Mono Virtual Private Servers (Beta)

Ever thought about deploying ".NET" apps on linux?

There are plenty of good reasons why you should :-

• Enjoy the stability and security of linux while retaining the platform and enviroment of your choice.
• Never have to pay for server licenses again.

But ".Net" apps have to be deployed on windows servers?

Not anymore. Mono is a free and open source implementation of the CLI, an open specification that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft .NET Framework, whatsmore mono is platform independent. Essentially allowing ".NET" apps to be run on linux.

Is it stable?

We have been working with Mono for over 2 years now, and use it in many production enviroments, including Clubhouse. It is extremely stable. ".NET" apps deployed on linux are now an extremley viable alternative, if not the option of choice in certain circumstances.

What about my ".Net" framework/libraries? Will they work?

We're huge admirers of the Castle Stack, and NHibernate. Again we've been using both in production for over a year and a half on Mono. Our chief techincal director, Patrick McEvoy, has been, and continues to be, intimately involved in making the Castle Stack Mono compatible. He is the "Castle-Mono guy" and aswell as tracking the Castle and Mono trunks, helps the Castle project leaders with compatbility bugfixes. We also run the only Mono build server for the Castle Project. So essentially the answer is, probably yes. Smaller libraries whose community may not be Mono aware may need some refactoring but we can provide remote support if needed. Either way we can provide a comptability test where we will estimate how much work, if any, it would take to make your project Mono compatible.

Okay I'm sold, Mono sounds great but why would I want a VPS?

Well if you fancy installing Mono on linux, go for it. The more users the better. Maintaining your own platform can often be time consuming though, and a lot of people prefer to concentrate on their software. In this case a virtual private server is ideal (VPS). It's an instance of an operating system (OS) which is abstracted from the hardware with a layer inbetween, meaning multiple OS's can be run on one box. So from your point of view you have root access to a server but with many advantages; instant scalability, guaranteed uptime and our battle hardened Mono stack installed and ready to go. Addtionally, if required, we can provide remote Mono/Linux support.

Sign me up!

We plan to provide a range of services on launch, ranging from packages suitable for a single developer investigating Mono, to an enterprise package for medium sized companies who are interested in shifting some of there architecture to linux. Unfortunately you can't buy any of these services just yet, but we do have an offer on :-

OFFER: Buy a Mono comptability test (£400) and we'll give you a free enterprise sandbox VPS for 6 months. A Mono developer will work with you and your codebase for a day helping you get setup, patching any initial issues and charting a path for getting your project deployable on your free VPS (worth £30 a month). Order now