We have a small web+email hosting and data center business in Africa. We've been providing hosting services to our clients using Plesk on Dell-based servers (connected over a Fiberchannel interface to a SAN). Our data center is connected via an STM-4 and multiple STM-1s to 2 different upstream providers.
The problem we're having is (as a result of our own lack of knowledge) that our solution is just not scalable in the current configuration. We essentially buy a Dell server, install Plesk and keep provisioning customer domains (web and mail hosting) on it till capacity runs out (we max out on average at 400 domains per server) and then buy the next Dell machine and repeat.
What we're looking for is advice on building a more scalable and automated solution. Essentially we're looking for a software and hardware solution (blade solution with web and mail software that is able to harness the power / redundancy of multiple blade servers) that enables us to provision thousands of customers at one go (and simply add more blades servers as needed).
I want to point on of my domain name towards another webhosting service. My registrar is different from the webhosting service. I have done it many times, it works perfect except for one. Could the old webhosting service be preventing the domain name from pointing to another one?
Many of us create websites hoping that they get a lot of hits.
How can you ensure that if your web site gets a lot of hits, that it doesn't get knocked over, that it can scale and take many hits? I am not talking about a DoS attack. I am talking about a website that gets very popular and gets a lot of hits.
Will soon be launching a new web-service with high expectations for immediate growth and usage. Assuming I'm not totally delusional, and traffic surges reasonably rapidly, I guess we will need a solid, scalable service.
Cost is definitely a concern. I expect a dedicated server will be required - although should it flop, we'd rather not be going through the hassle of changing/paying more than we should.
Essentially my questions are:
Can anyone recommend a responsive, customer-centric, reliable host that would allow and arrange an instant upgrade to a dedicated server from a VPS, say..?
Assume an 'average' spec dedicated server with a good host - approximately how much traffic could this handle?
Our website is quite low on resources - very few images, well optimized, essentially running PHP5 & MySQL DB's.
I realise that's kinda like asking the length of a piece of string, but I'm trying my best. Any light you can shed would be much appreciated.
So in summary, looking for a reliable, responsive and competitively priced host which would react well to a sudden surge in traffic and be helpful in assisting with possible upgrade solutions..
I've been running a website now for about 8 years. It's gone through one name change. We've been with a company called flexihostings for a long time on a dedicated server but I think the sites design wasn't scalable and because of that the site has been running from one server and struggling as the traffic increased. Recently the traffic got to a point where the costs of serving the site from one location lead to it's demise. The site was slow, unresponsive and the answer from flexihostings was more about putting in more RAM, rather then us thinking about new technology. Some of the guys decided to pull the plug because of this before fixing the site but I'm going to start something back up from scratch but build it with scalability in mind to actually reduce the costs and pay for what I use.
Site Needs - Probably 2-3 Terrabytes of Bandwidth (to be scalable) - Site Ability to handle Flash Video Encoder etc for upload of user videos. (Scalability later as traffic grows) - Site ability to handle lots of database activity. Approx 30-40 queries a second as the site is very dynamic. (Or is there a better way to do this) - Ability to handle API's later on other sites from the information on the new site.
Ideas on Rebuilding a Site like this. - Amazons S3 Cloudfront Service to handle media such as images and video to reduce bandwidth. Instead of my server hosting these files should I use this service to put all my images and video up onto so that the bandwidth is paid for externally. This would mean I don't need a crazy amount of bandwidth on the server package I select, is this correct? I'm also reducing the bandwidth as they serve these images like a CDN. - A spin off is to use a content delivery network. Again what's peoples thoughts on this if traffic starts low and increases over time. Is this something that is affordable up front and scalable as the traffic increases.
Love to hear people's ideas on this. The traffic I'm thinking of is starting around the 50,000-100,000 uniques a month with 500,000 page views. This is what the old site was getting and I won't have any issues getting it back there quickly, to be honest that isn't that great but we were climbing very fast when it crashed averaging 100 new members a day. This then has heaps of possibilities, 2 to 3 million uniques and the equivalent meaning if the page view ratio was the same 30,000,000 page views. (Hmm does that seem unrealistic) Either way I want to be on something that is scalable and need a host that understands this.
Whats your advice, go dedicated to put everything on anyway, or have multiple servers to handle different things. Or is shared hosting fine for this is I share the content around the web?
if anyone would be able to offer suggestions for setting up a scalable server setup. Here's the situation.
I currently have one web server in a LAMP environment. This server houses both the application and the database.
I would like to setup something that provides more redundancy, and offers the ability to scale as needbe.
It seems there are quite a few options, here's what I am currently aware of.
1) Multiple servers, each house a copy of the database and the applications/files
2) Separate application server and database servers. For sake of redundancy, there would be two load balanced application servers and two clustered database servers.
Currently, with my setup of 1 server, the load is not bad, so it's really for redundancy than anything else, the bonus however would be a setup that is relatively easy to scale as the load became more testing.
In another thread somebody had mentioned something about Citrix Xenserver utilizing shared iSCSI storage with multiple hardware nodes. I think this is a very intriguing concept, but is there anything open source or less expensive that you have used to accomplish similar resource virtualization?
I have a new comparison shopping site. The challenge I currently have is that I have a dedicated server on Hostgator ($374 per month). But, I am in the middle of changing programmers after initial problems. While we are working through issues, I would like to bring down costs (there is very little traffic on the site right now).
Does a service such as Amazon EC2 make sense? It is not that I am unhappy with Hostgator. I just want to reduce cost while we fix the site (could take several months), and, position the site for easy growth (which is why I am considering Cloud Computing).
Comparison shopping is a large database intensive effort, so I do not think that a simple "shared" service makes sense.
There always seems to be some Quality issues with the Nvidia chipsets, so I was looking at getting some feedback on boards if any of you have been using anything else yet.
Normally I only use Tyan for server builds but the only alternative to Nvidia chipset is the Thunder h2000M (S3992-E).
I'm looking for stability #1, performance #2
I'm looking for something non Nvidia but simular to the "TYAN S4989WG2NR Quad 1207(F)" as far as features.
Every one talks about WHMCS however I am not found any real online companies using it's full potential so I dont know how it looks or how good it would fit my plans.
I could not find a overview of companies using their software.
So, I am asking about Resellers Club,
I like the way it is set up for domains, hosting etc and looks like a big company
example... "1and1, godaddy, etc".
Are there any applications similar to Resellers Club for client management, domain management, shopping cart etc that does not look like everyone else on the web?
I have seen here in the Windows Hosting Forum that some people ask questions about Windows hosting where they would really benefit from a basic understanding of the Microsoft web technology.
Recently on Jan 21, Microsoft made it a trivial process to install all the components needed to "kick the tires" with the "Web Platform Installer"
And I've come across a lot of hosters claiming to provide Windows hosting that could really use some quality time with this stuff!
From the Microsoft web site:
The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a simple tool that installs Microsoft's entire Web Platform, including IIS, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework. Using the Web Platform Installer’s user interface, you can choose to install either specific products or the entire Microsoft Web Platform onto your computer. The Web PI also helps keep your products up to date by always offering the latest additions to the Web Platform.
New Updates! Now supporting Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Web PI makes it easy to install and stay up-to-date with the Microsoft Web Platform. This updated release lets you install ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Tools for Silverlight, and much more! [url]
I would like to ask your opinions on the best way to control server services and scripts on different platforms.
Basically i need to execute some command line scripts on a windows server. The way im doing this is vbscript which is called in asp.
What i really want to do is have a central server on linux which i can host a php script and mysql database on which in turn connects to the windows server to execute the vbscript.
Ive always worked with php and mysql so i dont really want to run everything in asp. If i did run everything in asp im not to sure if it would be clever to run asp scripts with mysql and would then have to go to the microsoft sql 2005 route.
So my question is what would be my best way to run php and mysql on a linux server that can in turn connect to a windows server to run a vbscript or execute through command line and log data to mysql, baring in mind authentication and security.
I do have php and mysql set up on the windows server but after alot of trouble getting it running right im not to keen on running the php scripts local, i really need a central linux server for the scripts.
I'm completely torn on going the absolute budget route vs spending more for something that'll allow easy upgradeability in the future. I basically need lots of space but file sending-- media like mp3s, video, etc.
it'll be raid 5 and I'll need at least 2-3TB initially but the ability to expand would be nice.
option 1: nice chassis with plenty of hotswap bays with sas expanders expensive sas raid card
option 2: cheap chassis to serve "immediate" needs and go with more later. not sure what I'd use as a card? maybe even onboard?
regarding reliability: I once saw a database of failure rates of different models. raptor was the most reliable of the "desktop" drives. anyone have the link? I'm wondering of the seagate ES drives are worth the extra money vs the non-ES drives. they're supposedely more reliable and the "server versions" of sata drives.
Do you prefer Virtuozzo over other VPS platforms...IE: Is that what makes your selling point in the end...or does the VPS platform not really matter to you?
I would like to make a cgi cross platforms. Some servers are running Ubuntu server, 32 bit others are running Centos 64 bit and so one. How do i make a cgi script that run well at least for Linux based operating systems such as Debian, Ubuntu, RedHat and so one ?
I've been running a niche hosting business (one man show) for about 6 months now and so far I've learnt the basics of the hosting business. In fact I'm quite successful too, with good profits right from the first month. I know a bit of server admin and manage my own servers.
However, now I plan to start general shared hosting business and have decided to own my hardware and colocate it at a DC. (I'm not located in the US; the DC owner is my friend and would receive the hardware and set it up for me.)
The box would cater to general shared webhosting needs with cPanel (I don't like it but the market does )
Here's what I'm planning to go for...please put in your valuable inputs.
$300 for 1x SUPERMICRO MBD-X7DCL-I ATX Mainboard $380 for 2x Kingston 4GB(2x2GB) KVR667D2D4F5K2/4G RAM $475 for 2x Intel Xeon E5405 Harpertown Quad Core 2Ghz. $240 for 2x WD Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB SATA2 HDD $250 for 1x Supermicro CSE-811T-420B 1U Chassis
100Mbps port, CentOS 5.latest 64bit, cPanel.
So, to sum up... 8x2Ghz CPU, 8GB RAM, 500GB SATA RAID system to start with.
I'm open to all suggestions and would appreciate valuable advice etc. from experienced people. I'd like to ensure full hardware/software compatibility and maximum stability.
I have had a bunch of various servers in my garage for years and it's proved to be a lot cheaper than having to fork out for training courses to learn different os's.
Plus since i work from home it's handy to have a setup that has the same operating systems that i work with, mainly hpux, solaris n centos
A couple of years ago i decided to try and get it running off green energy.
From the renewable energy point of view i have 6 big 12v 110ah batteries from a datacenter ups that were being decomissioned, linked to a decent 2kw inverter i managed to pick up very cheap.
Batteries are topped by a couple of solar panels and a small wind turbine (both ebay bargains).
I dont run all the servers at the same time but i can have few running happily.
I was wondering whether anyone here has done anything similar?
I originally started the idea off just to run 12v lighting in the garage but when i got the ups batteries i thought i'd take it a stage further
I am thinking about buying this processor and building a server with it. This processor is very affordable for me but I am wondering what kind of server I should run it as? Do you think the processor would be able to handle a heavy DDoS attack and act as a good firewall?
Let me know, here's the processor I want to build the server with: [url]
Does anyone know why companies like Level3/Yipes/Abovenet/Global Crossing don't make their on-net building list available readily? Cogent/Zayo/etc have it listed right on their website....Zayo even gives you this downloadable KMZ file for Google Earth.
I'm working with a few clients who run their own data center/web hosting facilities and are looking at new spaces in various Class A office buildings. Obviously, I can go around and call all the providers, but it becomes a voicemail game.
I am working on building another hosting companies which I will be hosting VPSs as well.
I am asking this from a customers opion.
with each plan should it be an = shared amount of the processor or should each person have a dedicated amount? For example say you got duel quadcore processors running 3ghz which would = like 24ghz total correct? Say you have 16 VPS on 1 server each getting roughly 1.5Ghz.
We currently have a few racks within a UK Datacentre and unfortunately its filling up quicker and quicker by the day.
When we contacted our account manager during the week for another rack we were told that there is less than 5 racks left. Saying that these new racks came with +20% increase on our normal costs plus a £800 setup fee. While I have no complaints with the price going up for the rack (as its the same in any data centre when it gets full) I am starting to think that if we (as a company) maybe benefit more to converting an office into a data suite and getting suitable fibre to the building.
One reason why I am calling this a data suite and not a data centre is it wont have the benefits of a backup generator and fire suppression system as costs would outway the benefits (at the moment anyway). We are looking to only have around 4/8 racks in this data suite with none of the services being hosted business critical.
At the moment our current DC is around 100 miles from me so when we looked at the location we found that having one closer to our office and my home allot easier/beneficial. Next option was is there affordable fibre access available and yes there is. There was many sets of offices and industrial sites which already had fibre access to the doors with many suppliers available such as the national fibre grid (BT), Virgin Media Backhaul and Global Crossing (waiting to be confirmed on GC to see if its theirs or BTs). Least that saves the cost of the expensive last miles from the POP.
Either way the fibre we would be using would be used to back haul our connection to a London DC to plug into our network. Over the last week I have been looking at possible locations, costs, quotes etc to see what I can work with. I am just wondering if anyone else has done something similar (as in setting up a few racks away from the DC) and how did it turn out?
One worry I did worry about is losing the data centres remote hands when things go really wrong and say a technician is unavailable to go to the suite. All our servers are hooked up to KVMs and Reboot racks so if something does go wrong (software wise) we can cope but the thought does linger over me slightly.
for a SMTP server / hints at how it might be done to accomodate the following :
One single email will be sent. If it doesn't get sent on the first try by one server, another server at another location will attempt the connection and will send out the email then.
Is there a prebuilt solution that anyone knows that will help with these things ? If not, do you know of any ways that this might be possible to be done - even if you don't know the exact details of how it should be done - any help in finding out something like this would help .
Note : Linux / Windows / FreeBSD / Solaris is fine. So whatever OS it is, it's fine by me.
