Liquid Web vs. EuroVPS?
 

I've been with LiquidWeb for about 4 months now, and have no complaints with them besides frequent downtime as of late with them performing some upgrades/maintenance.

I ran some of their Storm SSD and Storm Dedicated offerings to host a tracker that I used for marketing campaigns. My needs have since changed, as I no longer use a self-hosted tracker, and would instead like to get a managed box to host some new projects.

A 1 to 2 GB box with 1 to 2 CPU cores should be good to start out on, until the projects are finalized and I'm ready to push more traffic to the sites.

Now, I've read some great things about EuroVPS on here, and have been itching to try them out. But as of right now, the majority of the traffic I'll be running will be in the US. So that makes me lean more toward Liquid Web.

Although as far as pricing goes, I can get a much better deal with EuroVPS. $65 USD/mo gets me a 2GB, 2x Core SSD VPS on EuroVPS, while $60 USD/mo gets me a 1GB, 1x Core SSD VPS with Liquid Web -- and that's just to start off. The savings remain constant as the plans increase. (although I haven't fully compared their dedicated server offerings, which could be a little different)

I also really like Liquid's control panel, and how easy they make it to switch/resize/deploy new and existing servers on the fly with little to no downtime. And their support is top-notch as well, so I'm a little hesitant to go somewhere else.

So, any thoughts on which to go with? Thanks. :)

There's 3 consideration here:

EuroVPS is on the AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange), often referred to as the "center of the internet". It's one of the oldest and largest exchanges, and is extremely well peered. It's only rivaled by New York (and London somewhat). What the means is that it's fast -- REAL fast -- anywhere in the world. Some USA based locations may actually load slower, as they're backhauled to a peering point. If you host a site in either Amsterdam or New York, it's going to be fast on both continents.

I think LiquidWeb, in Lansing/Detroit, is backhauled to Chicago. (I know they're backhauled somewhere, as they have a job position specifically for this task! Lansing probably first goes to Detroit, and Detroit goes to Chicago -- so two hops!) Since you have a server there, tracert it! EuroVPS, by contrast, isn't backhauled anywhere, located in the Leaseweb BV facility directly on the AMS-IX.

Bet you didn't know all that. :)

One of the top 3 reasons we use EuroVPS is because this.
- support
- high end hardware
- the network, including being on the AMS-IX

That's what kept us there for 8+ years and why we have zero plans to move. :salute:

Further cache the server, and you'll have a harder time telling the difference between USA and EU. People are often surprised to read/hear that this site is hosted in EU. It's multi-cached, on-server and in-app. Several large sites are, but you'd never know it.

You've honestly already answered your own question. The prices are better. :wink2:

That's was what initially drew us there many years ago. Back them, the dollar was worth more than the euro! Part of the pricing is the price fluxuation in dollars vs. euros, and pricing of the hardware in the various markets. They're flipped back and forth for years. If EuroVPS is a better price right now, snap it up. I know they recently released a new website, and part of that seems to be the pricing structure.

For me, price doesn't really matter as much as the other aspects. It all comes down to how much you're willing to change and try something new. In this case, you're not really downgrading by switching to EuroVPS, and you're getting a better deal.

You have to decide for yourself: Is it worth it? :hmm:

FYI: Now is an excellent time if you do want to switch, since you're looking to start fresh projects, and won't have to go through the hassle of migration. (I hate migration so much that I often won't even upgrade the server until I have to.)

Wow, thanks Kpmedia! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

I had no idea about backhauling, or how the AMS-IX is considered the "center of the internet". Really makes me feel better about going with an EU host knowing that.

Thanks again, excellent advice from you as usual. :)

kpmedia: "I hate migration so much that I often won't even upgrade the server until I have to."
Why is that so? Don't web hosts migrate content for free? :\

We use very complex setups for our sites and servers. :borg:

Right this minute, for example, we went ahead and had EuroVPS upgrade one of our VPS. But they only did the first part of that upgrade/migration. We have at least two more steps to do, and they have to follow up with at least one more after that's done. The whole process takes days -- and that's if it's flawless, with no errors along the way.

And it takes us away from other tasks. :(

Your typical cPanel-based site, by contrast, is very simple. That's what you're thinking of, I'm sure. :wink2: