I've been planning for some time now to set up a proper server to host JBOSS, it was going to be guts of current machine tied up to the internet using no-ip.com to make up for the fact that I don't have a static-ip. The question I'm asking myself now however, is that still the way to go?
Hosting has become pretty cheap. I'm already with Hostmonster which basically provide everything except Java support, for hardly anything a month I could host a PHP site with unlimited databases and what have you. The thing about Java you see is that need a lot of memory, making hosting more expensive. Also in a shared environment you can forget about being able to configure everything, and if somebody is hogging all the memory, well, you're screwed.
But things have changed a bit now, which brings me onto my little guide. Finding a base for your JBOSS. I'll talk you through some of the features to look out for in a JBOSS hosting provider.
VPN or Dedicated: A VPN is essentially a virtual server and also the reason having your own hosted JBOSS server is actually something me and you, the plebs, can even consider. Dedicated solutions (i.e. having your own machine in somebody else's server farm) has always been prohibitively expensive for the likes of us. With the wonders of virtualisation we can have the benefits of having our own machine at only a fraction of the cost.
Do I get JBOSS: A bit of a no-brainer maybe but every provider seems to have different deals. For example you could be signing up for Tomcat hosting and only get a shared instance of Tomcat and no ability to use JBOSS at all. Make sure your deal explicitly states that you are getting your own instance of JBOSS.
Do I get a Shell: Moving files around, reading logs, checking on your database, the list goes on. Don't underestimate the power of having shell access to your JBOSS machine, it is definitely something you will regret not having later.
Memory: I'm writing this because I've noticed some hosts offering "JBOSS" hosting with only 128mb of memory. If you try to run JBOSS with this much memory it will laugh in your face before either spontaneously combusting or spending the next four hours crawling on the floor. You need at least 750 megs if you want to be safe, though you could probably get by with 500.
OS: Everything I looked at so far offered a selection of linuxes to choose from. If you have a preference you might be out of luck, Fedora 12, CentOS and Ubuntu seem to be the most popular. Since all you probably care about is JBOSS I might recommend going with CentOS as it's based off the same source Enterprise grade Red Hat linux. (Red Hat own JBOSS since a few years ago, if it'll work with anything it will be their OS.)
So hopefully that helped you out a bit. As for who I will be going with my self, the best I've found so far is this outfit. JSP Zone. They seem to have by far the best package for the money they are asking for. If you find somewhere better please do leave a comment, preferably before I take out my credit card.
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