GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Stop throwing hardware at your problems. Tune your server!

raymor · 07-30-2011, 11:45 AM

So true. Don't throw hardware at a problem that hasn't even been diagnosed . It's not that difficult to track down the source of the load, often down to a specific query in a script.

Most servers don't even use noatime, which in many cases can cut load in half and takes three minutes to do.

For people wondering which host, ebmasters actually demand incompetence and demand that hosts sell you hardware you don't need. How many threads on GFY are posted looking for cheap hosting? Hire many threads have you seen asking which host had the most knowledgeable staff?

Witness the success if hostgator. Many people buy from them them. They have never seen the servers and don't have access to the datacenter. That's what people buy, hosting from a company that doesn't even know what the server looks like.

The market, the decisions webmasters make, forces a host who wants to have a customers to cut corners. They have to hire cheap techs and have those techs spend as little time as possible, because webmasters are looking for cheap hosting. When you ask for cheap, you often get it. Cheap often costs a lot more in the long fun. Right now we are moving a low traffic site from a $800 / month mammoth server they don't need but got "a good deal on" to a properly tuned $150 server designed to fit their needs.

Webmasters often choose to buy the most impressive sounding specs without ever asking what they need. An independent evaluation can tell you what you need.

Here's a hint - you almost surely don't need a faster CPU. After tuning, another or faster drive might be recommended, but the cpu is already a million times faster than the drive.

The tendency for webmasters to look for "cheap" (crap) hosting is why you don't see us advertising our hosting anywhere. After we get know someone and find they are good to do business with, we might invite them to come on board if they ask us about hosting. Normally we end up saving them money. That's not done by offering phoney unlimited bandwidth on a server with a single 5400 RPM drive and we have no interest in getting into those kinds if antics. That's the kind of stuff most webmasters buy, though. It's like the pop under, prechecked cross sale, one free with $50 recurring crap, but on the hosting side, and that's what sells.

07-30-2011, 11:45 AM
raymor Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,745	So true. Don't throw hardware at a problem that hasn't even been diagnosed . It's not that difficult to track down the source of the load, often down to a specific query in a script. Most servers don't even use noatime, which in many cases can cut load in half and takes three minutes to do. For people wondering which host, ebmasters actually demand incompetence and demand that hosts sell you hardware you don't need. How many threads on GFY are posted looking for cheap hosting? Hire many threads have you seen asking which host had the most knowledgeable staff? Witness the success if hostgator. Many people buy from them them. They have never seen the servers and don't have access to the datacenter. That's what people buy, hosting from a company that doesn't even know what the server looks like. The market, the decisions webmasters make, forces a host who wants to have a customers to cut corners. They have to hire cheap techs and have those techs spend as little time as possible, because webmasters are looking for cheap hosting. When you ask for cheap, you often get it. Cheap often costs a lot more in the long fun. Right now we are moving a low traffic site from a $800 / month mammoth server they don't need but got "a good deal on" to a properly tuned $150 server designed to fit their needs. Webmasters often choose to buy the most impressive sounding specs without ever asking what they need. An independent evaluation can tell you what you need. Here's a hint - you almost surely don't need a faster CPU. After tuning, another or faster drive might be recommended, but the cpu is already a million times faster than the drive. The tendency for webmasters to look for "cheap" (crap) hosting is why you don't see us advertising our hosting anywhere. After we get know someone and find they are good to do business with, we might invite them to come on board if they ask us about hosting. Normally we end up saving them money. That's not done by offering phoney unlimited bandwidth on a server with a single 5400 RPM drive and we have no interest in getting into those kinds if antics. That's the kind of stuff most webmasters buy, though. It's like the pop under, prechecked cross sale, one free with $50 recurring crap, but on the hosting side, and that's what sells. __________________ For historical display only. This information is not current: support@bettercgi.com ICQ 7208627 Strongbox - The next generation in site security Throttlebox - The next generation in bandwidth control Clonebox - Backup and disaster recovery on steroids