Hi guys,

We are considering to migrate to Linode 4096.
But what does 20 Available means in the plan?

That there are 20 linodes of that size available for purchase. Like going to the store and seeing 20 boxes of cheerios on the shelf.

It means there are 20 Linode 4096s available. If you need more than 20 Linodes, you might open a support ticket. Availability by datacenter is here:

http://www.linode.com/avail/index.cfm

By the way, it looks like a bug: when I click Sing UP, I don't see that plan.

It'd be the Linode 4GB on the sign up page I think

It is their, in the second column.

"Linode 4GB $159.95 160GB 1600GB"

Visit: https://manager.linode.com/signup

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Anand Kumar,
Blog: http://www.netrival.com

By the way, Linode has extra capacity on hand. So even if someone did go and buy all 20 4096es, they'd just allocate some new hosts to, uh, host 4096es. I think it even happens automatically.

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Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)

If it's not a remnant of a more primitive age, I imagine it's just a sales tactic, either to make you feel like there's room for you, or to—OH GOD ONLY 20 LEFT? I'LL TAKE 12.

Or maybe Linode does not want to pay for too many host servers that they're not using? They've got to pay for the things regardless of if they have any linodes on them or not. They have some spare unallocated hosts available precisely so that they can deploy them if they run out of any one type, and if they're using dedicated servers rather than colocated boxes (well, they're not building their own servers to be sure), they can probably get more from the datacenter on very short notice.

I'll note that the Linode 512s, which at this point are probably their most popular model due to the cost, have a combined total of 942 units available.

What makes you say that?

Because Linode does not have staff in Newark, Fremont, Atlanta, Dallas, or London. They have 19 employees, and they're all located in Galloway, NJ. They're either renting dedicated servers, or they're paying the datacenter to build them and colocate them, which isn't all that different from a dedicated server anyhow. Either way, an unused server is a drain on resources (hardware, power, space), so they'd want to keep completely unused servers to a minimum.

Newark wouldn't be that bad of a drive or even Atlanta, but there's always the concept of shipping equipment - which is a fairly common practice. I think you're making a few generalizations that probably don't apply in this case, you might want to check out their Facebook page - specifically the photos section.

They are building their own servers, I've seen the pictures on their blog
http://blog.linode.com/2009/02/10/randy ... ed-office/

They do have extras in each DC. They have stated as much in these forums in fact, that they have extra hosts they can bring online to meet demand or replace dead equipment. I can only imagine each DC has extra storage space that's cheaper to rent than having the servers installed in the racks and turned on.

I stand corrected on the server builds, but that doesn't change my point; they're not going to have more spares than they need, because paying for a ton of hardware they're not using is a waste of money.

caker said on IRC recently that they have "literally months worth of spares". Paying for hardware you may not be using yet, but will be soon, is prudent. Apparently Linode decided it was worth the small extra cost.

(Wait, "recently"? It was April. How does 4 months ago still feel "recent"!?)

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Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)