LXC Hosting Providers (2021) – “For Linux Containers”

Want to get a hosting service that supports LXC? You are at the right place. The guide will cover the list of the best LXC hosting providers you can go with. Many people might need Linux containers. If you are one among them, you should surely give this a look. We will begin the guide with the basic overview and then see the hosting requirements. Thereafter, we will also see some of the best LXC hosting providers to go with.

What is LXC (Linux containers)?

LXC (Linux Containers) is a type of virtualization performed on an operating system level. It will help you run multiple Linux systems which are isolated in their container. In simpler words, we can say that each user can use their preferred OS and that specific OS will be in a container that is isolated. Also, one can control the host using a single Linux kernel

If you want to use multiple isolated operating systems in a single host, you will have to look for LXC hosting service. There are a few requirements that you should know. Let’s talk about it.

5 Best LXC hosting providers

We will now see a few hosting providers that you should check out. Depending on your requirements, you can choose the best one.

#1 Vultr (Best Overall)

Vultr is one of the most popular hosting services mostly known for its infinite possibility feature. They give you full control of every single thing. If you want to host your website. There are various products that you will get here including Kubernetes. In Vultr, you will get full control over your entire server. With that being said, it’s pretty clear that you can also have different LXC for it.

There is an in-depth tutorial given on their website which covers the entire process of how you can manage the LXC container. So, this makes all the things very much easier. The reason why you should go with Vultr is that it is extremely easy to use. The control panel is simple. Therefore, if you are a beginner working with LXC, you should give Vultr a try.

You can configure the server however you want. You can choose the OS from the list. If the OS is not in the list and you want that specific OS, you can even upload your custom ISO file and get started.

Features of Vultr

• There are 17 data center locations.
• You can choose from many operating systems and also upload your ISO if needed.
• There is a marketplace for apps.
• The one-click deployment and easy management make it easier for everyone to host the website.
• They have got a powerful API to increase the performance.
• The server is fully customizable. You can choose the location, OS, size, etc.

#2 Kamatera (Runner-up)

If you want fully managed LXC hosting which has almost no maintenance downtime and the performance is high, Kamatera is the choice for you. Their managed service is recommended for the people who are running large websites. The service is focused on the performance of the app. You can ensure the highest performance when you go with Kamatera.

For a complete beginner, it will be hard to set up the LXC. Their support will surely help you if you can’t understand something. However, it’s still not recommended for beginners. Kamatera is a perfect hosting for people who have a bit of experience in the cloud and want to go with the managed service. they have got various products from which you can choose.

Not to mention, there are various products and solutions you can buy here. If you want to get some extra service for your website, you will surely find it here.

Features of Kamatera

• Kamatera has almost no maintenance downtime.
• When it comes to performance, Kamatera is the best.
• You will get the best customer support. You can even call them if something goes wrong.
• Multiple products and solutions will ensure that you get what you are looking for.
• They have 13 data centers located across the globe.
• You can configure the server as per your need.
• The pay-as-you-go model ensures the safety and scalability of your business.

#3 Kinsta

If you are looking for LXC hosting, Kinsta is a well-known website that you can use. Kinsta provides you with an LXC container for every website. It also has LXD managed hosts along with the software. As Kinsta is mostly popular for WordPress, we will talk a bit more about WordPress here.

Each WordPress that you install will be stored and ran in its container. The container is isolated from others. The biggest advantage here is the resources. All the resources that WordPress will need to run will be available only for WordPress. This also includes Nginx, PHP, MySQL, and (most importantly) Linux.

Therefore, the performance will be great and you will not have to fear security either. Talking about the pricing, the pricing is a bit higher as compared to others but if you want excellent service, Kinsta is the best LXC hosting service to go with.

Features of Kinsta

• Fully managed service.
• It runs on the Google cloud platform giving you proper reliability of the server.
• Kinsta is very well known for the speed of the hosting. Here, you will get awesome speed.
• If you are already using a hosting, you can migrate it for free.
• Each WordPress installation is stored in its container. So, there are no issues with resource sharing. 100% of the resources will belong to you.
• Daily backups, monitoring, etc are few features that you will get here.
• You will get enhanced security by KinstaCDN.

#4 Digital Ocean

Digital Ocean is known as the developer’s cloud. This is because they provide you complete control over the server and allows you to manage it in the way you want. With that being said, you might have guessed about the Linux containers too, right? Your guess is right. They allow you to have isolated Linux containers in the root.

There is a detailed tutorial available on their blog which will show you the correct way to set the container. You can set up a hypervisor (LXD) that will use LXC. In simpler words, you can have isolated containers in the Digital Ocean.

Just like the above LXC hosting, Digital Ocean is simple and easy to use. Not only it’s beginner-friendly but the price is also affordable. Therefore, if you are planning to run a small web app, you can try out Digital Ocean. There are many products here that make it versatile.

Features of DigitalOcean

• 13 data center locations are available globally. There are 8 different cities covered here. However, some data centers are limited to specific products.
• You will get excellent uptime of 99.99% in all the data centers.
• Digital Ocean is one of the best LXC hosting that is beginner-friendly as well as developers friendly.
• The price is affordable.
• The support is also great.
• Their marketplace is huge using which you can install any apps you want.
• If you are working with a team, you can collaborate with them in the easiest way possible.

#5 Linode

When it comes to the speed of LXC hosting services, Linode tops the competition here. Their uptime and speed are the best. The main focus of Linode is to provide easy Linux solutions that everyone can use. The cloud is easily scalable and you can predict the pricing before. Most of the cloud providers lack the predictable pricing feature which is provided by Linode.

Now, let’s talk about the features that you might love. If you are planning to set up isolated containers, you might want to know more about the level of control you will get. They have an interactive cloud manager panel with the best documentation. If documentation lacks something, you can always contact their award-winning support team to help you out.

Overall, Linode is a great choice if you have decent experience in cloud servers. It’s not recommended for beginners as it will take some time to figure things out. As it is a bit complex, you can always ensure that there will be better options to control the server.

Features of Linode

• They have got predictable pricing (pay-as-you-go).
• You will get a full-featured API with a powerful scaling feature.
• To manage your cloud, they have an intuitive cloud manager.
• It’s extremely easier to scale your apps. It just takes few clicks to scale up your services.
• Linode is a reliable host. They have been in the industry before AWS.
• When it comes to supporting, Linode tops every competition.
• There are 11 different data center locations.
• You will also get various developers tools to make things easier.

Hosting requirements for LXC hosting

If you want to host LXC, there are certain requirements that you need to follow.

To begin with, you need Linux kernels with c-group functionality. The preferred distributions are

• CentOS / RHEL: 6.3
• Ubuntu: 12.04(.1)

In the same way, you need an LXC hypervisor. It should be either Libvirt or Qemu (KVM). Make sure both of the versions are 1.0 or higher.

The next requirement is the bridge module. You should look for the following elements.

• Libvirt: 1.0.0 or higher
• Openvswitch: 1.7.1 or higher

Along with these, there are few basic requirements.

• 4 GB Memory
• 1 or more NIC
• 64 bit x86 CPU
• HVM support with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled

Now, when you are planning to deploy the OS, there are few more things to keep in mind.

• In each cluster, the distribution version should be the same.
• Not to mention, the CPU should also have the same type, feature flag, and count. In simpler words, the host must be homogeneous.
• Make sure that the hypervisor doesn’t have any other virtual machines running when you deploy Cloudstack.

For many people, the requirements are quite complex, right? There is nothing to worry about. We have collected the best LXC hosting services that match the requirements. You can directly choose from the list.

How to copy the LXC container to another host?

Now, if you are already having an LXC Container, you might want to move it to another host. Here is the way to do it.

We will first add the new server as a remote. Here is the command to do it.

Of course, you will have to change the CONTAINER_NAME and SNAPSHOT_NAME. The above command will copy the container and create a snapshot which will then be recreated in the target container.

You can also do it with tarball if you want. In that method, we will first create an export image by running the following command.

We will then send the same image to our target container.

You can run the following command to import.

The first method mentioned would be easy to implement. Not to mention, you can also contact the host and see if there are any free migration services provided for containers. Usually, the migration service doesn’t include LXC migration.

What is the difference between LXC and Docker?

If you have been in the programming industry for a while, you might have come across Docker. Many people get confused between LXC and Docker.

To understand it in simplest, Docker focuses on application containerization whereas the main aim of LXC is to focus on OS containerization. For the people who want to use an application that is isolated from others, Docker is the choice. On the other hand, people who want to have a specific operating system isolated from others should be using LXC (Linux Containers).

Conclusion

To conclude, these are some of the best LXC hosting providers to go with. You can always go with:

• Kinsta if you are planning to use WordPress.
• Vultr and Digital Ocean are great choices if you want beginner-friendly hosting.
• Kamatera is suitable for large websites and for people who have experience in LXC hosting.

By this, you can choose the best hosting provider that is suitable for you.