Recommended services to host Ruby on Rails apps
Here are some recommended services to host your Ruby on Rails apps. They’re ordered by alphabet and it does not mean one service is better than the others. I listed those services, which I had experience with them.
Do remember that, each service had its own advantages and its own disadvantages.
You need to choose it based on your project’s needs.
If needed, consult with your developer before choosing one of them.
In many cases, you may need to experiment with each of them, before sticking to the one for a long time.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS contains many services like EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFront, and others.
You can host both apps and databases on the same EC2 instance.
Or, you can also host them on each own EC2 instance.
Or, you can host an app on EC2 while putting the database on RDS instance.
Most of the projects I’ve worked on using the last option.
One of the drawbacks with AWS is you need someone who had experience with DevOps and able to set up, maintain and scale the infrastructure on AWS.
That guy should be familiar setting up the infrastructure on AWS, setting up the security group, and even optimize them for both performance and cost.
One of the advantages of AWS is you’ll pay as you go.
Besides, you’ll have full control of servers ( AWS instances ) where you run the apps.
I may forget to mention this: AWS offered free tier service for your first year with them ( note: I never try this free tier service )
Digital Ocean (DO)
Unlike AWS, I consider DO fill the gap between AWS and Heroku.
DO did not provide such many services like AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFront and others), yet it still gives you full control of your own droplet ( the VPS you run on DO )
On DO, you may host both apps and databases in the same droplet or you can host them on a different one.
One of the advantages of DO is their cheap price.
You can run a VPS with a price starting from $5/month.
The price is even comparable for the monthly price of an ordinary shared hosting plan.
One of the drawbacks with DO is the same as AWS.
You need someone with DevOps capability to set up the droplet to host the Rails apps there.
He needs to be able installing the required package, setting up the database, and maintain it down the road, or optimize it if needed.
Heroku
This is my
favorite platform .
Unlike AWS or DO, Heroku provides you a platform as a service.
Unlike AWS or DO, you have no need to worry anything about setting up and optimizing the infrastructure.
You can roll up the new update on your app only with git command.
Yes, just like you pushed your changes to Github or Bitbucket, you only need git push command to deploy on Heroku.
It’s even offering you with 1000 free dyno hours per month.
You can even test your apps without paying anything with those free dyno hours.
The only drawback is you did not have full control over the infrastructure where your app runs.
It completely depends on Heroku’s own infrastructure.
And as you know, Heroku’s infra is running on AWS.
So, basically, your apps are also running at the top of AWS infrastructure, layered by Heroku.
Shared hosting service
I rarely work on a Rails project which hosted on shared hosting.
Among many of the projects I’ve worked on, only one hosted on shared hosting.
It’s using a2hosting service.
I don’t remember quite well about the details, but the price is a bit more expensive compared to other shared hosting services.
Personally, I don’t recommend to host your Rails apps on the shared hosting plan.
But if you insisted to go with shared-hosting to host your Ruby on Rails app, I would like to recommend IWFhosting
I knew it from the site that claimed itself to be the front page of the internet and so far it’s working fine for me.
Their shared-hosting plan supports SSH and Ruby on Rails app and it started from $4.91 Per Month. Much cheaper than Heroku’s Hobby $7/month plan.
Now, the choice is yours.
Relating stories:
Managed vs Unmanaged hosting
Managed hosting generally provides more support and assistance than unmanaged hosting Managed hosting generally provides more support and assistance than unmanaged hosting. This is because managed hosting providers will often have a team of experts on hand to help you with any problems that you might encounter. They will also proactively monitor your server for any potential issues, and can often provide you with advice on how to avoid them.
How to avoid bad web hosts
Bad web hosts are going to ruin your business. It may be worse. How to avoid them at all costs?
Be mindful of the reviews Almost all web hosts reviews have their affiliate link. Just ignore them unless there’s a discount or another benefit for you.
Double-check on community My favorite place to do this is on this Reddit sub. Look for any issues or complaints about the web host you’re going to buy.
How To Make WordPress As Fast As Static Site
Long ago, I wrote about migrating from WordPress to Netlify. It turned out I was going back to WordPress until now. Hosting a static site will indeed be much faster than WordPress. However, it’s more difficult to manage compared to WordPress. So, how to make a WordPress as fast as a static site?
Cache plugins that generate static sites of your WordPress site There are many WordPress plugins which support this.
Remarkable things I found on VeeroTech after three months
Three months ago, at the beginning of June, I decided to move this blog to VeeroTech web hosting. It turned out to be the right decision. Here areremarkable things I found on VeeroTech after three months hosting with them.
Remarkable uptime For a $3.95/month host, I don’t expect too much. I only hope it won’t go down too often like my old host. It turns out their service is beyond my expectation.
How to deal with hosting that pushed you to upgrade
Recently I often read people say their hosting pushed them to upgrade to a higher plan. The reason is a common one. They say the hosted site has exceeded the limit. Therefore, they pushed the site owner to upgrade. Yet, most of them said they are not sure if their site’s traffic grows to that point. Some of them tell me the hosting claims have too much difference with their analytics data.
Best IDE for Ruby on Rails
I have been working with Ruby on Rails since 2012. During these seven years quests, I stumbled upon many IDE for Ruby on Rails. I found some of them are the best for my need as a Rails developer. Thus, that can be the best for yours too, my fellow Rails developer.
RubyMine During my earliest year as Rails developer, when I still work as an in-house developer on a local web development house, I use this RubyMine IDE.
Things to do after changing to better domain’s host
Many things to do after pointing out the domain to another host for whatever reasons. Missing one of them may lead a disaster to your side. Here are the hings to do after changing to better domain’s host
There are many things which usually we missed to do after changing the domain’s host.
By changing the domain’s host, I mean when you pointed the domain you own on your registrar’s DNS manager to another host.
Managed Hosting vs Unmanaged Hosting Service
Which one should you choose: fully managed host service or unmanaged hosting service? Let’s see how to choose between managed hosting vs unmanaged hosting service.
Managed Hosting Managed hosting means your hosting will do the most of management for your server.
There are two kinds of managed hosting: half managed hosting and fully managed hosting.
You need to ask the hosting company you work with for details.
Most of shared hosting, as far as I know is one of this half managed hosting service.
List of useful gems to build Ruby on Rails app
Here’s the list of useful gems to build Ruby on Rails app. This list may help you to start with a new Rails app. I used most of the gems listed below and I only listed the gems that are still maintained.
The list I built here is assuming you’re using the latest Ruby on Rails stable version:
Ruby 2.6.x
Rails 5.2.x or at least Rails 3.2.x version
rails_admin Homepage: https://rubygems.
Best practices for web hosting customers
The best practices for web hosting customers to follow, to easily recover from the upcoming disaster which can happen anytime.
Some days ago, I read about a fuss about “ Digital Ocean just killed our company” and I feel I was reminded about the importance of best practice when we had something: either it’s an app, database, data, or anything hosted on our rented web hosting.
Whether it’s on unmanaged or managed to host service, whether it’s a VPS or shared web hosting, or whether it’s a dedicated server, it’s very important to follow such best practices as strictly as possible.
Heroku SSL on the root domain
How to make it works? How to set up Heroku SSL on the root domain? Before you continue to read, here’s what my problem (which may be similar to yours).
One of client’s Rails app running on Heroku, which I’ve handled since 2012, can’t be accessed by https://domain.com.
Yet it’s working when you access it through https://domain.com. With this way, you’ll be redirected to https://www.domain.com. Fyi, https://www.domain.com had been the preferred URL since the web was launched many years ago.
Saving costs on Heroku for Ruby on Rails apps
These are some tips to save your costs when running Ruby on Rails apps on Heroku.com. These tips were mainly for developers. You may send those to them though you can do some of the tips by yourself. So, let’s start with the best way for saving costs on Heroku for your Ruby on Rails apps.
Verify your Heroku account with a credit card to get 1000 free dyno hours per month If you don’t’ verify your account, you only got 650 dyno hours.
Review of VeeroTech SSD Micro based on first hand experience
Short term review of Veerotech SSD Micro based on the first-hand experience. It is one of their cheapest shared hosting plan which price is close to the Namecheap Stellar hosting plan (at the time I write this)
Updates on June 4, 2019:
It turns out that VeeroTech support is also top-notch, comparable to even Namecheap with their Live chat feature. They quickly solved my problem with .htaccess
Updates on September 18, 2019: