KVM/XEN for VPN (Netherlands) (specs)

Raymii

I want to test a VPN setup using IPsec/L2TP + certificate based auth so I need a XEN/KVM vps (or anything which is not para-virtualized like openvz/vserver/lxc). I need it only to see if I can set it up, not actually for usage. (So 1 month max). Location should be in the netherlands.

I have the following specs in mind: 512MB RAM min 5GB HDD (thanks @Asim) 2 IPv4 OS: CentOS/SL/Debian/Ubuntu. rest does not matter (bw/ipv6 etc).

The only provider I can think of (and the only one which is in the LEB tag netherlands) that does xen is InceptionHosting. If I would go germany, then I'd go for Edis.

So, TL;DR, are there any more providers than mentioned above that do XEN/KVM in the netherlands, and, are the specs enough for the purpose?

cosmicgate

i think for l2tp/ipsec you don't need 512mb. What about 128mb/debian?

rm_

You don't need 512MB of RAM for a VPN server; you don't need 2 IPv4 either. And for offers just look at http://www.lowendbox.com/tag/netherlands/ seems like you missed "DigitalOcean – 256MB KVM/XEN $5 Month in New York or Amsterdam – first month free" which would be perfect for your plan to use it for 1 month only. Check if they have reactivated that offer, maybe.

Asim

@Raymii said: 512MB RAM min 5GB RAM

512 or 5GB?

Raymii

@Asim 5 GB Disk, 512MB Ram. Thanks for the typo tip.

@rm_ I'm not going to use the VPN itself, only setting it up. When it is set up and working I don't need it anymore and the vps will be shut down. I do want 2 IP's, to see if I can make one of the IP's only reachable via the VPN.

@cosmicgate I do need it while setup, compiling strongswan on 128MB is not a pleasure. Apt-get is also not.

rm_

@Raymii said: on 128MB is not a pleasure. Apt-get is also not.

What? apt-get works perfectly fine on 128 MB of RAM, perhaps you're confusing it with yum?

Raymii

@rm_ on a few VPS's i use when updating via apt-get I have to stop all services(nginx, cron, dropbear), else dpkg fails because it cannot allocate memory.

cosmicgate

@raymii: may i suggest "apt-get install screen". One of the must have utility managing a vps.

Raymii

@cosmicgate I know of screen, avid user, but thank you for suggesting

craigb

@raymii just curious, is it when you apt-get update or apt-get upgrade when you get memory allocation errors on 128MB?

Raymii

@craigb it is with apt-get upgrade. Apt-get update is fine. Aptitude update also, but aptitude upgrade borks ass well.

craigb

@raymii since your talking xen/kvm, add swap?

Raymii

@craigb When all services are disabled it upgrades.

craigb

@raymii yeah I got that...was trying to offer a solution that means you don't need to stop services (e.g. public facing website)

Raymii

@craigb Thank you for the help :). As you might have noticed (~$ host raymii.org) I am a little bit redundant :P

On topic, I got a VPS at Fusioned for a month to test, thanks to @George_fusioned

craigb

@raymii said: @craigb Thank you for the help :). As you might have noticed (~$ host raymii.org) I am a little bit redundant :P

I did notice - great blog btw :D

P.S @George_fusioned +1 :)

George_Fusioned

No worries :) Glad I could help.

Raymii

VPS works great so far. I might even buy it after this month and hang it in the cluster.

I however was trying to SSH into the thing, but it would not work. So I went to WHMCS, opened VNC, what do I see? The Ubuntu boot screen. Hehe, no openvz template this time...

bobby

I'm also considering buying a third high performance ssd for my db cluster, mind posting some benchmarks @Raymii ?

George_Fusioned

@Raymii said: I however was trying to SSH into the thing, but it would not work. So I went to WHMCS, opened VNC, what do I see? The Ubuntu boot screen. Hehe, no openvz template this time...

You probably selected the Ubuntu ISO during the order process, which is why you got to the Ubuntu installation screen. This is normal with KVM, you usually install the OS yourself. We also provide Template based installations (like Xen/OpenVZ) where you can simply select a template, hit the reinstall button and you'll have a system ready to use in a matter of seconds (you can do this from within your SolusVM account).

Raymii

@bobby Benchmarks over at @serverbear http://serverbear.com/1692-kvm-512-ssd-fusioned#benchmarks

@George_Fusioned I did indeed, only I am a bit used to openvz so my mind had to adapt. Ubuntu installs are the most easy linux installs, and I (hopefully) know for sure that the host (you) does not install their own ssh keys or something. Not that you cannot access the vps, but still. It creeps me out when hosts do that.

AnthonySmith

@Raymii

If you still need a XEN NL VPS give me a shout :)

Anthony.

George_Fusioned

@Raymii this is exactly why I prefer KVM over other virtualization platforms :) You get full virtualization and being the one who installs the OS to your VPS, you know exactly what's running on your machine. Very important for me was the fact that I could at last use ext4 on my VPS, something I couldn't do in Xen (only ext3 was supported in SolusVM templates).

GetKVM_Ash

Ext4 rules :)

Raymii

Well, testing finished and the tutorial is up: https://raymii.org/cms/p_IPSEC_L2TP_VPN_on_ubuntu_12.04

The VPS performed very well!