Would you pass up a reliable, private server starting at $5/month? It really is better than you expect, and recommended if it's all you need.
March 14, 2017
Would you pass up a reliable, private server starting at $5/month? It really is better than you expect, and recommended if it's all you need.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean provides basic "cloud computing" and describes themselves as "bare-bones", which is an understatement when compared to other cloud services, as they only provide computing services (virtual machines), which they call "Droplets", with a few basic sub-services that you can add to your droplets, such as storage, networking, and load-balancing. At this point in telling someone about DigitalOcean, I usually get a question along the lines of "so they are a VPS or a Cloud provider"? DigitalOcean is very clearly in the cloud category. The difference is that a VPS host rents each physical server (individually) to multiple clients, who then share the resources. In Cloud architecture, multiple servers, storage devices, and other network resources are connected together and combined into a single "resource" pool, usually consisting of Processors, RAM, Storage (Hard Drive), Network Adapters, and many more depending on how advanced the service is (GPU, Video RAM, USB Bus, etc). This pool is then shared out as individual units to power "internet" accessible virtual devices, such as servers. The Internet is illustrated in a network diagram as a cloud, hence the name. This architecture has many benefits, such as being available "on the fly", letting a client instantly start, stop, or modify a server. This means a client only pays for what he is using, usually in hourly blocks, which is how DigitalOcean bills. Since all the resources are from a group of servers, a failure of one server or hard drive, NIC, etc does not affect a virtual server at all, meaning any cloud server is considered a "high availability" server. Along with servers, DigitalOcean also offers network services, allowing a client to have a complete private virtual network, with switches, routers, servers, load balancers, subnets, and more, all with the same security advantages as physical units. By offering only 'high-demand' services, DigitalOcean offers awesome cloud services at an affordable rate (starting $5/month), which gives every business, hobbyist, student, and etc access to real network resources, via an easy to use web interface, If they can order a computer from Dell, they can get a cloud server.
- Cloud computing services at amazingly low rates, such as $5 a server per month.
- They have a very clean, simple, an self-explanatory interface. This is the first cloud provider I can honestly truly say this about, Google is second.
- The price per resource is lower than most other providers, while offering the same core compute services. This is especially true, as their storage services are only provided by SSD, which is usually priced at a premium
- The best part is DigitalOcean always has promos going on, and you can manage a server for free if you invite someone monthly or trial other services such as CodeAnywhere.
- The use of cloud in the company description is a bit misleading, it is correctly used, but most people are expecting more cloud services available.
- They take "Bare-Bones" to an extreme, It is currently March 13, 2017, and they JUST added Load Balancing services recently. On the other hand, deploying a private droplet to act as a LB/FO controller, DB, etc., is generally cheaper than what other providers charge for those services.
- They let me offer my clients a better, fully private hosting option, at a fraction of the price, compared to the budget shared hosting plan they currently have.
- It is easy to use, with a clean interface, making services quick and useful.
- Everything takes less time to setup, you can even add SSH keys via the web interface, rather than generating and adding them vie a SSH shell. Less time equals more profit for me, and smaller bills for my clients.
Compared service to service, Digitalocean comes out on top usually, for smaller better spec servers. This is what they do, and specialty shops are always the best route, with no exception here. However, if you need more than a server, or are not comfortable doing more than starting up a Linux pre-installed image, then it isn't for you. Digitalocean can be VERY powerful in the hands of a very good Linux geek, because even though all they offer are servers and networking tools, that is all a physical network usually has, meaning you can make your own system, and pay a LOT less than with any other service, but if you need more, and don't have those skills, you just won't find it. I do tend to pass up Digitalocean at times when I think I MIGHT need an independent managed database and etc., so it is something you need to take into consideration. As I have said in most of my reviews, this a great place to get info from people that use the service, but EVERY project has a good way, a bad way, and an AWESOME way of doing things, and you need to design an compare and chose the right mix of services to make it work the AWESOME way. I really can not say if DigtalOcean is for you, but if they do match your required services, I say to go for it.