Modern businesses and organizations move towards gaining more control over their infrastructure, including the security aspect of it. Using self-hosted tools, SIEM systems, firewalls, and intrusion detection is becoming the choice of many rather than an exception as it was in the past.
Considering the fact that self-hosting tools allow you to monitor your infrastructure from your own servers, you get more control over handling data and reduce dependency on third-party providers.
When you understand the benefits of self-hosting security tools, the next important step to make is to choose a reliable hosting provider. It’s important that the hosting solution complies with your requirements on performance and location. For example, if you look at a VPS web hosting UK, you get robust performance, low latency (especially for UK residents), and compliance with regulatory standards.
In this article, we will help you evaluate hosting providers suited for self-hosting security tools by creating our top seven ratings.
1. HostZealot
HostZealot is an ideal choice for self-hosting tools thanks to its global presence and high-functioning infrastructure. This hosting provider offers many hosting options, including primarily virtual private servers (VPSs) and dedicated servers with different configurations.
Their hosting solutions come with full root access, which is required for seamless deployment of SIEM platforms, virtual firewalls, and IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) solutions. Plus, HostZealot offer customisable configurations where you can mix & match the specs like CPU, RAM, storage amount, processor type, and location.
This hosting provider has multiple data centers in the US, Europe, and Asia. The variety of locations is important in choosing the one closest to you, which would ensure the lowest latency possible.
Overall, HostZealot allows supporting the integration of various security stacks, firewall rules, and custom security measures without significant limitations.
Best choice for: SIEM deployments and custom firewalls.
2. AWS (Amazon Web Services)
AWS is a choice of many enterprises that have many complex requirements for security. It has a powerful and highly scalable infrastructure able to support various security architectures.
This hosting provider offers fully managed services and supports self-hosting tools such as custom SIEMs and firewalls. Some smaller teams can find management and pricing to be somewhat challenging.
Best choice for: Enterprise-scale security environments.
3. AkamaiCloud
AkamaiCloud offers high-performance cloud servers with low latency and transparent pricing. It is known for being a good option for distributed systems.
This hosting provider has especially suitable hosting solutions for organizations running open-source security tools. Among other things, AkamaiCloud offers system-level access, essential for configuring networks and security layers.
Best choice for: Open-source security tools.
4. Vultr
Vultr has many diverse compute options, some of which are with high-frequency CPU instances that are well-suited for supporting self-hosting security tools.
It offers many professional, developer-friendly solutions that are perfect for distributed security infrastructures, including those featuring multiple firewalls. Vultr also has the option of ISO uploads, helpful for deploying custom security configurations.
Best choice for: Distributed deployments and high-speed log processing.
5. DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is a renowned hosting provider due to its simplicity and user-friendliness. It has a lot of specialized tools for developers, game developers, marketing agencies, and e-commerce, and it has virtual machines that are easy to scale and customize.
Their hosting solutions are suitable for hosting firewalls, monitoring tools, and IDS (Intrusion Detection System) solutions. However, it’s not necessarily equipped to handle demanding SIEM workloads.
Additionally, DigitalOcean offers API access that can be used for automation and private networking.
Best choice for: Small to medium security stacks and monitoring tools.
6. Google Cloud
Google Cloud is an excellent choice for businesses and organizations that already use the Google ecosystem. It performs best for high-speed networking and detailed analytics.
Self-hosting security tools can definitely benefit from Google Cloud’s vast and powerful infrastructure. However, for organizations not using other Google tools, the platform might feel a little less intuitive.
Best choice for: Analytics-heavy workloads.
7. Microsoft Azure
For organizations running Windows-based or hybrid environments, Microsoft Azure can be a solid choice. It’s able to support self-hosting firewalls, SIEM, and monitoring tools, especially those integrated with Active Directory.
Microsoft Azure’s hosting services are favoured by many enterprises; however, it can be somewhat tricky to manage.
Best choice for: Windows-first and hybrid environments.