I'm thinking of getting us a few accounts with slicehost-like providers outside of the US, which we could use to run any kind of proxies we want. Can anyone recommend some good providers?
An EC2 pay-as-you-go model (opposed to a Slicehost one) might be a more economical option for testing as well.
Coupled with their API that lets you instantiate new slices just like EC2 instances, they're definitely the closest thing to EC2 I've seen going.
They've been doing virtual machines for years using User Mode Linux.
Alternatively, even a simple UK-based, non-root shell account with the ability to run Squid would probably suffice. I manage a few servers in a San Jose colo and would gladly provide an equivalent service if anyone wants to swap. Feel free to contact me (see my user page).
A rep from Flexiscale did come on the thread and state they've found the bugs and will be updating their virtual server software soon.
I can't comment beyond this, but hope this helps.
Pierre
For my needs (occasional access to a windows machine, cheaply) all this wasn't a big problem. Maybe if what you need is just a uk-based account for occasional testing, it'll be OK for you as well. But I wouldn't use them anywhere I needed even a little reliability.
We will also be issuing a full detailed decscription at that point of the internal issues we faced, to explain how we've overcome them.
Anyone who wants to try it at that point is more than welcome to a no-catches free trial, so we can prove we are delivering on our promises.
Regards,
Tony Lucas CEO, FlexiScale
They're a US company but you can get a VPS in London through them. A basic VPS can be had for like $10/month if they have a sale on.
They're in the UK.
I've been using RimuHosting, and they've been pretty good, but their servers are located in jurisdictions that are problematic for true online liberty.