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Ruby Web Hosting

A relatively new web programming language that has been the talk of many webmasters is Ruby, or more specifically, Ruby on Rails. Many say that it makes programming complex applications efficient, easy, and produces clean code that is easy to update. However, it has been over two years since this language has been introduced to the web and it has not spread like wildfire as some have hoped. One of the reasons it has not is because finding web hosting for Ruby is more difficult than finding hosting for PHP as not nearly as many hosts offer it. Since the demand for Ruby has not been high, the amount of people using it has remained small and there are relatively few applications that have been programmed in Ruby. In this article, we will take a look at the hosting aspect of Ruby and some hosts that offer Ruby on Rails hosting.

The first thing to look at when looking for Ruby hosting is finding a host that actually supports Ruby on Rails(RoR). Unlike PHP, you cannot just assume that any host will support RoR because it is not nearly as popular. Once you make sure that the host supports RoR you need to find out what kind of database the host provides(if any) and what the limitations are on those articles. Usually, you will find hosts that offer MYSQL databases with Ruby. Since MYSQL databases usually do not have limits on database sizes, you should not have to worry about how big your database will be. If you do somehow wind up on a Ruby host that supports MSSQL or Oracle instead, you will need to take careful notice of the price-per-space ratio of the database. Besides the framework and the database, the other thing you will want to look for is a control panel controller for RoR. Ask the host if your plan comes with this. RoR controller plugins are available for just about every major control panel and if your host does not currently have it, it can probably be bought for a price. I use Direct Admin on my dedicated server and the RoR plugin controller costs $10/month for me to add on. You will probably want a RoR controller in your administration panel to help you manage Ruby on Rails.

Another thing you’ll want to look for in an RoR host is the amount of CPU/RAM allotted to each user. This directly relates to what kind of servers you will be hosted on and how many clients there are per server. For Ruby on Rails hosting look for hosts that are using either dual or quad-core machines with 2GB RAM or more. On dual-core machines look for less than 100 users per machine and on quad core machines shoot for something in the 150-200 users per machine range. Having a larger number of users per machine means that each user is given a smaller portion of the pie. Although large hosts may promise huge amounts of space and bandwidth, you likely will never use that bandwidth but be suspended for CPU/RAM over-usage long beforehand. CPU usage ranges from host to host and can be as little as 1% to as large as 10% on a spike. The average for shared hosting is around 3% peak usage rates. If you find you have to consistently use more than this amount, it may be time to upgrade to a semi-dedicated or VPS plan. On the average, Ruby on Rail programmers tend to be more advanced than regular PHP users and will probably use up more CPU/RAM power on average. RoR is a more complex programming language than PHP and its not the one that most beginners start out with, partly because it forces you to use objects and does not allow for pure procedural programming. Because of this reason, it is even more important that you look for a host with uncrowded servers. A good way to do this is asking the host for the average load across their servers. Some hosts will have average loads of less than 5, while others are consistently above ten. Picking a host with a low average load will lead to better performance for your site. Besides this, ask around for other people who have used the host and check the speeds of their sites. If their site takes a long time to load, that is a sure sign to avoid that host.

The final thing to consider when looking for Ruby on Rails hosting is technical support. Since you are looking for serious development webspace, you will need technical support if you, or any of the other users on your machine writes a runaway script that makes the server go down. Since you most likely do not want to wait ages for technical support to get back to you, you will want a host with short response times. Depending on the nature of your site, you will want a guarantee on support response times. The best way to gage a host on their technical support is to ask around in large web hosting forums such as webhostingtalk.com and see what other users who have used the host say about its technical support. Former or present users will be happy to share their experience with you and will warn you if it is a host to avoid. You might even get discount offers from hosts that are lurking around in the forum trying to pick up extra customers.

Now since we have looked at different aspects of Ruby on Rails hosting, lets take a look at a few hosts that offer RoR with their hosting packages.

1. Rails playground (http://railsplayground.com/) - Rails playground offers RoR hosting starting at $5.95 per month. Their packages supports Ruby Gems, PHP 4 and 5, Perl, Python, include both MYSQL and POST SQL databases, and even have PEAR modules available upon request. They also have SSH access and boast 24/7 technical support. All hosting accounts come with Cpanel and Fantastico for easier management. They also offer reseller, Virtual Private Server, and dedicated server if you should outgrow your shared account. Of the few reviews that are out there on this company, all are positive and speak of good experiences with the company and technical support staff. If you looking for a host for a small rails project, this is a good company to consider.

2. Hosting Rails(http://www.hostingrails.com/) - Hosting Rails offers RoR hosting plans starting at just $3.59 a month and Mongrel hosting starting at $9.79/month. This host offers MYSQL, POST SQL, and SQL lite as their databases and runs Ruby 1.8, PHP 5, PERL 5, and Python on their servers. There are tons of Ruby Gems available for developers to use and SSH access is allowed. Higher plans with this company include dedicated memory for your private account. Customer reviews for this host generally range in the average to slightly above average level. Many have had positive experiences with them but there are some people who state questionable uptime and sub-par customer service knowledge when real problems arise. Prices here are pretty reasonable and there is a good upgrade path if you need more resources.

3. Hostgator(http://www.hostgator.com) - Host gator is probably the RoR host I would recommend for beginners. Their plans start at just $4.95 and include 350GB space and 3.5TB bandwidth. You will not be able to use nearly that much before you hit the CPU/RAM limit if you do serious RoR hosting but Hostgator is pretty good about dealing with resource overage issues. Their plan includes RoR, CGI, PERL, PYTHON, and PHP , and comes with unlimited MYSQL databases for you to use. Hosting does come with Cpanel and Fantastico and is often updated with the newest versions. The customer support, while not fanatically good, is pretty decent and is helpful for most issues. For newbies starting out, this is a good host to go with.

4. DreamHost(http://www.dreamhost.com/) - Dreamhost is another large host that offers tons of space and bandwidth at $5/month. Like Hostgator, you will probably not even come close to the 5TB of bandwidth they offer without going over CPU/RAM limits but Dreamhost has been known to be very tolerant on CPU/RAM usage and usually won’t pull the plug on your site unless it is endangering the server. Your space and bandwidth usage actually goes up every week when you sign up with Dreamhost so you’ll basically never run out of storage room or bandwidth. This is mainly a marketing gimmick as you will never use that much anyways. Customer reviews about Dreamhost are generally positive and many have said it is the best bang for your buck. Like Hostgator, this is a large and stable host and one that is not a bad choice if you are starting out in RoR.

These are four pretty solid RoR hosts and any of them should be able to suit your needs. There are many more RoR hosts and you should hunt around to find one to fit you but if you are looking for a quick start, these four aren’t bad places to get your feet wet.

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