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What is a Virtual Private Server?

A Virtual Private Server (what we call shared hosting) is designed for customers who need more than standard web hosting, but are unable to justify the costs of having an entire dedicated server. It involves partitioning resources from a full server, e.g. RAM, hard disk space and bandwidth, so that it appears as multiple servers. As each VPS runs its own copy of its operating system, you will have superuser-level (root) access and can install any software you wish. A more detailed explanation is available here.

As VPSs are unmanaged, we recommend that you have Linux experience with the distribution of your choice.

Summary of our VPS Setup

• Our servers use dual core Intel Core 2 Duo processors with 2 hard drives arranged in RAID1 for redundancy.
• Network connectivity is provided by a several connections for 'fail-over'.
• Servers are in a secure location in Maidenhead on one of the fastest networks in the world, according to speedtest.net.
• Virtualisation technology is provided by Xen 3.0, a well proven solution for managing virtual server isolation and partitioning of physical resources.
• Each virtual machine has its own dedicated RAM and hard disk space. This is not shared with anyone and is not oversold.
• You choice of Linux distribution and full root access.

Available Packages

* - Free if paying for three months or a year in advance.

Important points to note:

• These are limited prices which will return to normal shortly.
• Our lead time is very short at present, but please be prepared to wait for a day or two for your order to be processed.
• No V.A.T. is payable - we are not yet a V.A.T. registered company.
• The VPS that you will be assigned is unmanaged. You will be responsible for maintenance and management of your VPS. It is particularly important to have a suitable firewall and to remain vigilant to hacking attempts and exploits. You will have full root access via SSH but support for software within your virtual machine is not contractually provided (although we may help with the occasional issue).
• Your VPS will be set up with a small boot partition, swap space equal to that of your allocated RAM (except for 256MB in the case of the 128MB server) and the rest of the partition space as root. Please let us know if you have specific partitioning needs.
• Unless you are hosting very simple, static web pages, or merely using your virtual account as storage, we recommend you get a package of at least 256MB RAM in order to get a decent performance. You may start with a 128MB VPS and upgrade at a later point if you wish.

VPS Details

Available Linux distributions:

• Debian Sarge
• Debian Etch
• Ubuntu (various)
• Fedora Core 6
• Gentoo (various)
• Centos 4.4
• Mandriva Linux 2007 (Free Edition)
• Freespire v1.0.13 OSS Edition
• If you require any other distribution, or later/earlier versions of one above, we can probably accommodate. Please contact us.

Payment methods:

• All major credit and debit cards via PayPal.
• BACS transfer to UK bank account.
• Personal cheque.
• Cash (sent through the post at your own risk).

Additional costs:

• Extra bandwidth is charged at 20p per GB, chargeable monthly in arrears.
• Extra hard disk space can be arranged for £1.50 per month for every 5GB. This must be done when your account is set up.

The service may not be used for:

• Any illegal activities, including offences relating to copyright.
• 'Spamming' or otherwise sending unsolicited commercial email.
• Any activity that potentially could harm our network or any other network.
• IRC services or IRC-related services. Ports 6660-6680 are blocked.