Before I start about why I moved to Rackspace Cloud, I want to make it clear that I had no problems with my old host whatsoever. I’ve used Hetzner for my hosting the last oh… 5  years or so and really haven’t had any big problems. So why did I move? First of all, let me explain what I used for hosting at Hetzner. I used one of their managed servers to host some of my friends’ blogs and random sites. On top of that, I had a dedicated box for my blog and my ColdFusion install. The biggest reason I started looking for another solution was that I had no time to keep my dedicated box up to date, which was really starting to become a problem. So I looked at a number of hosting companies to see what they offered. With the Dollar to Euro ratio being what it is today, I favored US hosting companies. For flexibility, I also favored cloud hosting. I like the fact that I don’t have to worry about my server the next time I get featured on Techmeme.

So what do I like about Rackspace Cloud?
I really like their offering and how easy it is to choose. Cloud Sites is basically a managed solution. $100/month gives you the equivalent of a 2.8GHz machine in a clustered environment. You also get 50GB of space, 500GB of monthly bandwidth, automatic backups, SSL support and access to a live, fanatical 24/7 support team (and they really are fanatical!). You can even mix a LAMP server setup with a .NET setup. (I really hope they will add ColdFusion to this mix as well… *hint* *hint*)

They also have an offering for Cloud Servers. These are virtual dedicated machines and this is what really persuaded me to go for Rackspace Cloud. I really like that you only pay for what you use. If you’re not using the server, you don’t pay anything. This is perfect for development and testing servers but also for setups that you don’t use as often. The Cloud Servers are also flexible. You can start off with their smallest server (10GB HD/256MB RAM) and scale it up when you need more space or RAM. The Rackspace Cloud control panel is very easy to use and gives you a great overview of how much your servers are consuming.

I ended up signing up for a Cloud Sites account and also signed up for a 40GB HD/1GB RAM Cloud Server. I moved all the blogs (including this one) and sites to the Cloud Sites account and installed ColdFusion 9 on the Cloud Server. The move was a very smooth ride! I’ve been using this setup for a month now and was very happy to find out that I’m now paying a little more than a third of what I used to pay for my hosting (obviously also thanks to the Dollar to Euro ratio).

If you want to try Cloud Sites yourself, I have a $25 promotion code for you.
Just use the promo code THANKS-serge@webkitchen.be when you sign up for a new Cloud Sites account and you will receive $25 off your first month’s Cloud Sites hosting bill. But hurry up… The promo code is only valid until December 1st.