Linode object cloud storage

Linode has been a veteran of cloud infrastructure since 2003. It indicates that it has a single focus on its infrastructure that is designed to serve its customers, and transparency in pricing with simple to understand costs. In fact, G2 has ranked Linode as its #1 IaaS provider. 

Unlike some others, Linode is based on Jeff Dike’s User-mode Linux (UML), which is the tech that enables a virtual machine within a Linux OS. That Linux DNA continues, as Linode remains true to open standards, and vendor agnostic, with an eye towards the democratization of cloud storage. Earlier this year, Akamai acquired Linode for approximately $900 million.

Now that Linode object cloud storage services have become available, we wanted to see whether it might qualify as one of our best cloud storage providers. Read on to find out.

• You can sign up to Linode cloud storage here.

Linode object cloud storage: Plans and pricing

While Linode indicates that they want simple, and transparent pricing. While the pricing is quite transparent, there are actually a myriad of plans including dedicated CPU plans as opposed to shared CPU plans, along with high GPU plans and high memory plans, and even a Kubernetes engine plan. 

Some pluses that Linode offers are a $50 credit towards a free trial so the potential user can sign up for a plan of their choosing. Additionally, the trial is for a generous 60-days, longer than most others in the space, although entering your credit card data is a requirement which others do not require. Also, there is the option to sign up with Google credentials, which is a nice option for folks with too many passwords already that also have a Google account, which is well, just about everybody at this point. 

Getting to the specifics of the Object Storage Plan, is that it starts at a more than affordable $5/month, which specifies 250 GB of storage space, with 1 TB of outbound transfer and up to 50 Million Objects per Cluster. A la carte additional Storage costs $.02/GB, and for additional outbound transfers the cost is $.01/GB. The plan can also be scaled up, for example to $100/month, which allows for 5 TB of storage (the maximum for a new user), but with the same 1 TB of outbound transfer and 50 million objects per cluster. The maximum for the plan is 50 TB of storage, at a cost of $1000 monthly. 

There is also the assurance of a 7-day money back guarantee.

(Image credit: Linode)

Linode object cloud storage: Features

Linode has much to like about its S3 offering. A great starting point is the reliability, which is indicated to be 99.99% uptime SLA. An important reason for this is that it is entirely based on enterprise hardware. Another plus is that Linode offers storage with high availability, along with durability, which is done by replicating the objects across multiple servers, so even if a server is offline, the object will maintain availability. This makes this solution attractive for hosting a static website, and this function is even fully supported. Data centers also feature 24/7 security. 

It also has the latest tech incorporated, including IPv6 Support, DNS Management and DDoS Protection- all at no additional cost. This all gets done without the requirement of a Linode virtual machine. 

Object storage is a great choice for hosting data that is stable over time. Examples of this include backup files, large sets of data, dumps from a database and logs- which can then all be accessible from a URL that is globally available. 

Linode partners and uses nVidia GPU’s, along with AMD EPYC CPU’s. Having a server location closer geographically is always a plus, and Linode lists servers globally, including Newark, Atlanta, Singapore and Toronto. Right from its website, Linode even lets anyone run a Speedtest to any of its data centers to gauge the available bandwidth prior to signing up for a plan.

(Image credit: Linode)

Linode object cloud storage: Support

Users are sure to like that there is 24/7/365 phone support available to support the service via a toll free number, and we even found the number to call easily, and prominently featured on the support page. 

There is also a direct email address provided, which is often easier to deal with than the support portals. Security issues and other abuses each have their own dedicated reporting systems in place. 

While there is chat, it is via IRC, and not directly on their support page via an embedded client. Other support options include articles that are searchable, and an online community.

Also consider

We like Linode as an S3 object hosting provider, for its phone support, and as it also offers additional cloud storage options with high reliability. However, it may not be the best answer for all, and we would also consider iDrive e2, as it offers some advantages over Linode. This includes that iDrive e2 offers 10 GB of storage for free, with the cost for additional data a low $0.004/GB/month, and furthermore, there is even an annual discount for those willing to commit.

Linode object cloud storage: Final verdict

Linode’s S3 object hosting service offers plenty for users to like about it. We find the pros to be the generous 60-day trial with a 7-day money back guarantee, the support to host a static website, and that phone support is available on a 24/7/365 basis. Just like other services, there are some cons, which include that a credit card is required for the trial, and that all options are not available for support such as no embedded chat, and that there are ingress and egress fees. Overall, Linode is an attractive service for users that need a robust object hosting service.

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