In line with the notion that I will be posting on my blog again, I plan to write reviews of various low-end budget VPS providers. Since standardization is loved in IT, this post will serve as a standard template of sorts for all of my review posts – both for my sake, and the reader’s sake. 🙂
Section 1: Provider Overview
This section will provide a brief overview for the provider being reviewed. This includes:
- When the company was founded
- Where the company is located and / or incorporated
- Locations offered, and the datacenter/provider used for each location
- Payment methods accepted
- Link to company website
Of course, this section is not a substitute for the user’s own research for a provider they are considering. It is simply designed to provide a “thin slice” of information about a provider – hopefully, a slice that can assist with decision-making.
Section 2: Plan Specifications
In this section, I will detail exactly what I got from the provider, as well as how much I am paying for what I got. This section will include information like:
- CPU and type
- RAM
- Storage and type
- Bandwidth
- Network speed
- IP addresses
- Virtualization type
- Location & datacenter
- Other bonuses, such as free DirectAdmin license or DDoS protection
- Price
Hopefully, this section will provide a good taste for what kind of pricing, deals, and most importantly, value, the provider offers.
Section 3: Server Benchmarks
Benchmarks are an excellent way to showcase the performance (or lack thereof) of a VPS. Thus, I will include a set of results from various benchmark scripts I like. This will be:
- YABS.sh (Storage, network, CPU)
- Nench.sh (Storage, network, CPU)
- Speedtest.net-cli (Network)
Of course, there are many variables that can affect the performance on benchmarks, from the operating system used to the time of day, but this set of benchmarks will provide a good sample of the performance of the VPS.
Section 4: Provider Support
Support is one of the most important, and most variable, components of a hosting company. While most low-end hosting companies provide minimal support, I still do feel it is important to evaluate the support provided by the company. Additionally, if a provider goes above-and-beyond in terms of support, that is certainly a great boost to the value of the VPS as well.
For the evaluation of support, I will take a look at the following metrics:
- Ticket response time
- Ticket resolution time
- Support team competence (of course, this is subjective)
Section 5: Concluding Remarks & Verdict
This section will provide a “wrap up” for the review. Additionally, it will contain any extra comments regarding the provider that do not inherently impact the value of their services. For instance, if I had a pleasant chat with the owner, I would be sure to note that here.
FInally, this section will include my verdict regarding whether or not the provider in question is worth using. By nature, this is a subjective statement, but I hope it, along with the rest of the review, will serve as a helpful guide for those looking for information about a hosting provider.