VPS Hosting On Linux AND Windows Now Available

We have finally launched the first set of new products and services that we’ve been working on for months.
As of last night Blacknight VPS hosting is open for business.
The new VPS hosting is the perfect solution for people who want to run custom setups without incurring the costs of dedicated hardware.
For example if you want to experiment with JSP, Ruby on Rails, Light HTTPD or want to install custom DLLs on Windows.
With a VPS you have full control. The only limits are your imagination and your credit card limit!
What’s a VPS?
VPS stands for virtual private server.
It’s hard to put it into really simple terms, but it’s a way to give you the control and flexibility of a dedicated server at a fraction of the price.
What are Blacknight offering?
We’re offering a full range of Windows Server 2003 64 bit and Centos 5 (Linux) based virtual servers.
Can I get a control panel for this?
Yes. All VPS servers come with the Virtuozzo Power Panel which gives you control over the basic operations of your VPS.
If you’re not comfortable managing your server over SSH / RDP then you can opt to get Plesk as well.
What about other linux distros?
We’ll be adding other popular Linux distributions in the coming weeks. For the moment we’re offering the most popular alternative to RedHat Enterprise
Will you be offering Windows Server 2008?
We intend to offer it as soon as it is viable ie. fully supported and tested
The entire system is securely hosted in one of Ireland’s leading data centres, Interxion in Dublin, Ireland.
In the last few months we’ve mentioned a lot of upgrades and improvements to our network. Part of the reason for doing all this was to make way for the rollout of our Parallels network.
If anyone has any feedback we’d really love to hear it.
Let us know in the comments or if you’d prefer discretion email management@blacknight.com

About the Author: Michele Neylon

Known for his outspoken opinions on technology and the Internet, Michele Neylon is the award winning author of several blogs and co-host of the Technology.ie podcast. A thought leader in the Internet community, Neylon is active within ICANN and an expert on policy, security, domains, ICANN, Nominet and Internet Governance. You can stalk him on various social media networks including Twitter and Instagram

16 Comments

Robin April 8, 2008 at 16:00

Interesting offering with a good range of plans. But can I be a bit unmanly and say that I like the new colour scheme on the webpages? No? Ah well, too late. 😉
Darragh April 8, 2008 at 18:35

If you provide an OpenSuSE or Sles VPS I’ll definitly be interested. Great work. I’ve been waiting for an alternative to running a home server to handle email and web traffic for ages.
Michele Neylon April 8, 2008 at 23:19

@Robin – there’s nothing unmanly with liking the colours 🙂
@Darragh – I know we’re going to be able to offer some of the common linux distributions without major delays, but we will be focussing on the more popular ones initially. Watch this space for updates …
Nick April 9, 2008 at 16:17

from my point of view the prices are to high, for the same price I can get a managed vps with 500mb ram.. not really what I call a bargain
Gordon April 9, 2008 at 17:17

Sounds like exactly what I need.
Will full root access allow me to create mysql databases and set folder permissions whenever needed?
Joe April 9, 2008 at 17:46

Will you have support for Debian Etch?
mike April 9, 2008 at 21:16

Sounds like a good product to fill the gap between a shared platform and dedicated hardware. Will these VPS options come with a choice of additional applications, such as e.g. MSSQL2005 and IIS on a Windows2003 server OS? If yes, what would be the pricing of such an option?
Derek April 10, 2008 at 08:31

What’s the story with database access for VPS? the app I’d be moving is SQL2005
Michele Neylon April 10, 2008 at 11:13

@Nick – too expensive compared to whom? I don’t have an issue with us not being the lowest priced, but I’d appreciate a specific example of someone you think is offering a better rate.
@Gordon – yes, you get full root access
@Joe – we will be adding Debian Etch
@Mike / Derek – the Windows Server 2003 would have IIS and would allow you to install MS SQL 2005 Express Edition. I’ll have a chat with our technical team regarding other MS SQL options and revert in due course.
Regards
Michele
Victor April 10, 2008 at 15:16

Good to hear BK offering VPS – prices look good. Good move Michele.
Will be contacting soon…
Michele Neylon April 10, 2008 at 16:05

Victor
I’ll be posting followups as and when we enable other linux distros, but if you have any queries do let us know
Michele
Michele Neylon April 10, 2008 at 17:27

@Mike / Derek
I’ve had a chat with the technical team about SQL 2005 options.
While you could install SQL 2005 onto your VPS it probably wouldn’t be the most efficient way of doing it.
The other option would be to wait until we launch our shared hosting plans and use the MS SQL space from one of those.
If you have any specific queries please let us know
Regards
Michele
Michele Neylon April 10, 2008 at 20:13

We’ll be adding more documentation to our site over the coming days. I’ll post more once I’ve checked what’s available
Thanks
Michele
Steven April 10, 2008 at 22:46

I have absolutely “No idea” what ye are talking about…. this won’t affect the ordinary bloke on the street who has his site hosted on the blacknight server, will it?
Michele Neylon April 11, 2008 at 01:47

Steven
The VPS hosting is a new product/service and has no impact on current services.
We will, however, be launching a new range of hosting plans that will be of interest to you in the coming weeks, so please keep an eye on this site for the latest news 🙂
Michele
Michele Neylon April 13, 2008 at 01:31

Just so you are aware, we’ve now added Debian.
More distros to follow 🙂