Best VPS Hosting Hardware [DISCUSSION]

[JordanF]

Greetings,

I have a question which may be as old as the service itself, none the less it’s asked hundreds of times every day across hundreds of forums and I want to come to somewhat of an answer right here on HostingDiscussion for the world to see. I am not entirely sure on the answer myself and nor are thousands of others, which is why I open it to the public - What is the best hardware for VPS Hosting ?

After searching many forums and websites the range varies from an AMD Athlon up to the latest Intel E7 hardware, along with many others, I want to find the ideal server hardware configuration which combines price and performance. I am trying to fill the chart below with server configurations for people to refer to at their own leisure and hopefully add to the list of reasons they love HD.

Windows VPS Hosting
High Performance Configuration –
Standard Performance Configuration –
Low Performance Configuration –

Linux VPS Hosting
High Performance Configuration –
Standard Performance Configuration –
Low Performance Configuration –

I’m really excited to hear what you all have to say, but I need to add some guidelines to your responses so it doesn’t become a cluttered chat room of some sort.


• Configuration Suggestions Format: Type of VPS, Performance Level, CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Storage/Backups, PSU, OS, Virtualization Software, Any additional information… (i.e Windows, Standard, 2x Intel Xeon E5420, Intel S3200SHV Server Motherboard, 32GB 1333Mhz DDR2 RAM, 2x 1TB SATA (RAID 1), 125W PSU, CentOS (Latest), Xen Virtualization).
• If you agree with someone’s server configuration please respond firstly with ‘I agree with X’s configuration’, and then you can continue with any further comments.
• Try and match the Hardware with a cost appropriate for the performance level (The low performance config shouldn’t cost as much as the high performance one)
• DO NOT Try and sell your product or service on this thread please! (This is to assist starting or expanding businesses and not to advertise)
• Please respect everybody’s input into this thread!

I really look forward to hearing all your responses – I encourage you to share this thread around so we can come to one final set of server configs!

All the best,

---
Jordan F.
Chief Executive Officer
Skype: inv3stor

 

[PremiumVM]

Hello,

While I can't really comment on low, standard, high performance configurations I will recommend a configuration for VPS hosts to use.

For start up VPS hosts, I will always recommend something along the lines of the following:

E3-1230v2/1240v2/1270v2
16-32GB RAM
4x1TB HDD's
(optional) 1x128GB SSD for Flashcache
1Gbit Port

Something along the lines of that will serve well, and also be future proof.

Another option could also be a Dual E5-2620 with 64GB RAM if you really want to go up, and have the budget.

 

[slashpro]

Hello,

While I can't really comment on low, standard, high performance configurations I will recommend a configuration for VPS hosts to use.

For start up VPS hosts, I will always recommend something along the lines of the following:

E3-1230v2/1240v2/1270v2
16-32GB RAM
4x1TB HDD's
(optional) 1x128GB SSD for Flashcache
1Gbit Port

Something along the lines of that will serve well, and also be future proof.

Another option could also be a Dual E5-2620 with 64GB RAM if you really want to go up, and have the budget.

I second this! I would vote Intel any day!

 

[vanixhosting]

Intel is good, but amd is catching up especially with the 16 core processors, 6000+ series.

 

[SuperVDS]

Most important factor if you want to sell VPS and host many VPS on a single box is the disk I/Ops. Hardware RAID10 is essential with minimum of 4 hard drives. CPU or RAM I find are never the limiting factor in how many VPS I can get on a dedi server, its the disk i/o. High disk latency and every user on the server suffers.

Intel is the way to go for virtualization!

 

[anyNode]

Most important factor if you want to sell VPS and host many VPS on a single box is the disk I/Ops. Hardware RAID10 is essential with minimum of 4 hard drives. CPU or RAM I find are never the limiting factor in how many VPS I can get on a dedi server, its the disk i/o. High disk latency and every user on the server suffers.

SSD cached drives are very beneficial to VPS hosting.

 

[KarlZimm]

Hello,

While I can't really comment on low, standard, high performance configurations I will recommend a configuration for VPS hosts to use.

For start up VPS hosts, I will always recommend something along the lines of the following:

E3-1230v2/1240v2/1270v2
16-32GB RAM
4x1TB HDD's
(optional) 1x128GB SSD for Flashcache
1Gbit Port

Something along the lines of that will serve well, and also be future proof.

Another option could also be a Dual E5-2620 with 64GB RAM if you really want to go up, and have the budget.

I would say the dual E5-2620 with 64+ GB of RAM option. Just go with say 4x 512GB SSDs in a RAID array as well then, as disk IO is often the first bottleneck. It won't be a cheap box, but you'll be able to handle a good number of high quality VMs.

If you're just looking to get started and start cheap, that first suggestion is a good one.

 

[zomgmike]

I would say the dual E5-2620 with 64+ GB of RAM option. Just go with say 4x 512GB SSDs in a RAID array as well then, as disk IO is often the first bottleneck. It won't be a cheap box, but you'll be able to handle a good number of high quality VMs.

If you're just looking to get started and start cheap, that first suggestion is a good one.

Karl's suggestion is solid. The only thing I'd add to that is that the RAID card is not the place to go cheap. Go with a BBU on it as well.

 

[hostmything]

Does anybody have a disk benchmark comparing a standard RAID10 array vs a SSD cached RAID10 array?

 

[egihosting]

Looking at your requirements I would recommend to go for:
- Intel XEON E5-2620 (6 Cores)
- 16GB DDR3 RAM
- 4x 1TB SATA II HDD
- Hardware Raid 10 + BBU

 

[web-project]

Intel processors all the way, as much better performance compare to AMD for any tasks, from home to corporate usage.

 

[oneilonline]

Intel vs AMD... This debate still going on!?! Intel has smoked them for too long, thought the debate was done! LOL

 

[VPS9.net]

We go with Intel for almost of our Servers.

 

[shango]

AMD have no answer to the i3 i5 i7 range as of today.
For servers it is amazing how well the i3s are holding.
We have a few Opterons with OpenVZ containers installed for our testing / dev work but don't dare to put the AMDs in production envirenment

 

[prosecure]

Well Mate I will Recommend you

E3-1230v2/1240v2/1270v2
8-32GB RAM
4x1TB HDD's
(optional) 1x128GB SSD for Flashcache
1Gbit Port

 

[HostUS-Alex]

This is my standard configuration for my KVM Nodes:

Dual L5520 (16 Cores)
72GB DDR3 RAM
4 x 1TB Hard Drives
LSI HW Raid Card w/BBU
1Gbit port to Node, then 10Gbit to router.

- Alexander

 

[oneilonline]

SSD cached drives are very beneficial to VPS hosting.

I second and third that! All nodes should have SSD in a RAID-10. The performance is awesome!

 

[micohosting]

What a poll....Intel ALL THE WAY!!

 

[dafthost]

We go with Intel for almost of our Servers. The best performance we get on VMware.

 

[HostMeRight]

Hello,

While I can't really comment on low, standard, high performance configurations I will recommend a configuration for VPS hosts to use.

For start up VPS hosts, I will always recommend something along the lines of the following:

E3-1230v2/1240v2/1270v2
16-32GB RAM
4x1TB HDD's
(optional) 1x128GB SSD for Flashcache
1Gbit Port

Something along the lines of that will serve well, and also be future proof.

Another option could also be a Dual E5-2620 with 64GB RAM if you really want to go up, and have the budget.

I maybe would increase the RAM to 64-128GB. Processor is good and storage looks acceptable depending on configuration. if using raid i dont think 1tb would be sufficient for the amount of customers you will need to make the server viable. Then we are in the realms of overselling