We can do a 512MB vps for $5/mo or a 1GB for $10/month. cPanel through us is $15/month. Discounts across the board are available for semi-annual or annual prepay.
Automating a check on domain expiration date should be quite simple. Managing a domain is (or at least should be) one of least painful aspects of hosting.
We use SuperMicro microcloud for our cloud nodes. As you mentioned the main reason is space savings. They are also fairly easy to work with and cuts down on power cords/management.
On a dedicated server $12.50/mo barely covers the space and power to say nothing of bandwidth, hardware, support, etc.
I would recommend either looking for storage only options, or upping your budget a bit.
Hmmm... First install we ever did was Slackware iirc. Of course RedHat didn't exist at the time. And naturally we had to use floppies -- how else were we going to load the system? :D
I used an exercise ball for a long while as an office chair and it really helped my lower back and shoulder which were both incredibly sore from bad sitting posture....
Blatant self promotion here, but we have an CloudStack platform running in Phoenix if you ever want another stateside option.
Also thanks for once again pointing out how DO and Vultr are trying to gain some sort of marketing edge calling themselves cloud instead of vps. True there are no set...
They have an open source edition: http://www.mailcleaner.org/
Though it appears it hasn't been updated for 2 years, which is almost exactly as long as its been since i've looked into it. (Did a fabulous job at the time though as a total drop in replacement for the barracuda that dropped dead)
have you ever tried mailcleaner?
we installed it once at a small provider who had a barracuda that bit the dust and thought it was fantastic. would be curious how you thought it compared to ASSP.