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  1. #1
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    Should I give OpenVZ a chance?

    Up until now I have only used VPS providers that used Xen or KVM. But I'd like a few small VPS instances dotted around the place and there seem to be some pretty decent OpenVZ deals available.

    Should I give OpenVZ a chance? I've read some pretty nasty things about it in the past but having no first hand experience makes it tricky to come up with an opinion.

    Are there any things that I need to look out for when choosing an OpenVZ host?

  2. #2
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    IMO there's never really been anything "nasty" about OpenVZ itself ("weird" maybe!), but the description could certainly be applied to some providers offering it over the years.

    Just be aware that it's more towards the shared end of the spectrum (more bang-per-buck, less isolation from others) so you're highly dependent on the provider's resource management. And the huge variety of arcane limits, particularly in the earlier UBC systems, make it almost impossible to compare different providers based on simple metrics like the nominal memory. Both issues can be largely avoided by choosing your provider carefully.

    Quote Originally Posted by Nizumzen View Post
    Are there any things that I need to look out for when choosing an OpenVZ host?
    Apart from the provider's reputation, I'd suggest you demand a vswap system - the newer OS reports memory usage much more accurately. I don't see too many providers still offering the old UBC systems on new accounts anyway.
    Last edited by foobic; 01-09-2014 at 01:17 AM.
    Chris

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  3. #3
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    UBC is so outdated. If not vswap, don't do it.
    Honestly, Xen VPS are much better than OpenVZ, or even KVM.
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by kpmedia View Post
    UBC is so outdated. If not vswap, don't do it.
    Honestly, Xen VPS are much better than OpenVZ, or even KVM.
    Ou kpmedia, you are digging a deep hole... May I ask, why XEN is better then all other virtualizations? I would like to know from price / features perspective.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Time4VPS View Post
    Ou kpmedia, you are digging a deep hole... May I ask, why XEN is better then all other virtualizations? I would like to know from price / features perspective.
    It's still too buggy. This is to blame on the hardware requirements, which can still not work right even when using the suggested hardware. It's getting better, of course. The whole ISO-only thing was a nuisance, too, but I beleve it has templates via SolusVM now.

    Xen has less headaches, both for hosts and customers.

    Being named KVM was also stupid. We already had KVMs. But that's not my reason, just trivia.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by kpmedia View Post
    UBC is so outdated. If not vswap, don't do it.
    Honestly, Xen VPS are much better than OpenVZ, or even KVM.
    I personally think that KVM is better than XEN.

    Back to the original topic, OpenVZ is not bad at all as long as it's managed properly by the provider.

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  7. #7
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    I had a three paragraph response to this which was elimited by a random Win7 BSOD. I should have posted from the XVNC Desktop I just built. At least then I could have picked it right back up again.

    I'm now replying from the same OpenVZ container I linked above. Since then I've installed Chromium, Icedove, FileZilla, and even went as far as a Skype installation. It's barely touched it's vswap since then. Before that, I was running OpenJDK 7 with Jetty HTTPD for Subsonic. As a test, I quickly yanked out the Swap allocation and fired up everything I mentioned before. About 10 minutes later I reached my physpages limit and experienced a 20 second(ish) lock of the container. All I'm really trying to say is that there have been some noteworthy improvements to OpenVZ which shouldn't go without mention, VSwap being one of those improvements. Another recent feature is proper I/O limits vs. I/O priority. Unfortunately this has the potential for overcommit as well.

    I agree with the other OpenVZ supporters here. Look for a provider who will gladly furnish information about their node - namely the hardware node's OS and kernel version - and, of course, any specifics you can get from them about their system resources and hardware. If they don't give up too much, or tiptoe around certain details, they either lack the necessary knowledge to explain their system architecture, or don't want you to know that your container will reside on a budget system with the hardware equivalent of a 2-year old laptop.

    I'd say it's worth a shot to give OpenVZ a fair trial, especially if you've not used it in a while. Ultimately comes down to your preference and results. When properly tuned *VZ containers make for awesome virtual environments these days.
    Last edited by Johnny Cache; 01-09-2014 at 10:50 AM.

  8. #8
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    If your looking to save money and RAM, then I would go with OpenVZ. Otherwise, if you need the total isolation or if you need an operating system like Windows or FreeBSD, then I would go with KVM or Xen. It's your choice though.
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  9. #9
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    It really depends on provider.Because some providers oversell there resources very aggressively using openvz.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nizumzen View Post
    Should I give OpenVZ a chance?
    In many cases OpenVZ performs better than KVM / XEN as it do not need to run own kernal.


    Are there any things that I need to look out for when choosing an OpenVZ host?
    Get from a good provider so that the node is not oversold
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  11. #11
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    In many cases OpenVZ performs better than KVM / XEN as it do not need to run own kernal.
    Good point. OpenVZ has much better i/o and network performance compared to XEN or KVM. The problem is that providers tend to oversell on OpenVZ, because resources are shared. On XEN, resources are dedicated. Choose carefully the provider and you will love OpenVZ

    PS: VPS with SSD based on OpenVZ are a good choice, since the disk is the most commonly abused resource.
    Last edited by ZetServers; 01-09-2014 at 09:34 AM.
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  12. #12
    OpenVZ VPS is nothing bad unless the providers oversell them.

  13. #13
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    OpenVZ is just fine - you really need to find a decent host who does not over-sell node resources to an extent that you suffer!

    OpenVZ can very easily be over-sold, and as long as the node is managed such that you have available resources then there is nothing to worry about. It truly does come down to whom you choose and Yes, I personally use OpenVZ on my own hardware and have a handful of OpenVZ instances from other providers in other locations.

    The things to look out for: Make sure the Node is Centos 6 based - as this is required for VSwap containers. Ask the potential host to provide the details of the kernel version on the node you will be on - you can then go and look at the release date and know if they keep things reasonably updated.

    I normally buy 25-50% more RAM than I think I'll need and I rarely have any issues in running out. The most common issue I have experienced is not enough Disk IO in a container, but that can also happen with KVM or Xen.

    When you shop purely on Price you will probably end up on an over-loaded node, so around the $7-10/mth per Meg of RAM In my experience gets you something reasonable.
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  14. #14
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    What are you trying to run on the VPS?
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  15. #15
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    OpenVZ is certainly worth the try!
    People do have their favorites, there are those who swear by Xen, when in reality KVM is where we're at (which is why many companies are dropping Xen for KVM - RHEL on RHEL6 for example). My favorite for a shared platform is OpenVZ, but I can understand the fear of it with how it's been used by certain providers. :/

  16. #16
    Used OpenVZ with CentOS 6.x for ages and tends to run just fine as long as the server is not stuffed with accounts.
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  17. #17
    As usual, we only recommend OpenVZ IF you know the company operation very well.
    Seconded to kpmedia and Xen is always recommended.
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  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    I think I'll give it a try with a couple of small VPS instances. At worst I lose $20 or so. Not the end of the world and for small utility servers the cheaper prices will help.

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