KVM vs Xen vs VMware vs Proxmox: Picking a Hypervisor in 2026
VMware's pricing changes have shaken the industry. KVM, Xen, and Proxmox all look better than they did a year ago. Here's an operator's guide to picking a hypervisor.
Read postNotes from the rack — engineering, networks, post-mortems.
What we’ve learned running 5,000+ servers across 13 European POPs. Network engineering, BGP, DDoS forensics, hypervisor tuning, and the occasional incident write-up. Subscribe to the RSS feed or follow updates from the on-call rotation.
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Posts from the NOC.
Operational write-ups from the engineers who own the boxes. New posts whenever something interesting breaks — or something interesting works.
1 Gbps vs 10 Gbps Hosting: When the Upgrade Is Worth It
10 Gbps ports look great on a spec sheet, but a lot of workloads will never saturate 1 Gbps. Here's how to figure out which port your workload actually needs.
Read postHow to Get Your Own ASN and IP Space: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you want to run your own routing, multi-home across providers, or build something serious on the network, you need an ASN and IP space. Here's exactly how.
Read postIPv6 in Production: A Hosting Operator's Deployment Guide
IPv6 isn't optional anymore. This is the practical guide to running IPv6 in production: addressing plans, dual-stack, firewalling, and the gotchas that bite people late.
Read postBare Metal vs Cloud VMs: The Real Cost Math
AWS, GCP, and Azure are convenient but expensive. Bare metal is cheaper but takes more work. Here's the real cost math, including the hidden line items everyone forgets.
Read postAnycast vs Unicast DNS: When You Actually Need Anycast
Anycast DNS sounds impressive, but most sites don't need it. Here's what anycast actually does, when it pays off, and when plain unicast with a good provider is enough.
Read postNVMe vs SATA SSD vs SAS: Which Storage Should You Pick?
NVMe is faster on paper. SATA SSD is cheaper. SAS still has a place. Here's how to choose storage for your dedicated server or VPS — by workload, not by buzzwords.
Read postHow to Choose a Hosting Provider in 2026: A Buyer's Checklist
A practical buyer's checklist for choosing a hosting provider in 2026. Network, hardware, support, billing, and the questions most providers don't want you to ask.
Read postBGP Communities Explained: A Practical Guide for Hosting Customers
BGP communities are how you tell your upstream what to do with your routes — prepend, blackhole, advertise to specific peers, or scope to a region. Plain-English guide for anyone running their own ASN.
Read postFluxBilling vs Blesta: Why We Built Our Own
Blesta is a clean, well-engineered billing platform with a loyal user base. So why did Noded build FluxBilling instead of switching to Blesta? Honest comparison from an operator who runs the alternative.
Read postWhy We Chose FluxBilling Over WHMCS and EasyDCIM
After years of fighting WHMCS plugins, EasyDCIM bolt-ons, and brittle integrations, we built FluxBilling — the billing and DCIM platform that runs Noded.cloud. Here's why we made the switch and why you might want to as well.
Read postNoded vs ServerMania: Bare Metal & Hybrid Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and ServerMania for bare metal, hybrid, and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hostkey: Bare Metal & GPU Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Hostkey for bare metal, GPU, and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs HostHatch: Storage VPS & Bare Metal Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and HostHatch for VPS, storage, and bare metal hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs BuyVM (Frantech): Bare Metal & VPS Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and BuyVM (Frantech) for bare metal and VPS hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs DataPacket: Game Server & Bare Metal Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and DataPacket for game server hosting and bare metal. Pricing, network, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hivelocity: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Hivelocity for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs M247: Global Network and Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and M247 for global network, bare metal, and connectivity services. Pricing, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs OVHcloud: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and OVHcloud for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, anti-DDoS, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs LeaseWeb: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and LeaseWeb for global bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs WholesaleInternet: Bare Metal & Bandwidth Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and WholesaleInternet for bare metal and high-bandwidth hosting. Pricing, locations, network, and support — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Nocix: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Nocix for bare metal and dedicated hosting. Pricing, network, locations, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs ColoCrossing: Dedicated Server & Colocation Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and ColoCrossing for dedicated servers and colocation. Pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postNoded vs Psychz Networks: Bare Metal & Network Compared (2026)
Comparing Noded and Psychz Networks for bare metal hosting and network services. Pricing, locations, DDoS protection, and support — based on publicly available info as of May 2026.
Read postRPKI Explained: Securing BGP Routing in 2026
RPKI is the cryptographic backbone protecting BGP from route hijacks. Here's how RPKI works, why it matters, and how to deploy ROAs and ROV in 2026.
Read postNoded vs FDCservers: Bare Metal Hosting Compared (2026)
Looking at Noded and FDCservers for bare metal hosting? Here's an honest, fact-based comparison of pricing, locations, network, and use cases — based on publicly available information as of May 2026.
Read postBest Hosting for Game Servers in 2026: Bare Metal, VPS, or Dedicated?
Choosing the right host for game servers means low latency, DDoS protection, and consistent performance. Here's how bare metal, VPS, and dedicated hosting compare for game server hosting in 2026.
Read postNoded vs Hetzner: Honest Bare Metal & Network Comparison (2026)
Honest comparison of Noded and Hetzner: where each one wins, where each one doesn't, and how to decide based on your actual workload — not marketing claims.
Read post7 Best Alternatives to AWS Bare Metal in 2026
AWS Bare Metal (EC2 i3.metal, m6i.metal, etc.) is powerful but expensive. We compare 7 strong alternatives — from Hetzner and OVHcloud to Latitude.sh, Equinix Metal, and more.
Read postHetzner vs OVHcloud: Bare Metal & Dedicated Server Comparison (2026)
Hetzner and OVHcloud are two of Europe's largest dedicated server providers. We compare pricing, locations, network, and use cases to help you choose between them in 2026.
Read postBuilding Your Own CDN on Bare Metal: A Practical Architecture Guide
Why some teams build their own CDN on bare metal instead of using Cloudflare or Fastly. The architecture, software stack (Varnish, Nginx, ATS), economics, and trade-offs.
Read postBGP Communities Explained: How to Control Routing Across the Internet
BGP communities are tags you attach to route announcements to influence how upstream providers handle them. Learn the syntax, the most useful communities, and real traffic engineering examples.
Read postColocation vs Cloud vs Bare Metal: Cost & Use Case Comparison
Colocation, hyperscaler cloud, and bare metal hosting all solve the "where do I run my servers" question differently. A clear 2026 comparison of cost, control, scale, and use cases.
Read postIPv4 Leasing in 2026: How It Works, What It Costs, and When It's Worth It
IPv4 is exhausted, and prices keep climbing. IPv4 leasing lets you rent address space without buying a /24. Learn how it works, current market rates, and when leasing beats buying.
Read postAnycast vs Unicast: How Global Services Stay Fast and Resilient
Anycast lets one IP address serve users from the closest location automatically. Learn how anycast works, when to use it, and how it powers DNS, CDNs, and DDoS scrubbing.
Read postDDoS Protection Explained: Volumetric, Protocol, and Application Attacks
DDoS attacks come in three flavors — volumetric, protocol, and application-layer. Learn how each one works, how scrubbing and BGP blackholing defend against them, and what to look for in a provider.
Read postWhat Is IP Transit and How Does It Work? A Beginner's Guide (2026)
Learn what IP transit is, how BGP and tier-1 networks deliver global internet reachability, how it's priced (95th percentile vs flat-rate), and how to choose the right provider for your hosting or infrastructure business.
Read postBare Metal vs VPS Hosting: Which Is Right for You in 2026?
Bare metal servers vs VPS — which hosting type wins on performance, cost, and scalability? A practical 2026 comparison with real-world use cases to help you choose.
Read postWhat Is IPAM (IP Address Management) and Why Your Network Needs It
IPAM (IP Address Management) is the system of record for every IP in your network. Learn what it does, why spreadsheets fail, and how to choose the right IPAM tool in 2026.
Read postHow 95th Percentile Billing Works (and Why It Saves You Money)
95th percentile billing is the bandwidth pricing model used by every major IP transit provider. Learn how it works, why it ignores bursts, and how to keep your bill predictable.
Read postMulti-Homing 101: Why You Need More Than One IP Transit Provider
BGP multi-homing connects your network to two or more transit providers for redundancy, better routing, and pricing leverage. Learn how it works and how to set it up.
Read postHow to Choose a Data Center Location: Latency, Compliance & Cost
Choosing where to host servers affects latency, compliance, redundancy, and cost. A practical guide to picking the right data center location for your business in 2026.
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