Koki
12-27-2005, 11:12 AM
I have a friend who is having a constant problem with his web pages timing out, or getting server 500 / 504 errors, web pages taking ages to load. Sometimes it is all well and loading fast, then having problems, then OK... the down, then OK...
His web sites are hosted by a small local web hosting company - discover.za.net The owner claims that he is not overselling bandwidth or space. This can be true as there is not a lot of websites hosted by him, no more than 50, I guess, and none of them are very busy.
Of those 50 websites, most of them are discussion boards.
The server seem to be rather old and out dated.
Could all this problems be that the CPU usage of all the discussion forums is too much for the server? I do think so.
A script uploaded indicated that the discussion board is using 5-7% of the CPU at times and other times less than 1%. That is for one, multiply it with 50 and there will be times that the CPU cannot bear the load.
The forum software are mostly out dated versions of Eblah.
The owner doesn't seem to care too much, or know a thing about CPU usage and is always telling things like "This is strange..." or "Could be your ISP having problems..." or "This shouldn't happen..." or "I can't see any problem..."
The more I think about it, it is over all bad server administration and not only a case of over loading the CPU.
The web hosting deals are promoted as state of the art, fast, reliable etc. The usual jumble rumble.
And the support simply suck. A response is given in a short time (sometimes). But a response without an answer, explanation or solution is worth nothing.
Sometimes a small host can provide a more satisfying experience, but other times it can also suck due to a lack of knowledge, experience and staff.
If someone from South Africa is thinking of hosting with discover.za.net , ask a lot of questions, and shop around before sending your money.
It is not to say that you must get hosting in South Africa. There are a lot of very good US, EU and UK hosts that are not very expensive and you can order online with a credit card. Even is SA itself are other hosts that are top notch.
His web sites are hosted by a small local web hosting company - discover.za.net The owner claims that he is not overselling bandwidth or space. This can be true as there is not a lot of websites hosted by him, no more than 50, I guess, and none of them are very busy.
Of those 50 websites, most of them are discussion boards.
The server seem to be rather old and out dated.
Could all this problems be that the CPU usage of all the discussion forums is too much for the server? I do think so.
A script uploaded indicated that the discussion board is using 5-7% of the CPU at times and other times less than 1%. That is for one, multiply it with 50 and there will be times that the CPU cannot bear the load.
The forum software are mostly out dated versions of Eblah.
The owner doesn't seem to care too much, or know a thing about CPU usage and is always telling things like "This is strange..." or "Could be your ISP having problems..." or "This shouldn't happen..." or "I can't see any problem..."
The more I think about it, it is over all bad server administration and not only a case of over loading the CPU.
The web hosting deals are promoted as state of the art, fast, reliable etc. The usual jumble rumble.
And the support simply suck. A response is given in a short time (sometimes). But a response without an answer, explanation or solution is worth nothing.
Sometimes a small host can provide a more satisfying experience, but other times it can also suck due to a lack of knowledge, experience and staff.
If someone from South Africa is thinking of hosting with discover.za.net , ask a lot of questions, and shop around before sending your money.
It is not to say that you must get hosting in South Africa. There are a lot of very good US, EU and UK hosts that are not very expensive and you can order online with a credit card. Even is SA itself are other hosts that are top notch.