Hello:

I am coming over from the dark side and plan on leasing a dedicated Linux server to replace the 2 box IIS/MSSQL Server set-up we currently use. Here is the traffic I expect out of the shoot:

*2 medium traffic websites - 50,000+ page views per day - all dynamically generated with heavy MySQL/PHP calls

* 8 very small websites - less than 2,000 page views each, also dynm. generated with MySQL/PHP

Will I have any problems running this on this box:

P4 1600MHz
1GB DDR Ram
60GB IDE

Or would I be MUCH better off with a dual CPU machine right out of the shoot? If a single CPU machine is sufficient, how many more 50,000+ page view sites as described above could this box handle?

Thanks for any info.

Tim

p.s. I know this is a somewhat difficult question to answer, but hopefull the specs I outlined can help with a general idea of what performance I could expect.

Most of the time, you will find that it's cheaper to get two single-processor servers, than a single multi-processor beast. I would recommend getting two servers and spreading your sites out over them, rather than investing in a multi-processor server. It's cost effective, and decreases the chances of a single server failure taking out ALL of your clients' sites.

I have heard and you can check previous posts, that dual is good for many mysql queries. I used dual before but never used mysql with it. What about your current windows setup, how do they handle the load?

But this isn't very much for a P4. You should not have problem.

It is something arround 120,000 Pages or something arround Max 10G/day. I think it will be able to do it.

Mac

Our Windows machines hum along just fine, with one box for SQL and one with IIS.

I was under the impression that SQL2000 was much more of a hog than MySQL and that it is much more common to run MySQL on the same machine as the webserver. (You almost NEVER hear of this on MSSQL.)

Also - I too have read that MySQL will perform better with a dual CPU on "high traffic" sites but not many posts state what a high traffic site is. So I guess I'm still wondering, given my expected traffic listed above:

1. Do I need two machines to do this well?

2. Or can I get by with a dual CPU on one box?

3. Or, will a single P4 as outlined above do the job?

I would expect the single box to handle that fine. We have hosted similar on less powerful machines with no problems.

It really depends on what you mean by "heavy".

You'll want to tune the OS, the webserver, and MySQL for optimum performance.

It really depends on what you mean by "heavy".

By "heavy" I mean roughly 6 MySQL queries per page, and in one case, 2 extra write queries used to track ad impressions.

This would be on 2 sites generating 50,000 page views each per day and on 8 smaller sites generating less than 2,000 page views each per day. So all told, about 116,000 page views a day TOTAL with up to 6 basic MySQL queries per page and roughly 50,000 of those would also include 2 write queries.

I don't want to get caught with my pants down on a single box with one processor if it can't do the job, but would prefer to save the money if it CAN do the job. Thanks.

p.s. Kevin: I'm sure your offer is just fine, but I posted in the technical forum because I am looking for informed technical advice about my expected traffic levels and the type of environment I need to make it work. (EDIT - I see that somebody deleted Kevin's hosting offer...)

I used to host a dedicated freebsd server that hosted 3,000 small free adult sites; which took in 600,000 daily page impressions (300,000 uniques) with a single processor 500mhz box/ 512mb box. The system never went over 1.0 load, but it did use quite a bit of ram.... Your system should handle the site well. If you want to upgrade anything, upgrade the ram, and get an extra 60 gig hd for backup/raid 1.... Dual processor boxes are excellent, but in your situation you can manage without them.

If you're concerned, get a dual processor capable mobo with just the first one installed. :)

Patrick's advice is good too. Only you know how overworked your two windows boxes were. You might want two linux boxes.

I still think you'd be okay with the single processor, though. Right now, your bottleneck may be the I/O for the single IDE hard disk drive.

The thing is, my W2K boxes were not overworked at all. I am only moving platforms because I am tired of paying the MS licensing fees and upgrades and having to jump when they say jump.

For somebody new to the Linux world it is difficult getting a handle on ideal server set-ups. In W2K it is OBVIOUS that performance will suffer quickly if MS SQL is on the same machine.

But in Linux/Apache, every tutorial I've seen and most hosting set-ups just ASSUME that the MySQL installation is on the same box. I have searched all over the Web and Usenet looking for benchmarks or some other authorative info on MySQL - Apache - PHP performance but most info I find is quite vague or otherwise lacking in detail.

I appreciate all of the advice but I still don't have a *gut* feeling on what I need. To be safe, I'm starting to think I should just go with 2 servers using 1 as a dedicated MySQL box but I was hoping to avoid paying for two machines again right out of the shoot.

p.s. Although Patrick's post makes it sound like I should get two machine and run MySQL/Apache on BOTH boxes, as opposed to having a dedicated MySQL box. Is this a better solution for some reason?

I can't think of a situation where one MySQL server is faster than two. :)

The reason people would set up a dedicated MySQL server is if you're doing shared hosting, and some people's MySQL queries are slowing everyone down. You offload the MySQL, and now the servers resources aren't being hogged by the MySQL users. Although your MySQL server might be bogged down, it won't affect the users not using MySQL.

If your two Windows boxes weren't overloaded at all, then I think you'll be fine with one machine with one processor. Just make sure you tune everything for optimum performance. Although I suspect if you don't, it'll still be faster than the Windows boxes.