Server Hosting

When choosing the server hosting option for HotelFoo, we faced the typical array of options.  From most expensive / powerful, the typical choices considered by server developers are:

1. Dedicated physical server (starts at $100 / month).  

2. Web service such as Amazon EC2 (starts at $72 / month).

3. Virtual Private Server (starts between $20 to $50 / month).

4. Web hosting such as HostMonster, SliceHost (can be as low as $5 / month).

Our considerations were: a dedicated IP that would not be blocked in China, the ability to run long-running scripts, no CPU throttling, and enough memory and bandwidth to handle traffic spikes.  The top three satisfied these constraints, and #4 did not.

We ended up going initially with option 3.  A good place to read reviews for web hosting providers is the WebHostingTalk forums.  

We wanted a VPS with good uptime, and technical support who were responsive and competent.  After reading a number of reviews, we ended up with FsckVPS, which has satisfied our requirements so far.

Questions?  Or want to share your own server hosting stories?  Leave a comment.

What does the name "HotelFoo" mean?

The name "HotelFoo" is a joke for computer scientists.  The word "foo" is a placeholder name in computer programming, much like "John Doe" might be used to refer to an anonymous person.

For those who prefer to remember it as "fu" like "kung fu", HotelFu.com will also go to our site.

Welcome

Welcome to the HotelFoo blog!  Here we will write about new features on HotelFoo, as well as interesting learnings we come across during development.

We'd like to give a shout-out to TravelPod blog "Happy Sheep" for a well-written write-up about our site!  

Happy travels, everyone!  Please use the gadget on the right to follow our blog if you're interested in our updates.