Wildbit

If you haven’t noticed, Beanstalk has been growing. With the growth we’ve also had some pains. In the last couple months our servers have been far from what we (or anyone else) would consider stable. It really has nothing to do with our excellent hosting provider Soft Layer, but it does have everything to do with server experience for a growing Rails web app. Uptime and stability are definitely the key factors when it comes to Subversion hosting, so we are taking the proper steps to make Beanstalk as reliable as possible.

After talking to the guys at Hashrocket, we decided to give Engine Yard a call. We looked at them a couple of months ago before we chose Soft Layer. The main reason we did not choose them was cost. Not because we are cheap (we definitely are not), but because it seemed that the hardware we gained for the price was not worth it. When you compare them to other hosting providers, their prices are much higher when considering hardware and bandwidth.

What I didn’t realize then, and what I wish I did, was that a HUGE part of their service is at the human level. They don’t just provide a platform for your app, they become your platform, sys admins, and on going heroes to keep your apps running smoothly. After I realized this, it was clear that we needed their experience. Btw, when I say experience, I mean it.

So far their support has been amazing. They have basically worked around the clock to setup our slices, configure our new environment, and recommend the best setup for our situation. I’m really excited to make the switch and to have their support behind us.

We are planning to test the rest of this week and hopefully make the switch over the weekend. The exact time is not set, but we will post it in Beanstalk and email account owners when we know. We realize that some people have been concerned about our instability lately. We think the decision to go with Engine Yard is the best way to ensure our stability and we hope you feel the same.

Thanks for hanging in there with us.