Linode Invests $45M In Slower Hosting
I've been a Linode customer since they launched their User-Mode-Linux offering in 2003. With decreasing component prices and a little help from Moore's Law, they have repeatedly increased the resources available on their VPS instances. Most upgrades take the form of "Double the RAM" or "Double the disk space" and have allowed the company to stay competitive over the years.
However, their latest "upgrade" reduces the CPU core count from 8 to 2 on the most popular plan, drastically reducing the performance of most webserver workloads. Some users have posted degraded benchmark numbers on the Linode blog that announced the upgrade. They have also removed the discounts on yearly plans, thereby increasing the cost of the hosting plans.
Other aspects of the upgrade are more welcome:
However, their latest "upgrade" reduces the CPU core count from 8 to 2 on the most popular plan, drastically reducing the performance of most webserver workloads. Some users have posted degraded benchmark numbers on the Linode blog that announced the upgrade. They have also removed the discounts on yearly plans, thereby increasing the cost of the hosting plans.
Other aspects of the upgrade are more welcome:
- Doubled RAM
- Same Cost (Unless paying yearly [Grandfathering available if you forgo upgrades])
- Same Storage Space (But now using SSD)
- Same Transfer (Except the lowest plan [Which gets a 50% bump])
- Increased Outgoing Bandwidth (Unless using a Node Balancer or the lowest plan [Which stay the same speeds])
That doesn't make it right of course, but would help explain what's going on. Not too late for a competitor to swoop in with a better deal and steal away customers - it's what keeps the business world honest and on their toes.