Things You Should Know When Choosing Ruby On Rails Hosting Platform

Over the last few years, Ruby on Rails has become a highly sought after open-source solution for building websites at a faster pace and in a cost-efficient manner. Hosting was at the very beginning of Rails a considerable problem – keeping a Rails site up required a detailed know-how. Nowadays, with dozens of companies offering cheap and easy platforms, hosting Rails is far more accessible and it's no longer a major, time-consuming investment.

How to choose the best hosting solution for your Rails project? It all depends on what are your requirements and needs for this particular stage of your project and your technical knowledge. Here's an overview of some of the best hosting platforms for Ruby on Rails.

Heroku (https://www.heroku.com/)

Heroku is an all-time favorite of many Rails devs. It's considered especially useful if you're at the beginning of your journey with Ruby on Rails. Heroku is a cloud platform that supports several languages, and for Ruby on Rails it features plenty of practical add-ons for logging, caching, monitoring, persistence and others. All are fully integrated with the platform. It also helps to easily deploy apps and it's very intuitive to use. Any drawbacks? Heroku provides great value for money at the beginning, but it can quickly get expensive with all the add-ons (which tend to be overpriced).

DreamHost (www.dreamhost.com/)

One of the first Rails hosting platforms, DreamHost is a shared server platform that runs on the latest version of Rails and features a wide range of Gems. Dreamhost provides a round-the-clock access to an expert technical support staff who are there to help with any Rails-related problem through instant messaging. DreamHost will work for web devs who are still learning their way around Rails – pros might find the control panel lacking. For a moderate price, DreamHost offers multiple resources and easy dashboard interface.

Rackspace (http://www.rackspace.com/)

Rackspace is a big fish in the Rails pond with offices around the world, offering a wide range of cloud packages to suit all needs. On the difficulty scale, Rackspace is higher than Heroku – something that might be problematic for those of you who are less technically inclined. Still, the platform offers excellent assistance through a ticketing system or by phone – Rackspace engineers have been reported to be knowledgeable and very helpful. Major challenge? The service is quite expensive and probably works best for medium and large-sized companies.

Engine Yard (https://www.engineyard.com/)

Providing some of the best Rails technology for server performance, Engine Yard promises easy app deployment and high-quality technical support. Your tested and scalable Rails stack can be managed with an interface, where you'll still have root access and can install any software you like. The platform also offers features that handle monitoring and backups. All in all, it can sometimes be a bit slow in app deployment. Engine Yard is not for newbies – getting the hang of it is a much greater challenge than learning your way around Heroku, for instance.

Rails Machine (https://railsmachine.com/)

This is a hosting environment created specifically for Rails. It offers a great service in app management, easy scalability and a stable environment for hosting Rails apps. The platform maintains daily and weekly backups, provides application and system monitoring and a 24/7 technical support. Moreover, Rails Machine features an open-source configuration management and deployment system called Moonshine. (https://railsmachine.com/projects/) Helping to easily deploy and run Rails applications, Rails Machine is a classic hosting platform that has always been closely tied with the Ruby on Rails community.

The article was contributed by Monica Wells of http://www.bizdb.co.uk.