Surprised!! I can re-sell linode?

We don't have any official means to resell Linodes, however as stated in the topic you linked there are certainly people that do it. What you need to install all depends on how you intend to resell them. I recommend that you take a look at our API (http://www.linode.com/api/index.cfm) to get an idea of what you can do remotely.

You may also be interested in using our referral program. If someone signs up with your referral code and remains a customer for 90 days, you'll receive a $20 credit on your account.

It means Linode do not have any objection on re-selling of bandwidth, disk space and other stuffs by its customers??

http://www.linode.com/tos.cfm

Basically, so long as it's legal and doesn't negatively impact other Linode customers, you can do whatever the heck you want with the resources you pay for.

Note: I don't work for Linode, and consult a lawyer for further detail on the meaning of "legal."

If i have restricted amount of Data transfer, Disk space and RAM than How can i affect other users, Except one thing i.e. CPU?

If i use fair CPU than everything will be fine! Isn't it? But how can I monitor my CPU usage and What will be CPU limits?

You should be okay as long as your site and materials make it clear that you are not endorsed by or affiliated with Linode. This means you can't use our name/logo as part of your company name/logo, and can't say that you're an authorized reseller. However, you're welcome to use our logo on your page to indicate that you are reselling our services as long as it's clear that you're not an affiliate. Other than that, you're free to do whatever you want with your Linode(s) as long as it's not violating our terms of service.

Thanks for clarification! But what about CPU usages? I have never seen any details about CPU restrictions OR availability of CPU for various plans!!

@anand:

Thanks for clarification! But what about CPU usages? I have never seen any details about CPU restrictions OR availability of CPU for various plans!!
Every linode can access 4 cores of the host and is guaranteed its fair share. A linode is also capable of using CPU that's not otherwise "owed" to another linode.

Simple example: Two linodes on one physical host. Each linode is guaranteed 50%, but if one is only using 10%, the other one can use up to 90%. If the other one starts using 25%, the first linode can then only use 75%.

Every Linode plan has access to 4 of 8 cores on a host, which means you can use 100% of 4 cores (400% CPU). As you can imagine, CPU is rarely the bottleneck - RAM is usually an issue before CPU ever is.

Edit: I seem to reply to these a minute or so after others do :P

The summary here is, feel free to use as much CPU time as you want on your linode, the infrastructure will ensure that it won't impact the other linodes.

The only place where it's realistically possible for a linode to impact the performance of other linodes on the same physical box is disk usage; since Linode uses traditional hard disks (rumoured to be 4x 15K RPM SAS drives in RAID10), there's a possibility of disk IO contention. Linode is always willing to migrate customers around, though, whenever there's that sort of a problem, so if you get stuck on a host with a very heavy disk user (and I should stress that this is very rare), then a simple trouble ticket can have it resolved in a few minutes.

@Guspaz:

so if you get stuck on a host with a very heavy disk user (and I should stress that this is very rare), then a simple trouble ticket can have it resolved in a few minutes.

It should be noted that the exception would be if the heavy disk user is you.

In which case, Linode will more than likely tell you to either cool it down, upgrade, or go away.

One thing to be careful of, as well, is how you resell it. If you pay the money to linode and then let other people use it then you are responsible for the contract with linode and responsible for the behaviour of your users. If, however, you act as an "introducer" and your customer purchases from linode directly and your value-add is in configuration, monitoring, control etc then the customer has the contract with linode.

If I introduce someone, I will get one time commission i.e. $20 but if I re-sell linode I may get recurring charges.

Suppose I introduce my friend, he will signup and start his self hosted blog. After 3 month I will get $20.

But If I share my Linode, we can share the cost of Linode.

Hmm, I think the safe use of linode is to resell among closed friends. and should not start selling via internet, Until I get special Contract from Linode. :lol: :lol: :lol: But I am serious!!

@anand:

If I introduce someone, I will get one time commission i.e. $20 but if I re-sell linode I may get recurring charges.

Suppose I introduce my friend, he will signup and start his self hosted blog. After 3 month I will get $20.

But If I share my Linode, we can share the cost of Linode.

Hmm, I think the safe use of linode is to resell among closed friends. and should not start selling via internet, Until I get special Contract from Linode. :lol: :lol: :lol: But I am serious!!

You're not likely to get a contract from Linode… Since they'd have nothing to gain.

As has been stated, there are plenty of people who resell linodes, and I'm fairly certain there are some on both sides, if you split those who link to Linode and sell services, and those who run their own nodes for customers.

The whole idea is to decide which part of the business you want to be in.

If you want to be a server reseller, go for it, just realize that you need to control what your customers are doing to ensure it remains within Linode's ToS, because you're the one who's ultimately liable.

On the other hand, if you want to sell sysadmin services, it would be better to point your clients at linode with your referral code, and then sell your services as their admin. That way they are responsible for following Linode's ToS, and you get paid for your admin work.

It all depends on what stage you want to insert yourself into.

If you're in the business of reselling Linodes, and you've got a ton of them, and some of your customers occasionally violate the ToS, I'm sure Linode will be a bit lenient so long as you take care of the violations properly. It's the same thing with any business, if you're a big customer, you get a bit more leeway.