The Best Cloud Host: VPS.NET
VPS.NET is our recommended cloud host. They are inexpensive, easy to use, reliable, and have excellent support. You get full root access, choice of Linux distributions/setups, and dedicated cloud computing resources. We highly recommend VPS.NET for your cloud hosting needs. Here are some sample cloud hosting configurations and pricing:
| Example Config | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 0.6Ghz | 376MB | 10GB | 1TB | $20/mo | More Info |
| Enhanced | 2.4Ghz | 1.5GB | 40GB | 4TB | $68/mo | More Info |
| Extreme | 10.8Ghz | 6.7GB | 180GB | 18TB | $234/mo | More Info |
Secure Cloud Hosting: Firehost
Firehost is the most secure cloud host you will find. It’s a fully managed solution. Customer support is top notch and they’re obsessed with uptime and security. If security is your top priority, there’s no better choice. They also offer PCI and HIPAA compliance.
| Example Config | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 1 Core | 1GB | 30GB | 1TB | $200/mo | More Info |
| Enhanced | 4 Cores | 4GB | 30GB | 1TB | $425/mo | More Info |
| Extreme | 8 Cores | 8GB | 30GB | 1TB | $525/mo | More Info |
Easy Cloud Hosting: Media Temple
Media Temple has a fully-managed, inexpensive cloud hosting solution called Grid-Service, which starts at $20/mo and is by far the easiest to use.
| Example Config | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2,000 GPU | n/a | 100GB | 1TB | $20/mo | More Info |
Rackspace is a very well respected hosting company for dedicated servers. They have recently gotten into cloud hosting and offer two services, CloudSites and CloudServers. CloudSites is a platform that is easy to setup but has some management limitations (no SSH, for example). CloudServers is a VPS cloud service that provides full root access, but can be complicated for a beginner. The prices here are for CloudServers:
| Setup Example | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | n/a | 256MB | 10GB | 250GB | $70/mo |
| Enhanced | n/a | 2GB | 80GB | 1TB | $311/mo |
| Extreme | n/a | 4GB | 160GB | 4TB | $1,059/mo |
* Cloud hosting cost estimated with 50GB of incoming bandwidth
What Is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting (also known as “cloud computing”) is a type of web hosting that enables websites to scale without physical hardware upgrades. Cloud hosting lets publishers focus on making websites great, instead of trying to keep it running.
Cloud hosting works because of “the cloud” — multiple website servers linked together to form one platform. Because there are many servers instead of one, cloud hosting balances the load, increases capacity, and eliminates a single point of failure.