file uploads, making it my favorite place to upload video files that are shot on my phone. I like that I can share files if I want. It's a great service, and I don't think anyone beats the amount of free space you start with.
Read full review It's pretty easy for me, but I preferred their old interface before it was called 'cloud' (not a computer science term.) The new interface looks easier but I had to ask for help for things I used to be able to find myself. If someone was new to it--without having used their old interface--it might be easier for them than it originally was for me.
Read full review Reliability and Availability There is very little planned downtime. Whenever planned downtime is necessary I'm always given lots of advanced notice and an explanation that I can pass along to my users that they'll understand. I really appreciate that Linode appreciates my commitment to reliable service to my users. It shows that they believe they've been successful when I'm successful.
Read full review Performance Linode is an infrastructure provider issues related to performance are really on me. Linode provides a capable infrastructure and allows me to tailor performance of the services I provide to my customers to my specific situation. Linode allows me to implement "tweaks" that, from experience, I know will do the job with little risk without a whole bunch of static from idiot support 'droids who just get in the way ("this isn't supported at the present time").
Read full review Support Rating Support from Linode has always been excellent for us. We've barely had to wait any time between ticket requests and replies, and we've always received replies that actually answered our problems. Whenever maintenance has occurred on Linode's side, they've always alerted us beforehand and left a ticket open as a source of communication in case we had any issues after maintenance or any other questions that we needed answered.
Read full review Online Training We got kick started with an initial walkthrough along with some free credits. The initial walkthrough helped us to understand Linode's ecosystem and start our hands on with Linode. We tried out some apps from Marketplace initially with the free credits, which not only helped us understand Linode better, but also those apps. We had implemented many such apps to our customers with Linode
Read full review Implementation Rating We're a small organization. The implementation of our Linode solution was trivial. Once I justified a cloud server to my bosses over a co-location -- the co-lo wasn't as fast as our linode server in load tests -- it was a matter of moving one Linux implementation to another. Trivial.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Although Dropbox, SugarSync, and Google Drive are all excellent services (and I still use one or two of them depending on the circumstance - required by business, collaborative document creation, etc.), Copy is probably my favorite. The closest second is SugarSync. What keeps me coming back to Copy (after a long, happy stay with SugarSync) is the pricing and the amount of space you are given for the amount paid (that and my business started blocking SugarSync and Dropbox). Copy has a clean interface, has an equal (or better) user interface and functionality, makes sharing a breeze, and offers a ton of storage for a very reasonable price. And, since I've installed it, I've had zero problems with it getting out of sync or losing files. I'm in love!
Read full review Compared to the big cloud players like
Amazon Web Services , Google Cloud Platform, MS Azure, Oracle Cloud, and co., Linode's product is simpler and cheaper. For quick and straightforward client engagements, the power and flexibility afforded by the previously mentioned vendors are overkill. Compared specifically to some of its closest rivals: Versus
DigitalOcean , Linode has better pricing for VMs; while compared to
Vultr , while
Vultr 's backups are cheaper (20% of VM cost versus effective ~25% of VM cost),
Vultr 's DDoS protection is an add-on product, which made the overall cost of the deployment more expensive. The runner-up competitor for our use cases, Hetzner, offers superior pricing; However due to their flaky KYC and anti-fraud which was a pain to deal with, I lost faith in them. They also do not have a region in East Asia, which would impact performance.
Read full review Scalability Although I use only a fraction of their product offerings, the total set makes scalability an easy goal to shoot for. As I said, I have a few customers that use the services my Linode provides...and I like it that way. However, should I need to scale up, I can...without incurring any more cost than I need to.
Read full review Return on Investment +easier file sharing with my colleagues and students (less stress, more efficient than using flash drives). +easy access to files I use regularly, whether on my home computer, my phone, or at work, meaning increased productivity. +fast syncing (and selective syncing) means that I can choose which files to sync to each location, leading to optimized storage management on my hard drives. +since it's super easy to get lots of free space, the ROI is awesome. Plus, because you start with more free space than other options, you're already one step ahead. Read full review With the partnership of Linode, Configr is today the best performance hosting solution in Brazil. With Linode, Configr can provide a PaaS solution without the cost of taking care of all the infrastructure issues such as IaaS. Linode allowed Configr to be one of the biggest hosting companies in Brazil. Read full review ScreenShots Akamai Cloud Computing Screenshots