Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Java hosting advise

[palak123i]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to host a java portal which would be used for online listing and buying. I am expecting around 100 (max) concurrent users and approx 20,000+ hits a day.

I am sure about bandwidth and space requirement. But I am confused about Heap Space Memory?

The site would have around 50 dynamic screens.

Should I go for private tomcat jvm option with around 128 MB of heap space memory? Is 128MB heap space sufficient for above type of user requirement? Or please suggest the type of configuration I can go for.

Please advise. Thanks in advance.

[doc_flabby]

I think a VPS would probably suit you more as it will allow you more flexability with the memory usage.

I would recommend you go for a XEN VPS. OpenVZ doesn't work well with java from my experience.

[GCM]

I agree, start out with a VPS. When you out grow it move over to a dedicated server. If your expecting a lot of traffic I recommend getting an unmetered bandwidth plan.

All the best,

[palak123i]

Sorry but have few queries about VPS. I have read that in VPS, RAM is shared across servers. Is it true? If yes, does it affect the performance? I could see dailyrazor.com offering good plans under private jvm. Should I go for it?

Secondly how much heap space is sufficient for requirement that I mentioned. Thanks.

[chiragvyas]

Hi,

Not sure about the heap space, however- although VPS- RAM is shared across servers- from personal experience- I believe you should go for it....

[HostJava]

The Heap usage for your JVM really depends on the underlying applicaiton you are using. Number of users accessing you application is also a factor.

What you should do is:
1. Run your application on your development environment (your home or office or on a VPS/Dedicated Server somewhere - home version is the cheapest) with Tomcat/WebLogic/OtherAppServer JVM setting at lets say 128 MB
2. Simulate your 100 virtual users using one of the open source tools available to simulate the real-life like scenario (plenty of opensource and commercial tools available like JMeter or Grinder)
3. Check how your application is performing - is 128 MB of Heap Usage on Tomcat/Geronimo/JBoss/WebLogic or whatever application server you are using sufficient?
4. Repeat 1 with a higher or lower setting.

When testing your application you should be looking at:
- memory usage
- CPU usage
- response times
- etc.

Once you are happy with the application deploy it on a shared hosting environment (using Private or Shared JVM) or VPS (if you are comfortable administering your server) or even a dedicated server.

Look for articles on performance and scalability testing using Java - plenty of those available and apply best practices for your app to ensure stability.

Good luck.

[Henrik]

Originally Posted by palak123i

Sorry but have few queries about VPS. I have read that in VPS, RAM is shared across servers. Is it true? If yes, does it affect the performance?

You should worry more about I/O than memory allocation. Depending on which virtualization technology you choose, memory allocation/sharing will be treated differently.

If you know how to administrate a server, you could have a look at a lower end dedicated to start with, as there you have more room for sudden bursts in terms of site usage.

[palak123i]

Thanks every one for the information. So I think I need to go for VPS. However I do not have much experience with VPS hosting. In that case should I go with Managed VPS hosting? Does managed hosting means that it would be managed by hosting provider?

Also should I go for windows or linux? I think Linux is a good option. Am I right? However I havenot much used Linux much. So how difficult will be for me to host a application on such server?

Also do you get good VPS server for around 20-25$/month?

Thanks again,
Palak

[Henrik]

Originally Posted by palak123i

Also do you get good VPS server for around 20-25$/month?

I doubt that, especially managed. But you might have some luck going to the hosting offers sub-forums here on WHT.

Best of luck