Should I switch servers - Vote now (Immediately)

Post by **Dhruv** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:35 pm

Ok guys and girls,

An opportunity has presented itself to move to a faster server this week. Now IMO this site is slow because of the load my site is putting on it thanks to the number of users at times but also due to the size of the database. So there is no garuntee that a server that looks faster and less loaded now will be faster once I move onto it.

The server move will obviously cause downtime. So the question is simple do I take the risk and move or wait till the situation gets bad/worse. i am only on the site so often so I don't really know what the performance is like around the clock. I need your opinion on this.

NOTE: ONCE I MOVE I AM NOT MOVING BACK

Vote now as I have a limited window. Thanks....

Sandeep · Post by **Sandeep** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:50 pm

If there is no gaurantee that the site gets faster after moving to the new server, I don't think it makes much sense to move it now as browsing is reasonably fast these days.

Post by **Dhruv** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 7:20 pm

Nothing in life is gauranteed.... But really one of the reasons for the faster site is that I trashed the search in the forums. Only about a week's worth of posts are searchable. Try a search and see. You won't have much luck.

That has helped the site speed. With the newer server I might be able to re-enable the entire search. Anyway keep the feedback coming.

BSharma · Post by **BSharma** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:36 pm

If the new server is not worse than the old (present) one then go for it.

Is there an option to move to another faster and better server in the future, and what does it involve (time, money, etc)?

Post by **Dhruv** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:00 pm

BSharma wrote:If the new server is not worse than the old (present) one then go for it.

Is there an option to move to another faster and better server in the future, and what does it involve (time, money, etc)?

The short answer. Yup more money. Time ofcourse is always involved but more importantly a reliable host with available space.

The detailed answer. Please read only if you have time. Webhosts of this world are of three sorts.

Budget: Really cheap hosts with great sounding plans 200GB of transfers 10 gigs of webspace and the like. They have about 300+ sites per server. These are great for Mom and Pop sites but not for serious sites with any amount of traffic and use up CPU cycles because either the servers will go down or more likely you'll be thrown off for hogging too many resources.

Premium: The Mercs of the hosting world which hold your hand and help you all the way and you pay for it. You get a tenth of the space and transfers of budget for ten times the price but the servers have <100 small sites (mom and pop) and you don't get beaten up for using CPU cycles, resources etc.

Mid-market/honest folk: Somewhere in the middle. Give you the same space and transfers as premium at 50% of the price and no hand holding but good service. Their servers have ~100-150 sites/server. I am on one of these. Currently I am on a server with about 125 small sites. As I have largish site that uses largish amount of resources, the server is sometimes slower than usual. There might be a couple of other largish sites on there as well. I had asked to be moved to server than had <10 sites (I'd pay more but we'd be rocking then), but since they had no such servers available at the time, they put me on a wait list. I now have the option of moving to a faster server with fewer sites but not the 10 I asked for at the same price as I do now. So I think, we should be faster but on the offchance that there are more bigger sites on the other server then we could have a slower server.

I like these guys cause they've given me great service when I've asked for it, matched lower prices when I asked for it as well and given me custom packages as well. Most hosts won't do that. I also know they don't oversell and although they aren't premium hosts, for people like me who don't need their hand held all the time I think they are a great option. So I'd like to stick to them. I would have moved to a bigger, less crowded server for more money if they had one available at the moment but they said they didn't (which shows they don't oversell/overload servers). Last time I moved servers was because I doubled the size of my package from them and they asked me what my needs were and suggested I move to a newer server to keep the site speed good (again an example of not overselling) Once they have a few more medium sized sites I am sure they will start a new server and then I can shift at that point in time I guess. The final option is getting a dedicated server but that IMO is not worth it at this point in time. Don't use the resources to justify one, although we'd truly be rocking with that. If we grow to 3-4 times the size we are now though I might have to explore that option.

Long winded explanation but hope that explains it all.

BSharma · Post by **BSharma** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:39 pm

Dhruv,

What are we looking at the expense side of Sports-India? I do not want you to be the sole payer of this expense. How can I or other people help you?

Post by **Dhruv** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:45 pm

Nothing much right now. Basically a few pizzas worth. If it gets to be a large amount then I'll ask.

Post by **jayakris** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:06 pm

Dhruv - so I assume you will be sticking to the same web hosts but were considering moving to a newer server there. Would you be able to find the specs of the new server and see if it would potentially be better even after our load gets on it -- if all specs are better than the current server, then pick the dominating solution and go for a move to the new one. If the specs are not clearly superior in all attributes, then you pick based on a pareto-optimal decision - or use a weighted single objective ..

In other words, you decide

.. And by all means ask us to share in the pizza purchase if needed.

Jay

Post by **Dhruv** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:03 am

jayakris wrote:Dhruv - so I assume you will be sticking to the same web hosts but were considering moving to a newer server there.

Yup. Exactly. They know my site size and load demands and I just reminded them once again so I trust they will do whatever is best for me.

puneets · Post by **puneets** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:42 am

jayakris wrote:If the specs are not clearly superior in all attributes, then you pick based on a pareto-optimal decision - or use a weighted single objective ..

Jay - Looks like you're not teaching any courses this semester.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:45 am

If new server isn't bad than current one (which u must already checked) then I m for for changing server ... And that also we should do asap ... And Dhruv please don't hesitate to ask us to share our part in ur load.

Jaydeep.

Sandeep · Post by **Sandeep** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:11 am

And Dhruv please don't hesitate to ask us to share our part in ur load.

Dhruv, looks like everyone wants a share in your Pizza. When everyone is itching to contribute whats your problem man

. I hope by tomorrow I will see a paypal icon on the front page

Post by **Dhruv** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:06 pm

Ok decision made. Will be switching after verifying server. Locking the topic. The vote is pretty one sided so far.

Post by **Dhruv** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:10 pm

It's working fine for the past couple of weeks IMO so I canned the move.

Post by **Dhruv** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:48 pm

Just saw a complaint about speed again. So should I move has anyone changed their vote. Any new votes....

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