Who is the Simplest Rails hoster?

Rails
1

I have some rails apps i’d like hosting, they both require MySQL.

I want some hosting that is very easy to setup, i.e. I don’t want to
dedicate a lot of time to it.

Any Suggestions?

Thanks
Chris

2

Hi Chris,

Chris wrote:

I want some hosting that is very easy to
setup, i.e. I don’t want to dedicate a lot
of time to it.

I can recommend a2hosting.com. I’ve been using them now for just over a
month and have been very happy with them. Beyond loading the app, there
was
no setup required on my shared hosting plan. They’re cheap. And their
response on service tickets has been super.

hth,
Bill

3

Bill W. wrote:

I can recommend a2hosting.com. I’ve been using them now for just over a
month and have been very happy with them. Beyond loading the app, there
was

What steps are required to load the app?

4

On 8/23/06, Chris [email protected] wrote:

I have some rails apps i’d like hosting, they both require MySQL.

I want some hosting that is very easy to setup, i.e. I don’t want to
dedicate a lot of time to it.

Any Suggestions?

Thanks
Chris

I can’t say enough good things about Rails Machine. They have good,
detailed docs on getting you started:

secure your vps (only needed once)

https://support.railsmachine.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=32

five minute rails app deployment

https://support.railsmachine.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=12

I was able to deploy my first Rails Machine app during the Railsday
competition in about 30 minutes. They have some funky deployment
tasks built on top of Capistrano that configures apache and mongrel
for you.

–
Rick O.
http://weblog.techno-weenie.net
http://mephistoblog.com

5

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

6

Hi Chris,

Chris wrote:

Bill W. wrote:

I can recommend a2hosting.com. I’ve been
using them now for just over a month and have
been very happy with them. Beyond loading
the app, there was

What steps are required to load the app?

  1. Gen the app with ‘rails appname’. (You’ll do this just like you
    would in
    development. I develop on WinXP and so use a command window. For
    accessing
    my hosted app I use PuTTY).

  2. Move your app into the directory structure you just created. (I just
    used
    the File Manager in their cpanel app. That’s the simplest way, but
    there
    are probably faster tool-based ways.)

  3. Edit/ copy your config/database.yml. Then edit config/environment.rb
    and
    remove the comment on the line (in my file it’s line 5):
    #ENV[‘RAILS_ENV’] ||= ‘production’ to move your app into production
    mode.
    (The File Manager in their cpanel app has an editor so you can either
    edit
    the files in-place, or edit the one on your development system and then
    upload it.)

  4. Create your database. (I used the MySQL and phpadmin tools in their
    cpanel app. I’m not using migrations yet and the tool they suppoly made
    it
    really easy just to upload and run my existing script).

That’ll get you up and running. The next couple of items are optional

  1. Create a support ticket and tell them “when a visitor types
    ‘www.mysite.com’, here’s the file I want to serve”. (The default
    settings
    for your site will send browsers looking for an index file in the
    public_html directory. That’s probably not what you’ll want, depending
    on
    your app and where in the directory structure you gen it. I tried the
    symbolic link solution their documentation illustrated but the url that
    left
    me using to access the app didn’t suit me. I filed a support ticket to
    get
    some help, told them what I suggest above, and they just made it happen.
    Much easier than figuring out route mappings, sym links, etc. Call me
    lazy
    :wink: )

  2. If you want to serve your site using Mongrel (you do), create a
    support
    ticket and tell them. Check the Knowledge Base first. There’s a couple
    of
    things they’ll need to know from you to set up Mongrel correctly. The
    Knowledge Base will tell you what those things are, so you’ll be ready.

hth,
Bill

7

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

I second railsplayground. Hands down the fastest, best, support out
there. On a side note, I would not recommend DreamHost.

8

probably not necessary; but a fourth vote for railsplayground

after trialling four rails hosts who ‘support’ rails but dont offer
‘support for’ rails im happy to say railsplayground offer any support
you ask for. also cheap.

9

a third vote for railsplayground. nothing but good experiences with
them.

10

railsplayground +1

Outstanding service, forums and setup.

11

+1 railsplayground

AEM

On 8/23/06, Carl F. [email protected] wrote:

after trialling four rails hosts who ‘support’ rails but dont offer

–
Adrian Esteban Madrid

12

Brian,

Railsplayground started off as just that, a place for new Rails
developers to try out Rails. They offered free hosting for Rails
development projects. The service was really good, so more people
started using it. So they had to start charging for the service. As
more enterprisey demands were made, the more services were offered,
and the prices went up. Railsplayground is a model for agile
businesses. Railsplayground should rename itself RailsFactory except
that name is already taken :slight_smile:

Carl

13

Wow… lots of votes for railsplayground… my clients might be put
off
by the ‘playground’ in the name… but I like what I hear.

14

I’ll second A2hosting - couple months with them and new apps are a cinch
to set up, service is great, etc. etc. etc. as noted before.

On Bill’s issue with pointing appropriately: If you follow a2’s
directions for putting a symbolic link to your app into the public_html
folder, then all you have to do is create a redirect (in cpanel) from
your app address to your root and your app will run off your root
domain.

A2 upgraded their servers immediately after the recent security
announcement. No need to freeze or anything.

I have no experience with railsplayground, but sounds like a good place
to go also.

c.

Bill W. wrote:

Hi Chris,

Chris wrote:

Bill W. wrote:

I can recommend a2hosting.com. I’ve been
using them now for just over a month and have
been very happy with them. Beyond loading
the app, there was

What steps are required to load the app?

  1. Gen the app with ‘rails appname’. (You’ll do this just like you
    would in
    development. I develop on WinXP and so use a command window. For
    accessing
    my hosted app I use PuTTY).

  2. Move your app into the directory structure you just created. (I just
    used
    the File Manager in their cpanel app. That’s the simplest way, but
    there
    are probably faster tool-based ways.)

  3. Edit/ copy your config/database.yml. Then edit config/environment.rb
    and
    remove the comment on the line (in my file it’s line 5):
    #ENV[‘RAILS_ENV’] ||= ‘production’ to move your app into production
    mode.
    (The File Manager in their cpanel app has an editor so you can either
    edit
    the files in-place, or edit the one on your development system and then
    upload it.)

  4. Create your database. (I used the MySQL and phpadmin tools in their
    cpanel app. I’m not using migrations yet and the tool they suppoly made
    it
    really easy just to upload and run my existing script).

That’ll get you up and running. The next couple of items are optional

  1. Create a support ticket and tell them “when a visitor types
    ‘www.mysite.com’, here’s the file I want to serve”. (The default
    settings
    for your site will send browsers looking for an index file in the
    public_html directory. That’s probably not what you’ll want, depending
    on
    your app and where in the directory structure you gen it. I tried the
    symbolic link solution their documentation illustrated but the url that
    left
    me using to access the app didn’t suit me. I filed a support ticket to
    get
    some help, told them what I suggest above, and they just made it happen.
    Much easier than figuring out route mappings, sym links, etc. Call me
    lazy
    :wink: )

  2. If you want to serve your site using Mongrel (you do), create a
    support
    ticket and tell them. Check the Knowledge Base first. There’s a couple
    of
    things they’ll need to know from you to set up Mongrel correctly. The
    Knowledge Base will tell you what those things are, so you’ll be ready.

hth,
Bill

15

On 24 Aug 2006, at 12:36, Michael M. wrote:

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

It would be great if their website worked… It’s down (at least from
here at the moment).
So I think I’d go for a2hosting.com

Working here!

Alastair M.
Standards compliant web development with Ruby On Rails, PHP and ASP
www.kozmo.co.uk
07738 399038

16

On 8/24/06, Michael M. [email protected] wrote:

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

It would be great if their website worked… It’s down (at least from
here at the moment).
So I think I’d go for a2hosting.com

Cheers.

Speaking of a2.

Their small biz offer looks interesting for some personal projects. Do
someone know how many mongrel processes they let you run with that
package?

Isak

17

I’ve wondered the same. I’m on the smallbiz plan. When I had them set up
the first mongrel, they asked if I wanted it on the root domain or on a
sub-domain. I put it on root, and noted that in the future other apps
would need to be in sub-domains to be able to enable mongrel. The tech
confirmed this. Since there’s a limit of 10 subdomains on the smallbiz
plan, then essentially you could have at most 11 mongrel setups, but I
don’t know if they limit you prior to that, or perhaps charge a fee for
additional setups. And of course, you could bump up your plan to get
additional subs. They allow up- and down-grades in plan without penalty.

Note that there’s a $15 fee to set up mongrel if you are on the discount
plans, which is waved on the other plans smallbiz and up.

c.

Isak H. wrote:

On 8/24/06, Michael M. [email protected] wrote:

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

It would be great if their website worked… It’s down (at least from
here at the moment).
So I think I’d go for a2hosting.com

Cheers.

Speaking of a2.

Their small biz offer looks interesting for some personal projects. Do
someone know how many mongrel processes they let you run with that
package?

Isak

18

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

It would be great if their website worked… It’s down (at least from
here at the moment).
So I think I’d go for a2hosting.com

Cheers.

19

It appears as if A2 has updated their features page to show Mongrel
instances allowed. Unfortuantely, it’s 1 for small-biz, 2 a the next
level, and 3 at the highest level. So, basically, a mongrel enabled
rails app there will cost you roughly $10 regardless of package.

c.

Isak H. wrote:

On 8/24/06, Michael M. [email protected] wrote:

Jean Carlo S. wrote:

I use railsplayground and the support is excellent

It would be great if their website worked… It’s down (at least from
here at the moment).
So I think I’d go for a2hosting.com

Cheers.

Speaking of a2.

Their small biz offer looks interesting for some personal projects. Do
someone know how many mongrel processes they let you run with that
package?

Isak

20

dreamhost sucks (had to say that. They made my life hell when all I
wanted
was my rails app to work. didn’t care about speed or anything)
railsplayground rocks.

-=-