Question about responsiveness in U.S. and abroad

@djtansey:

Has anyone used linode-hosted pages abroad? My current linux VDS host's servers are really slow when I use them abroad.
Yes. I live near Amsterdam and the response times are fine from there plus I have used it in Rome and Paris and all over the UK with good performance. Ping times are around 250 mSec at Amsterdam.

@djtansey:

I am looking to move my website to a new host that is more responsive. I host email on it, as well as message boards, etc. My current site loads really slowly when it is looked at overseas and it makes the site seem really unprofessional.
My only delay occurs if the web site has not been accessed for some time. Because the mail system is big and busy, while the web server is small and not busy, parts of Apache get swapped out, and you have to wait for something to be swapped back in (< 2 sec total wait, and only for the first page load of the session - could be avoided if I paid for more memory / bigger Linode).

@djtansey:

Where are the linode servers? Are there any responsiveness guarantees?
Servers are at Hurricane Electric (Fremont, CA) and The Planet (Dallas, TX). New customers go to Dallas, unless a vacancy arises at Fremont. East coast data centre is supposed to be coming, timing not yet specified. No guarantees - the performance of your Linode is out of Linode.com's control. Their connections are good and fast, though.

@djtansey:

Any other server suggestions for increasing responsiveness (some services that slow things down, etc?)
Be prepared to rent a big enough Linode so you don't have to swap very much. Mine is a Linode 80 but it's just a hobby / email for friends - if I were 'in production', I would have a 160 for the load I have. I/O contention on the physical server is the limiting factor for Linode performance - if you overload the I/O system (too much stuff on your Linode causing excessive swapping and similar) then your I/O becomes rate limited and the performance goes to hell. You can start small and upgrade as necessary - upgrades are quick and easy.

> I/O contention on the physical server is the limiting factor for Linode performance
Absolutely! So if its a production server definitely get at least a Linode 160.

Now if you're an experienced sysadmin who knows how to tweak and throttle every single service, then you might be able to get by with less. However, I prefer to have a safety net!

> Servers are at Hurricane Electric (Fremont, CA) and The Planet (Dallas, TX). New customers go to Dallas, unless a vacancy arises at Fremont.

is that confirmed? i am planning to purchase, but i really have no interest on theplanet servers because it's slow from here.

if i sign up now, can i get myself on a HE's server?

Yeah I live in London and the response time is fine. As mentioned, the limiting factor is I/O. Since the RAM upgrade, and getting my other half to clean out her IMAP inbox, things have become lightning fast.

If you want to be in a specific data centre, talk to Caker.