DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a cloud hosting provider that allows startups and small-to-mid-sized businesses to build, deploy, and scale apps and static sites. 

While DigitalOcean focuses on seasoned developers, its public cloud service is available to anyone. It doesn’t offer standard features like free domain names or SSL certificates, but both its design and pricing structure are simple, making it an attractive option for SMBs. DigitalOcean also features end-to-end data protection with additional encryption included.

DigitalOcean approaches cloud services a little differently than its larger competitors like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. It offers a selection of Linux and Unix servers—which it calls droplets—across 12 data centers. The network of virtual machines is designed to allow you scale as your website grows.

Getting started creating a virtual server is easy. Log on and choose your operating system. You can then choose your size from a list of options, starting with 1 GB of memory and 1 vCPU. Each option will specify the configuration and price.

Add backups, block storage, and decide whether you want storage formatted or mounted automatically. Choose your data center region, and then you can choose how many droplets you want in your configuration. This can all be done in a few clicks!

DigitalOcean offers cloud options for every step of the journey—from DIY beginners to more seasoned experts. In addition to managed hosting and virtual machines, it offers Kubernetes, a managed solution with 99.5% SLA for HA and free control pane that’s easy to scale.

It also includes an app platform where you can build and deploy apps without having to manage infrastructure. With managed databases (like MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis), you can focus on your app while leaving the updating and scaling of databases to DigitalOcean.

With it’s cloud-based system, you only need to select and pay for the resources and functionality you need. There’s no need to choose a package with features that don’t apply to you or to pay a set fee per month for more than you actually need. Instead, you can choose the bare minimum you need to get started.

With a public knowledge base containing an extensive set of documentation, DigitalOcean is truly is a developer’s dream!

Key features

• On-demand Linux virtual machines with locally attached SSD storage
• Managed Kubernetes service with uptime, scalability, & portability for cloud native apps
• Fully-managed app development platform to build, deploy, and scale apps
• Serverless computing solution that eliminates the need to maintain servers
• Spaces object storage to store & scale data without compute server storage limits
• Volumes block storage to add to your compute servers when you need more space
• Built-in content delivery network to deliver data quickly
• Virtual private cloud to improve your application security
• Fully-managed MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis databases