OT: VPS: Hosting providers? How it's done?

[Tony Nelson]

We're looking for a new Virtual Private Server hosting provider.  We just
tried GoDaddy, but it turns out that $30/m really is too little to pay.
(They use an old custom kernel, don't provide kernel modules for a
firewall, won't let us upgrade the kernel, and say it is our responsibility
to do so under the agreement.)  I'm looking for recommendations and a bit
more knowledge.

Is is normal to not be able to use stock distro kernels on a VPS?  (The OS
is CentOS 4.4, which I presume is XEN-enabled.)

What virtualization technology would normally be being used by a VPS
hosting provider?  Xen, UML, QEMU, VMWare, what?

Am I expecting too much from a VPS when I want to upgrade the kernel?  I
can do it with QEMU, but that's all I know.

Am I expecting too much from a VPS hosting provider when I want to set up a
working firewall?
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TonyN.:'                       <mailto:tonynelson at georgeanelson.com>
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