# Is there any difference between DigitalOcean and Linode for Discourse installation?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-any-difference-between-digitalocean-and-linode-for-discourse-installation/68846
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [August 26, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-any-difference-between-digitalocean-and-linode-for-discourse-installation/68846 "2017-08-26T20:17:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mhwebee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mhwebee)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-any-difference-between-digitalocean-and-linode-for-discourse-installation/68846/1 "2017-08-26T20:17:11Z")
When I started with Discourse, I’ve been recommended to use DigitalOcean as hosting provided, which is what I’m using now. However, recently I heard about Linode, which seems to be very a very similar service. So checking around, I noticed that Linode offers more RAM than DigitalOcean for the same price. Though support is limited, you can actually contact the company through phone. If required they even have support packages that you can purchase.
Is there any reason why Discourse usually prefers DigitalOcean? Is there anything bad about Linode?
---
### Author:  [@maiki](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maiki)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-any-difference-between-digitalocean-and-linode-for-discourse-installation/68846/2 "2017-08-26T21:52:09Z")
Linode is fine, and one can run Discourse can run on any hardware that meets the requirements for memory and storage.
Digital Ocean is a relatively simple and accessible service, and is a known variable. That means if folks are seeking support have an issue with hosting (as opposed to a configuration or UI issue), the dev team can give a minimal amount of time supporting what generally shouldn’t be a concern for Discourse operators.
This is the aggregate opinion I’ve formed from reading posts and discussing this, but that was years ago. You might be able to search around for the answer. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@elijah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/elijah)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2017, 6:52am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-any-difference-between-digitalocean-and-linode-for-discourse-installation/68846/3 "2017-08-27T06:52:01Z")
People use Linode successfully, but I gather installation is a little more finnicky.
> [@Install Docker with AUFS on Linode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-docker-with-aufs-on-linode/39831/):
>
> The [30-minute Discourse installation guide](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md) assumes you’ll be using Digital Ocean and makes no mention of an important requirement for Docker: If you use another hosting provider, you should really make sure that a Linux kernel feature called “[AUFS](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/storagedriver/aufs-driver/)” is supported. Docker not using AUFS can cause [terrible pain](https://meta.discourse.org/t/cant-install-discourse-with-only-10-gb-disk-run-out-of-space/29149/37). If you want to use Linode, here’s how to enable AUFS support in Ubuntu (for other OSes, refer to [Linode’s guide](https://www.linode.com/docs/tools-reference/custom-kernels-distros/run-a-distribution-supplied-kernel-with-kvm) and update the instructions below accordingly: Create the Linode and pic…