Zerigo

Questions & Answers

Where are your VPS's and Cloud Servers located?

All of our VPS's and Cloud Servers are located in our Denver, Colorado, USA datacenter.

You may test your latency by pinging speedtest.zerigo.com. You may also perform a download speedtest (54MB).

Will I get all of the promised RAM, bandwidth, etc.?

Yes. Although many providers over-provision RAM, we don't. (A tell-tale sign of over-provisioning is when a plan includes "burstable RAM.") 100% of the RAM for your Zerigo Server is real RAM all of the time.

We will not penalize you for using all of your bandwidth either. Again, some providers promise you more bandwidth than they can really give you (sometimes even claiming to offer unlimited bandwidth). When you use too much, they cut you off for passing some hidden limit. We don't do that. Instead, we make reasonable promises that we can keep.

Are extra IPs available?

Absolutely. They're just $1/mo/each. The only restriction is that you have to have a valid justification for them because we need the justification to replenish our supply.

How does the test drive work?

For new customers, your first Zerigo VPS comes with a 4 day test drive. It's pretty straight-forward. You have 4 days to try your server out. If you cancel before 4 days are up and you use less than 10GB of bandwidth (you'll likely use only a fraction of that), you won't be charged a thing. If you cancel within the 4 days but use more than 10GB, we'll charge you only $0.33 per GB for the extra bandwidth. If you keep your server, after 4 days we'll roll you into a monthly cycle. Also, we don't go back and include the 4 day trial in your first paid month—those first 4 days really are free. Snapshots (if you choose to use them) are billed at the usual rates, even during the test drive. The test drive is only available for Zerigo VPS's—our cloud servers are already billed by the hour.

How long am I committed?

You can cancel at any time, so basically only until the end of your current billing cycle. You're never committed to another monthly charge. We don't require any contracts or term commitments.

What is a Zerigo Server?

Zerigo Servers come in two distinct flavors:

The first, a Zerigo VPS, is a classic Virtual Private Server. They are sometimes referred to as virtual dedicated servers. A Zerigo VPS is very similar to a dedicated server. It offers full root access and a private copy of the operating system. This offers much greater flexibility and security than shared hosting. The process of virtualization enables the cost to be much lower than a traditional dedicated server which ends up saving you money.

The second flavor is the Zerigo Cloud Server. These are based on the same technology foundation as a VPS. However, they are offered as a cloud-based service with per-hour billing.

What makes Zerigo Servers easier to use?

It comes down to features and user interface. Our user interface has been carefully designed and refined to be easy to use. It's the product of years and years of experience designing user interfaces. We offer features that simplify your work. Features like unlimited snapshots (that can even be downloaded), cloning, and rebuilding.

Why are Zerigo Servers faster?

It's a process of better hardware, better integration, better configuration, and better design. Our engineers have discovered creative ways to enhance performance. We make architectural decisions around the need for peak performance. We're obsessed over performance, and that obsession impacts everything we do. The result is industry-leading performance.

We wish we could share some of the details; it's all rather impressive. But, it's part of the Zerigo secret sauce, and it wouldn't be secret anymore if we gave it all away, would it?

Why do I need it?

There are many reasons why you might find a Zerigo Server useful. Some potential reasons: you've outgrown a shared web host's capacity; you need more flexibility; you want more control; you want dedicated RAM and/or CPU resources; you'd like to administer your own server; you want root access; you need better security.

I don't know Linux—is this for me?

Maybe, maybe not. If you're a self-starter who enjoys learning new things, it will likely work out for you. There are tons of help documents across the web on nearly any aspect of Linux server administration. If you want someone to manage everything for you instead, our servers are not for you.

What isn't <insert OS of choice> offered?

Possibly because we just haven't gotten to it yet. We continue to add new options. Feel free to contact support to see where we're at with your preferred OS.

Can I run Ruby on Rails, Django, Java, etc.?

Sure. Just about anything that can be run on a standard Linux server will run on your Zerigo Server as long as the server has sufficient resources (usually RAM is the biggest concern).

What's the deal with 32-bit vs. 64-bit?

Different workloads benefit from 32-bit or 64-bit environments. Unlike some providers, we give you a choice for any server.

64-bit environments don't usually have much of an overhead beyond 32-bit environments, and they often perform better.

However, there are a few notable exceptions, particularly memory-hungry applications running in dynamic script languages. PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, and the like all tend to use up a lot of extra memory in 64-bit environments. For this reason, if you're building an application server that will be running one of these languages, you may be better off with a 32-bit server.

Databases and other similar data-stores usually perform better in 64-bit environments. In general, unless you're running a scripting language in heavy use, a 64-bit server is probably your best bet.

Do you have an API?

It's in private beta testing now. If you need this feature today, give us a shout.

Comments, complaints, suggestions

We're very interested in your feedback—positive or negative. Does it work well for you? Is something broken, confusing, or hard to use? Is something you're looking for missing? We'd like to hear about all of it. Contact us.