How do you know the responsiveness of a host?

**tslice** · Mar 30, 2009, 08:28

I'm looking at switching hosts. My current host (shared host, hostmonster) is fine at times, but sometimes my site loads really really really slow. This is unacceptable and I need a host that is more responsive. So how do you know what type of host will always be available and fast?

**ldcdc** · Mar 30, 2009, 08:52

what type of host will always be available and fast?

Get a dedicated server. Uptime and performance will only be affected by your own sites' success.

With shared hosting, issues can arise at any time. One customer's rogue script is all that it takes, though obviously some hosts are better at the job than other. You can't tell how the service will be just by looking at the offer/hardware/OS/etc.

At best, you can do your research on a given company on various web hosting and webmaster forums, and see what's their reputation like.

**tslice** · Mar 30, 2009, 08:57

What about VPS?

**fcolor** · Mar 30, 2009, 10:36

A VPS is a very good alternative, when you have a high traffic website/websites and dedicated hosting is expensive for you. In fact besides the cost of the dedicated server is nothing compared to management costs. But do you really need a VPS or own server?

If I have to answer your question about how do people know if any web host will be fast, I would say check their network and see whether they oversell or not. Do not go for oversellers even when they have a good network.

**dccubed** · Mar 30, 2009, 11:45

Get a cheap Dedi....most likely it will perform better than a vps just b/c it 's yours and you are not sharing resources. Reasonable specials can be found for less than $100.

**ldcdc** · Mar 30, 2009, 12:14

1. A fully managed dedicated server is likely to be considerably more expensive than a VPS. You need it to be managed (VPS or dedicated) if you're not a server admin.
2. A VPS is still essentially in a shared environment. Significantly better isolated, but still shared. Input/output load is especially prone to causing issues for everyone sharing the same hardware. VPS services can also be oversold beyond to levels where performance is affected.

Research on the specific provider remains very important.

**shaki22** · Mar 30, 2009, 12:32

Originally Posted by tslice

I'm looking at switching hosts. My current host (shared host, hostmonster) is fine at times, but sometimes my site loads really really really slow. This is unacceptable and I need a host that is more responsive. So how do you know what type of host will always be available and fast?

try use cache. this helps sites with lots of queries, and might speed up the site a little bit.

vps hosting might be an alternative, meaning less users sharing the same bandwidth, greater bandwidth per user, faster speed.

**jamesmiller** · Mar 31, 2009, 12:24

Vps or Dedicated but definitely managed. The truth is you have to decide how important it is to keep your site running. What is it costing you each month when the site is down VS what you would pay to know it is up? Also with the managed services make sure it a true managed and not just updates and scans. I have a few sites plus some client sites hosted on a Server Intellect dedicated server which is managed and I know my speeds on the server. With a shared hosting your pretty much at the mercy of how many sites the host put on the server and how much processing power the server is using. Pretty much a crap shoot if you ask me with shared hosting.

**~ServerPoint~** · Apr 1, 2009, 01:40

and fast?

Fast by what? By the connection speed by doing operations on the server.
Moreove connection spped depends on the network service provider

**tslice** · Apr 1, 2009, 09:07

Originally Posted by ~ServerPoint~

Fast by what?

I don't have a clue why it's slow. At certain times I can load nearly any major website ( nytimes google facebook ) and they load lightning FAST, but I try to load my site and sometimes it loads really-really slow.

**webhost.uk.net** · Apr 1, 2009, 10:08

Mainly the problem is caused as you are on shared server so at peak hours the server resource are used to maximum by most of the sites on the server.

I will personally suggest you to go for VPS or dedicated server if the problem is really serious for you.

**shaki22** · Apr 1, 2009, 15:06

Originally Posted by tslice

I don't have a clue why it's slow. At certain times I can load nearly any major website ( nytimes google facebook ) and they load lightning FAST, but I try to load my site and sometimes it loads really-really slow.

it also depends on server location, backbone provider, network traffic, what is your site url?

**tslice** · Apr 1, 2009, 16:06

artesianews dot freshgreenmedia dot com

**Doug - DASP** · Apr 1, 2009, 18:41

tslice,

There are a variety of reasons why your web site could be running slow, some that may have nothing to do with the web host. For example, poor coding could make a site run slow. Secondly, if you are using a third party application, this could make a site run slow. Also, there could be a network problem between your computer and your hosting server. The best thing to do is to run a traceroute. A traceroute is useful in determining whether there is a network problem between your computer and their server.

I would recommend running a traceroute and send the results to your hosting servers tech support staff so they can help diagnose your issue.

**ldcdc** · Apr 1, 2009, 18:55

The site's main page took 30 seconds to load here. That 83KB "revolution" picture took a very unexpected 7 seconds though. Is it a static, regular image file?

**tslice** · Apr 1, 2009, 22:48

Originally Posted by ldcdc

The site's main page took 30 seconds to load here. That 83KB "revolution" picture took a very unexpected 7 seconds though. Is it a static, regular image file?

That is exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes it takes really long to load, sometimes it doesn't. ( I've never seen 30 seconds, the longest load I've seen is 17 while the shortest was 1.7 ).

The image is a regular ol' jpg stored in a folder on the server.

I'm so confused now. Is my problem my code? Is it my server? Is it my connection?

**ldcdc** · Apr 2, 2009, 06:18

I tried it again. 32 seconds in all. One of the .js files having 100KB+ (http://www.artesianews.freshgreenmed...ype.js?ver=1.6) took 9.6 seconds to load. Something is weird there. Maybe bandwidth throttling? Out of curiosity, what is the server load?

**tslice** · Apr 2, 2009, 08:44

Wow, I can't believe it is loading that slow for you, I've never seen it load that slow on my end. I just did a webwait run with an average of 3.1secs ( but it is running fast right now ).

March Server Load:
Average:
92.58 visits
778.68 pages
5965.52 hits
49.86 MB bandwidth

Total:
2870 visits
24139 pages
184931 hits
1.51 GB bandwidth

**tslice** · Apr 2, 2009, 08:46

I don't know if this helps, but my site is hosted by hostmonster. I've read mixed reviews about them. Some people are very happy with their service ( mostly customer support ) while others complain like me that their sites load really slow.

**g1siberia** · Apr 2, 2009, 09:11

i think this is something all webmasters generally just have to live with. Even Amazon has deadly slow loading times occassionally.

**ldcdc** · Apr 2, 2009, 09:12

March Server Load:

I was more interested in the server's load taken from the control panel.

I've never seen it load that slow on my end.

Well, I'm 10000+ kms away from the server. That will have a say in this.

**tslice** · Apr 2, 2009, 09:19

Wow, I guess its a good thing most of my visitors are from the US.

I guess I don't know how to look up the server load from the control panel. I'm using cpanel.

**ldcdc** · Apr 2, 2009, 12:15

Once you login, on the left column there should be a "server status" link or something of the sort.

**tslice** · Apr 2, 2009, 13:38

The only thing I've been able to find like that is:

serverstatus dot hostmonster dot com

with domain:

freshgreenmedia dot com

It's very 'descriptive'

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