I don't mean to diss your experiences clearly softlayer worked for you in your environment but I'm honestly shocked to see Softlayer suggested here at all.

We just finished trying to set up some servers in softlayer and it was thee biggest pain in the ass we've had to deal with in a LONG time. Everything required a support ticket.

And that's if you're willing to overlook their reputation. Just Google "softlayer spam" and you'll see what I mean right away.

Glad that it worked for you. But wow... Never again.