Virtual Dedicated Servers

Virtual Dedicated Servers combine the power and flexibility of a dedicated server with the cost savings of shared hosting. A Virtual Dedicated Server gives you full root access on your own Linux installation. Your server runs alongside a number of others running on the same hardware.

Virtual Dedicated Servers remove many of the security and administration problems associated with shared hosting. You can run any Linux software in any version you choose. You can safely use Apache modules such as mod_perl and mod_php and needn't worry about asking admins to restart servers or test configurations. You can create users and groups and give access to whoever you want, making a VDS perfect for hosting shared CVS or Subversion repositories. And, unlike most shell-account based hosting solutions, you can use a Virtual Dedicated Server as a cheap way to run Java servlets, Java Server Pages and other services based on Java technology.

With a Virtual Dedicated Server you avoid the hassle and expense of maintaining your own hardware. We buy high-end x86-based servers, and share each one between a number of virtual servers, balancing the load on each one as fairly as we can. Because each virtual server is likely to be busy at different times of day, at any one time your VDS can call on most of the resources of the underlying "host server"; and because we use RAID and maintain backup server capacity, your server is protected from hardware failure.

Our Virtual Dedicated Servers come with our unique admin console. This allows you reboot and "power cycle" your server, boot into single user mode, connect to your server's console for off-line maintenance, and change your server's kernel - just about everything you could do by sitting in front of your server.

Although our Virtual Dedicated Servers run on shared host servers, we do not overcommit the RAM in those servers. Every byte of Virtual Dedicated Server RAM you pay for is backed by real RAM in our machines.

What you get

Your Virtual Dedicated Server acts just like a real dedicated server. It starts off with a default install of software and services including a mail transport agent, a web server, and an SSH server. You can log in to your server as root (through our admin console or by SSH) and configure whatever services and users you need. You take full control of (and responsibility for) setting up the machine, though we can offer some advice; if you need a server preconfigured with specific installed packages, please email us for a quote.

This service is most suitable for customers with existing Linux or UNIX knowledge; if you don't want to do your own system administration, we recommend you take a look at our shell accounts; we can help you migrate to a Virtual Dedicated Server later on if you need to.

What's behind it?

Our virtual server are provided using the Xen virtualisation system. The "host servers" are located in our facilities in Telecity in London's Docklands, ensuring excellent connectivity and very extensive UPS coverage.

Distributions

Your Virtual Dedicated Server comes with your choice of Linux distributions pre-installed. We maintain images for recent versions of:

Debian
Ubuntu
CentOS

If you would like a different distribution we will arrange for an installation, though unusual requests may take a little longer to fulfill.

Services

We offer four server packages:

	VDS256	VDS512	VDS1024	VDS2048
RAM	256MB	512MB	1GB	2GB
Diskspace	20GB	40GB	80GB	160GB
Monthly bandwidth allowance	100GB	175GB	300GB	500GB
Excess bandwidth	£0.08/GB
Monthly price	£15	£26	£40	£75
Quarterly price	£41	£72	£110	£206
Yearly price	£150	£260	£400	£750

Virtual dedicated server prices are quoted inclusive of VAT.

Bandwidth allowances apply to the larger of incoming and outgoing bandwidth used in each month, not the total as with some of our competitors. We only bill for traffic the enters or leaves our network, all internal traffic is free.

IP addresses

By default, your server will be allowed one external IP address. If you require more IP addresses and the justification would be acceptable to RIPE, we can allow you the use of other addresses as and when required.

We can provide reverse DNS of your choice for all IP addresses allocated to your server.

Paid support

Setting up software, firewalls, user accounts or anything else you want on your VDS is completely up to you (though we can usually offer helpful advice if you need it). But we can also offer to perform any of these systems administration tasks you need, at a cost of £60/hour (minimum charge £15). Drop an email to support@mythic-beasts.com telling us what you need, and one of our team will get in touch with you right away to discuss your requirements.

Interested?

If you're interested in getting a VDS, please review the Terms and Conditions and drop us an email at sales@mythic-beasts.com, or for some more information please feel free to browse our support pages.

Once you've decided to go ahead with ordering a server, please fill out our order form.

Real Dedicated Servers

If you would prefer to run your services on dedicated hardware, or if your needs outgrow a Virtual Dedicated Server, then we can provide your own fully dedicated server. We provide the hardware, and install any standard Linux distribution or (by arrangement) any other suitable operating system. We take responsibility for keeping the hardware in service, just as with Virtual Dedicated Servers. You handle administration and everything else; as with our co-location service, we provide remote power control for unattended reboots and a serial console for disaster recovery. We can even migrate your existing Virtual Dedicated Server setup. If you're interested, email us at sales@mythic-beasts.com for a quote.

And if you'd rather take care of your own hardware, then take a look at our co-location deals.