Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Switching from HostGator.

[Maker177]

Today (8:00 AM) I logged in to my Forum's Admin CP and noticed the server load was 30+.

I used HostGator's live support to ask why it was so unusually high and this was the response I got:

Please wait for a HostGator operator to respond.

Chat InformationWelcome to HostGator Live Chat! You are now chatting with 'James Z.'

James Z.: Welcome to HostGator, how may I assist you?

Andrew: Hello, the server load my website is hosted on is 30+.

James Z.: ok

Andrew: Server load: 35.28

Andrew: Not acceptable.

James Z.: What is the primary domain name on the account please?

Andrew: *

James Z.: You are on a shared server.

James Z.: It has lots of traffic.

Andrew: But this server load is not normal.

James Z.: To change that you would have to upgrade to a dedicated server.

Andrew: OK bye!

James Z.: Ok, take care and have a great day!

James Z.: Thank you for using HostGator Live Chat. Your opinion is very important to us. When closing the chat, please take a minute to fill out the brief survey that pops up so that we may continue to improve our customer service and support.

Absolutely pathetic. My website has slowed to a crawl.

Anyone know any hosts that actually care about their server loads on their shared servers?

[weycrest]

Server load is unacceptably high and I bet they are getting a load of complaints about it. I doubt it would be that severe all the time though (or shouldn't be) and hopefully they will take action. See how things are in an hours or so's time.

[Maker177]

Originally Posted by weycrest

Server load is unacceptably high and I bet they are getting a load of complaints about it. I doubt it would be that severe all the time though (or shouldn't be) and hopefully they will take action. See how things are in an hours or so's time.

According to this representative, they don't give a damn about their shared server's load. So I'd imagine I will continue having these problems in the future.

[brookie]

Where are you going to move to?

[nethelp]

Where do you plan to "relocate" your website now?

[Maker177]

I'm not sure yet. I may need some help with that. I was taking a look at LiquidWeb.

[utropicmedia-karl]

We had a server load of around 30 for a few hours earlier in the week due to a site getting more traffic then usual. All sites on this server were still getting sub 5-second page response, even on the sql-backed sites.

It's all about how the box is setup. To the OP, be sure to judge on the performance, not the load number, as that number is dependent upon hundreds of variables and how the box is configured. You can't compare load between unix servers and think you're getting apples-to-apples.



Kind Regards,

[brookie]

Originally Posted by Maker177

Absolutely pathetic. My website has slowed to a crawl.

Anyone know any hosts that actually care about their server loads on their shared servers?

Did you use the Hostgator feedback mechanism or post a ticket?

[Soskel34]

I don't think you understand how load averages work.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_(computing)

[MikeWalczak]

I'm amazed how much the HostGator rep didn't seem to give a damn. . Thats the one downside I see to going with large hosts, many times your voice isn't heard unless your a high paying user.

[Corster]

Did you try sending a ticket and having it assigned to Brent? Maybe he can help.

[dave-dave]

You know, tickets resolve the issue. Live Chat is just Level 1 support for those people with questions like: "I didn't get my welcome email", "what are my name servers", and "how do I setup so and so".

That's why I always use tickets
abuse could help. I had that issue once, it was resolved in an hour.

You really should give them a second chance, if you don't give a host a second chance, you'll be moving hosts A LOT. I could see moving hosts for downtime, but give them a chance to fix the issue with a higher level support person.

[BrentOfHG]

Hello,

What is your ticket number with us? Chat is our lowest level of support and where all new employees are put. Every one of our employees including chat would be admins, but unfortunately America doesn't have enough qualified system admins to make this happen.


This chat is beyond pathetic but to assume the entire company as a whole doesn't care due to the stupidity of on employee isn't fair. I do not recognize this employees name so chances are he's new, and if this type of performance continues he will quickly be dropped.

I myself spends hours every day investigating server loads. It's usually spammers, out of control scripts, etc. If we didn't care this would be a common problem for you not a once in a while issue.

[mike_3d]

If you care about your server load stay away from the big oversellers like DreamHost, Hostgater or Site5.
I recommend WebFaction: they don't oversell so their server loads tend to be quite low.

[dave-dave]

Originally Posted by mike_3d

If you care about your server load stay away from the big oversellers like DreamHost, Hostgater or Site5.
I recommend WebFaction: they don't oversell so their server loads tend to be quite low.

Dreamhost and hostgator both have records of being able to actually offer what they provide. I've hosted over 50GB of diskspace on dreamhost and 30GB on hostgator - no problems. Site5 on the other hand, I hosted with them, but my server was down every couple days.

And it looks like webfaction is quite the overseller. Their lowest plan is 600GB bandwidth, yes I know that its less than hostgator, but don't be bashing overselling if you're going to recommend it.