Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Need a webhost that can handle 40,000+ hits a day

[Georgio]

Hello friends, we are currently on powweb. Our site just got linked from a major website and powweb pre-emptively took us down because we had 350,000 "requests" in a few hours (most of which are <1KB thumbnails) and their computer projected that we would exceed 750,000 "requests" which is their alleged daily limit, so they took us down at the halfway point(In reality they have an hourly limit of 32,500 "requests"). Their supposed bandwidth limit is claimed to be 13GB a day, 400GB a month, they say both in their advertising(even their email to me says we've exceeded their "generous 13GB" daily traffic limit, even thought I know we probably haven't gone over 2GB), and we are shut down. This "request" limit was not in place when we originally signed up and is something that they added about a year ago. Needless to say we've been cheated out of large amounts of money and hits in the process. Today is one of the best days of traffic we've ever gotten, and they shut us down at 8:00 AM and now they're using all our traffic to advertise their scam hosting, they are actually advertising 13GB/Day! on our site which they shut down at ~2GB today, of course we get nothing for that.

Im wondering who or what would you recommend for a site which recieves about 1,000 - 5,000 hits on average each day, but recieves upwards of ~40,000 hits in one day about once a month? Should we get a dedicated server? And if so do you know from personal experience who is the best for the money? Or does anyone know of any shared hosting that is not a scam? Like, they actually allow you to use the bandwidth that they have advertised? We do not host video or audio, we use very little bandwidth a day, we could be getting 100k+ hits a day and not exceed ~6-7GB of traffic, we don't really even need more than 1GB storage either. Basically we need a company that actually delivers what they advertise...

[Ivanov]

wow.. you guys should get a VPS....

[PixelManual]

It's not a scam... read the TOS better. All hosts shut down shared customers if they use too much of a dedicated server. just because your site got popular, doesn't mean it should affect the 10's or 100's of others on the server.

You need to move to a VPS if you have that many hits and they are shutting you down for excessive CPU cycles and the like

[Interdit]

I would take a small dedicated to be free to do what you want and be able to grow.

Good luck

[ldcdc]

This "request" limit was not in place when we originally signed up and is something that they added about a year ago.

I bet the origial TOS stated they can change the TOS at any point in time. It's standard practice.

Basically we need a company that actually delivers what they advertise...

It looks to me like you have a site that causes (or at least has the potential to cause) high loads, simply due to the high number of "requests".

Look at it this way: if I ask you to throw a rock of 5 kilos 20 centimeters, you'd probably be able to do it in a reasonable amount of time. If I ask you to throw 5 kilos of sand 20 centimeters away, grain by grain, you'd need a whole lot more time.

In a way, this is what happens with your site. It requires a lot of processing time from the server, and asking for a lot of fine sand grains. It's not a tough task to open a small file, but when you have to open tens or hundreds of them per second, things get tough.

but recieves upwards of ~40,000 hits in one day about once a month?

Hits or visits? They're different things.

I think I would try my luck with a VPS if I were you.

[2Grumpy]

If one site takes down a server with 100 other sites on it, do you suspend the 1 site? or let all the sites suffer? Yes it sucks bad for that one site but it's 1, the rest are many.

Now if you're on a plan that should allow for a lot of traffic (100 gigs a month/etc) then you should expect to be allowed to use it.

[tamaraw]

Hi Georgio,

Based on your requirements (1,000 - 5,000 hits on average each day, but receives upwards of ~40,000 hits in one day about once a month), I'd also recommend a VPS. With 350,000 "requests" in a few hours, however, I'd go with the dedicated server, if it fits your budget.

Congrats. on your success!

[jeffleeismyhero]

I also suggest a dedicated server. It seems that you are growing beyond the capacity of shared hosting (including VPS). If you rent a dedicated server (managed or unmanaged) you will be limited only by what you can afford to purchase/rent.

Check out layeredtech.com for unmanaged servers. You can get a decent server for under 100$/month. Check the forums for some new specials they are running.

[Nadabrahma]

Hmm, looks like you do need a VPS or something like that. And from your math it does look like your host did shut you down *before* you actually hit your alleged limit.
Not good, but note that you could run into similar problems with any simple shared account, with most any host.

[Nahlstedt]

Co-location ftw!

[The Stealthy One]

Georgio, it's been suggested many times, but I'll say it again, and add a little reasoning behind the advice: you need a dedicated server.

See, even if you are not using too much bandwidth, a load is still placed on the server's CPU each time it must deliver a copy of your Website (or part of your Website). Because you are on a shared server, where hundreds of other Websites are also hosted, PowWeb cannot run the risk of your site using an inproportionate amount of system resources. Hence, the reason why they made an action to disable your account.

I know it can be irritating, and dedicated servers are certainly not cheap, but if you wish to avoid this same thing in the future, that is really your only option.

[HivelocityGM]

If you are getting 40K hits each day you need dedicated or VPS. If money is a problem you need to figure out a way to turn that traffic into some revenue.

[sc0rpi0n]

Isn't there a way that webhost can just put the limit on one user? Like limiting concurrent connections or requests per hour to web server? That way they wouldn't need to suspend client's account because of site growth. The user would just decide to stay with the limit, or leave when they need to.

[2Grumpy]

You can do a lot with mod_throttle and other tricks sure. But when they reach the limit it's the same as suspending them, the service quits working, either way you end up with a non functioning site after a certain point.