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What is a cached web service?

Heroku 1 additional web dyno vs Linode?

  • I am currently using the Free Heroku service for my Ruby on Rails project, but I noticed that it loads extremely slow on other computers (it loads fast on my computer, probably because I visit it a lot and it's cached?). I wasn't sure if the problem was because our code was unnecessarily bloated, or if it were just the limitations of the free service. I'm considering switching to a paid service, and have a few questions. Linode offers $20/month, and Heroku's next cheapest alternative is adding one additional web dyno for $36/month. Which one should I choose, and why?

  • Answer:

    If you're only using a single dyno then Heroku will be idling the dyno after inactivity. So you will see a longer start up time if the app has idled. There's no reason why you would see faster performance compared to other users if the app isn't idling out. Personally, paying Heroku $36 versus having to install/configure/manage a Linux server, not to mention the time is a no brainer.

John Beynon at Quora Visit the source

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Couldn't you hit the app regularly to keep it "warm"?

Vivek Ponnaiyan

I think paying for Heroku is not paying for the performance but the convenience of not managing your own infrastructure. As said, installing, configuring and managing Linux boxes in a way that is efficient, secure and scalable in future is something you can easily pay someone else to do for you. Alternatively, you can use Cloud 66 (http://www.cloud66.com) to have the same convenience of Heroku on your own servers on any cloud like Linode, EC2, Rackspace, DigitalOcean or Joyent and have the best of both worlds! Disclaimer is in my title!

Khash Sajadi

Heroku does spin down instances if they are inactive. You can get around this by making a request every so often. I've done this before with scripts and it works. Unless you are receiving a decent amount of traffic or there is a serious flaw in your application, it should run fine on one or two dynos. The difference in speed on different computers is probably due to the instance being spun down. Even if you are paying for an extra dyno, Heroku is well worth it! Configuring, managing and deploying on a VPS, ie Linode, can be very time consuming. If you have little experience with server management, this process can be a nightmare and you will likely have security holes.

Chris Polis

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