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Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist

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Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist
This is a slightly different question, or thread. No one's really asked this, or collected information on it. And, reading through the forum much of this information is not posted.

As a Links SQL webmaster, what features do you find you need to run a site?

How much hardware are you using? (what's your configuration, and how is it working?)
How much bandwidth are you using (in relation to hits/# links/traffic)
What do you need on the server besides perl/apache/mysql/dbi
What do you need in the way of email to your domain
What do you need in the way of

If you were going to move to a new ISP, what would that ISP have to offer to host your site?

I'm not asking _COST_ of the features, just the features. If we were going to design the "basic" package, and an "upgrade" package for people to shop around, and have as a checklist when comparing ISP's, what would be on that list?

Please... let's not discuss it here... it will make this thread too confusing. Just offer your ideas and what you are doing/using/wanting :)



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Re: Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist In reply to
Well, with those questions alot of variables come into play.

We are currently running Links SQL on the following configuration.

Quad Pentium III 600Mhz
1 Gig ECC SDRAM
2 x 9gig Cheetah LVD drives mirrored for system / os / apache files etc.
128mb RAID 0 Controller.
Dual Fast Ethernet Adapters into a Cisco Cat5509 (inet pipe)
Dual Fast Ethernet Adapters into a Cisco 2924 (private network for DB server)

The DB Server is running on identical machine except the DB files (mysql) (we are waiting for the oracle port) are located on a NetApp 760 with Dual Fast Eternet Connections in to the Cat2929.

As far as bandwidth etc, well currently we are pulling about 8mb/sec sustained, but we are expecting to be at 22mb / sec sustained in the next 2 months and over 50mb/sec in 6 months.

With this kind of volume we are server logging turned off, if we kept logs the poor machine would melt. Therefore as per hits etc.. dunno don't care... I just care out the companies bottom line, if it goes up, obivously traffic is up.

Email etc, well that is all handled in another setup, we are currently looking to implement a caching solutions to take some of the hits off the html / image server, just make it there for serving the cgi.


Anyways enough of my config, as for services etc, when I started out, I wanted to see an ISP that would allow a daily build without killing the process, also the verifing of the links is important.. so mainly the ability to run extended cgi processes, maybe in low peak times.

As for email... /usr/sbin/sendmail should be cool for most people, I personally use the smtp... too much load if it's done locally.

apache/modperl/dbi/mysql all that should be fine.


and yes this is and adult based SE :)

-
Eric Geiler
President
Internet Entertainment Corporation







-
Eric Geiler
Links SQL User
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Re: Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist In reply to
This is sort of short notice, but I'll check on it again about lunch time Eastern time, but are there any other concerns, suggestions, wishes for hosting options?

I'm meeting with my ISP on Tuesday (in about 14 hours) to work out some hosting plans that would meet the needs of Links SQL users based on the needs of the Links SQL program and the problems expressed here over the past 8 months.

I need to again stress my goal is performance and reliability, not price. But, the more people interested (ie: who sign up to host) the pricing gets better, as do the features. I'll have more information tomorrow evening, but the main point of this meeting is to work out plans and strategies to meet the needs that I have had (and have seen expressed here) not to negotiate pricing.

As a guess the major price breaks start with 4-5 dedicated servers, and/or with 12-15 shared server options. What those breaks are, I don't know yet. But, CPU, bandwidth and uptime as well as e-commerce options are the prime concerns.

As I've expressed, CPU is limited by hardware, bandwidth is fairly unlimited at this time, and uptime has been well over 99% for the past year (my personal experience, not promises). I had a total of between 9 and 13 hours of inaccessibility for all reasons during the past year. Can't beat that! The more people interested, the better the hardware per-user, so the more CPU per user that would be available at any price. Makes sense :)

Anyway, tomorrow is the day. Anyone interested voice it here, or via e-mail. Thanks!



http://www.postcards.com
FAQ: http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/

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Re: Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist In reply to
How did the meeting go Pugdog??

Regards

Mark Priest
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Re: Links SQL Hosting - Webmaster Wishlist In reply to
I didn't want to litter the forum, but it went well. We are working out specific hosting plans -- shared, low-end dedicated, mid-size dedicated, and high-end dedicated options. All with power to spare. Also, we'll be getting the on-line brochures so you can see all the stuff about the ISP and their facilities.

I was actually surprised by what they had, they had more partnerships, authorized reseller status, and much more facility space than they had 5 months ago when I was last there for a strategy meeting.

I don't see them very often, since I never have problems with the hosting, so I don't keep up with all their expansions. But, if I can get the interest here for these hosting plans, for people interested in solid server and internet connections, our equipment will be moved to the new data center (that I mentioned in another message) and we'll have our own rack, switches, pipe, etc. No sharing with surfers or other traffic bottlenecks.

I tried to bring all the concerns people had with me.

First, we are limiting the hardware to Sun/Solaris platforms. Why? You get more performance per unit of hardware with Sun/Sparc than with Intel for web serving especially. Solaris has some features in it that make clustering and load balancing on a subnet easier and managable. I've been running on this platform for over a year now, and I wouldn't switch! Also, they are primarily a Sun shop, so they have spare parts and extra equipment that helps limit downtime even further. (Yes, Solaris has some quirks, but they are easy to live with. If you absolutely must have Intel or another flavor of Unix, it can probably be accomodated. NT is purely at your own risk -- and all you get is an ethernet cable to the port <G>. You are on your own with that!)

They are also working on ecommerce solutions -- both a plugNplay version for small catalogs, and a transaction gateway option for larger ones. They are working on the hosting plans, and growth paths. As well as automatic configurations for new sites and servers that include MySQL, Perl, the necessary modules, QMail and Links SQL installed (proof of license required).

I should have all the details posted on the FAQ site in a couple of weeks.

The main advantage is that the hosting plans will be specfic for Links SQL based sites, and will be part of a cluster that is tuned for these kinds of sites. Performance across the network can then be tuned and balanced more easily.

The network people are looking into the issue of whether the Sun/Sparc's will run better with local copies of MySQL, or whether a large back-end database server serving a front-end cloud/cluster of webservers will do better. This will all be posted once finalized.

Thanks for the interest!

Anyone else interested, can post or send email. If you have specific concerns, now is the time so they can be considered. I think I got all the major points of what is needed for running a site, but everyone does different things.

I need to reiterate that we are not going to be competing on price -- but on service and reliability. Once the hardware packages are defined, we'll work on support packages that include site setup and installation, maintennance, and on-going support for Links SQL. That way you can get priority problem solving, software upgrades, custom programming, and other services.

While the hosting or co-location services are unlimited, and there is room for any number of physical sites, the Links SQL support options will have to be limited (at least at first) to only a few sites. All sites get setup and installation, but I know I can only handle a limited number of service contracts, and there just aren't a lot of people with deep knowledge of this program around yet.

Anyway, more details when they become available.


http://www.postcards.com
FAQ: http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/