Linode Blog

We've released a new version of the Linode Manager with many goodies.  Besides a reorganization of the code (which makes us devs happy), the locations of many pre-existing features have been reorganized as well. But, the real news is this has enabled us to implement some cool features...

Single Sign On

• Multiple Linodes can now be managed much more intuitively under one Linode.com account.
• Linking multiple accounts together is no longer necessary.
• Linodes can be tagged with a label that you can change at any time, which makes identifying multiple Linodes much easier
• Adding a Linode to your account is a piece of cake.  It's as easy as: "Add a Linode" link off the Linodes sub-tab, select the plan, confirm. Done.
• A much requested feature, you can now change your username at any time.  Amen.

Multiuser Support

• You can now create additional Linode.com users that are able to log into your account.
• Our system now allows you to restrict a user's access to specific Linodes, DNS zones, or even create a "billing only" user.
• Timezone preference setting is now per User vs per Customer

Instance-Day Billing

• Similar to Amazon's EC2, this feature allows you to add Linodes or extras and receive a pro-rated credit to your account when you remove them. This is perfect for short term projects or tasks (or if you want to show your friends how cool Linode is without giving them access to your production server).

Linode.com Account Persistence

• If you remove all of your Linodes from your account (but don't cancel your account), your Linode.com login will remain valid.
• You can return at any time and use any of your credit remaining.
• Your DNS zones will remain, but they won't be served unless you have a billable Linode.

Web-based AJAX Console

• Although we implemented this many months ago, there was no official announcement.  Welp, there's browser based console access to your Linode.
• The browser console automatically authenticates you.  Entering in your username and password is no longer required
• There is a console server in each data center.  Launching the console directs you to the console server in the same data center as the Linode.

Graphs

• Disk IO Graphs to compliment the CPU and network graphs
• A new graph history interface

Support Tickets

• Tickets can be opened regarding a specific object (a Linode or a DNS zone).
• All users with access to that object will be able to see the ticket, receive ticket updates via email, and can participate in the ticket.

My thanks go out to those that helped test the new version -- you guys were a big help!

Filed under: announcements, features, linode manager by caker
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We've had a few requests for larger Linodes.   So, a new plan has just been created -- the Linode 2880.  Enjoy!

Filed under: announcements by caker
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James Barrett (aka jadoba), of PLUG fame, has joined the Linode team effective today.  Jim maintains the Debiosk, which is a system for quickly building Debian based kiosks.  Welcome aboard Jim!

Filed under: announcements, linode by caker
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Ubuntu version 8.04 Hardy Heron is now available for installation via the distro wizard.

Existing installs can, of course, upgrade.

Filed under: distros by mikegrb
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I'm very pleased to announce that Bob Johnson has joined the Linode team, starting today.  Bob is a programmer with a background in education, instructional technology, and telecommunications.  He'll be helping out with feature development, customer support, documentation and how-tos, system administration, building new hosts, etc (did I miss anything?).    Please join me in welcoming Bob to our community.

Filed under: announcements, linode by caker
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It's official -- Xen is now live at Linode. It's been a long road, almost four years in fact, but, with the help of our community, the most recent beta program has finally proven Xen to be ready for action.

What does Xen mean for you? Xen has less overhead compared to UML. Xen Linodes have 4 processors. They support kernel modules. They support 32 and 64 bit kernels. We're running the latest Xen version (3.2.1) which means we can support paravirt_ops kernels (pv_ops), which means we can have kernels newer than 2.6.18 (which a lot of our competitors force you to use). In short, Linodes will be much, much faster under Xen.

From here on, all new host hardware will be deployed running Xen. New accounts should land on these machines, but there's still a chance a new Linode will land on a UML host. If this happens, or you are already on a UML host and want to move over, just submit a ticket. However, it's just a matter of time before all our machines are running on Xen -- we'll announce the upgrade schedule in the next few weeks.

Filed under: announcements, linode manager, virtualization by caker
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Linode, LLC is seeking software developers in the Atlantic County, NJ area. The ideal candidate would have experience with several of the following items, and a passion to learn the rest:

• ColdFusion, Perl, PHP, Ruby (on rails), XHTML, CSS
• Object Oriented Design
• MVC frameworks
• Relational Database Design and SQL
• System Administration
• User Mode Linux, Xen, Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM)
• Computer Networking
• Linux, Mac OS X

Linode is a pioneer in the virtual server industry. We're a small, open company, willing to give you the keys to the kingdom, enabling you to contribute in a big way. We're looking for talented, self-starters, with the aptitude to quickly learn and adapt.

Please send your resume and a one page writing sample to work@linode.com.

Filed under: announcements, linode by caker
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Linode is now accepting Discover card for payment, in addition to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. There have been a few requests for this, so while we were tweaking our merchant account we made sure to add it. Now you can start accumulating your cashback bonus points while paying for your Linode subscription.

Also, charges from us will now be labeled on your credit card statements as "Linode.com" instead of "Shore Network Technologies."

Filed under: announcements, linode by tasaro
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We've created a private Local Area Network (LAN), in each datacenter, upon which Linodes can join, without having to worry about the transfer counting against their monthly network quota. This feature allows for some interesting possibilities. For instance, creating sets of front-end webserver Linodes and back-end database server Linodes which communicate over this private network. Database replication, backups and rsync also come to mind. Oh, and IP Failover works for both public and private IPs.

To get in on the fun, log-in to the members' site and head to this page. Click the button to have a private IP address assigned to your Linode. Reboot your Linode and bring up the new IP on eth1 -- an example command for doing this is provided on the page. You will need to complete these steps for each Linode you want to be able to communicate over the back-end network.

This only works for Linodes within the same datacenter. The Linodes do not have to be under one account/linked.

So, how much is this feature? You guessed it: FREE!

Enjoy!

Filed under: announcements, features, linode manager by mikegrb
5 Comments »

Alert Notifications

You can now get notified via email when your Linode crosses a specific threshold, for several statistics. Alerts are checked once per hour.

Currently, the available parameters are:

CPU usage (two hour average)
Disk IO-ops/sec (two hour average)
Network traffic rate in (two hour average)
Network traffic rate out (two hour average)
Monthly Transfer Quota (percentage)

You can enable/disable the alerts and set your threshold values from the Alerts page, located off the Utilities sub-tab of the members' site.

Filed under: announcements, features, linode manager by mikegrb
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