Cloudnet Sweden partners with Linode for “most reliable hosting service possible”

Cloudnet has sought to reduce the threat of extended outages, decrease its staff’s stress level, and deliver more satisfied customers. Linode has helped Cloudnet realize these goals. In terms of customer support, Linode gives Cloudnet “really good and quick responses,” says Brundin. “Other suppliers don’t have the same standards (as Linode).” In terms of billing confusion, Linode’s hourly billing satisfies Cloudnet’s criteria for simplicity and predictability. In addition, Linode’s price-plan flexibility matches Cloudnet’s tailored sizing, without charging for more resources than are needed. That’s efficiency and economy. In terms of providing the greatest service to its customers, Brundin declares, “Linode significantly contributes to Cloudnet’s ability to offer its customers unparalleled hosting services.” Linode’s “significant contributions” result from its meeting and exceeding Cloudnet’s four criteria for selecting its virtual vendors: The vendor must fit the Cloudnet business model, The vendor’s resources in the cloud must be reliable, The vendor must offer independent, local servers without firewalls, and with direct storage, The vendor must offer an API. Brundin appreciates Linode, but he gives no free passes. “We continually evaluate our providers,” he says. “Simply, we choose to work with services we are confident won’t have outages.” Linode remains one of Cloudnet’s blue-chip providers because it uses the Xen virtualization platform, which enables Linode to build a reliable and flexible infrastructure for its customers. Because of latency issues that accompany remote hardware, Cloudnet sought servers in Europe, if not Sweden. Linode’s London data center meets this criteria. “We’d love to have servers in Stockholm,” Brundin confides, “but London will do.” By using Linode’s servers as part of its virtual battalion, Cloudnet can insulate them by configuring its own firewall(s), which Linode support encourages. Firewall installation can minimize system threats and disruptions. Moreover, Linode offers direct storage only - meeting Cloudnet’s criterium - a distinct advantage over networked storage. (Direct storage can be accessed more quickly, secures data more soundly, and is less susceptible to network disruptions.) Linode also helps maximize Cloudnet’s up-time by allowing it to be accessed from multiple locations. Because Brundin and Appelquist frequently travel throughout Europe and need access to their data on a moment’s notice, it was imperative that a cloud-host service not be bound to a singular location. Linode isn’t. Cloudnet also prefers that its vendors offer productivity tools, like an API, control panel and IPv6 compatibility. Linode offers all three, complementing Cloudnet’s ability to create and install servers quickly (“We do lots of automation for our clients, to save them time,” says Brundin.), to delight their staff with a provider’s product that is “nice” to work with, and to be forward thinking and highly technical (IPv4 addresses are exhausted). Linode’s API helps Cloudnet more quickly create and install servers for its clients by specifying a set of task-specific routines and by facilitating software interaction.