I'm only 13, so I really don't feel like getting into the hassle of a VPS or Dedi, but I don't think I have any other choice. I opened http://www.indocrononline.com on July 8th, and ever since then, it has been taking off. I'm currently using www.hostmonster.com, and I've been getting a "Cpa Usage Quota" error pretty often saying I've used 20% or more of their cpu. I've already switched off another host due to the mysql limitations, and I"m not sure what to do now. Should I still switch to a VPS or Dedicated server? If so, can you suggest a host that I can use without knowing all this root server shell etc. stuff? Here are the stats if they help any.
It's difficult to say without knowing the scripts that you use.
It's possible that the issue is not the high traffic but that the scripts are not efficient enough.
If you go for a VPS or dedi be sure you have someone knowledgeable within reach.
There is maintenance involved and you will have to deal with things such as backup, software upgrades that fail (broken Bind...), brute force attacks of all kinds etc. You are on your own. Saying that there are windows-like management interfaces available like Plesk so you don't have to do everything from the command line...
If you are using custom software it could be a good idea to have the code reviewed by peers with a view to analyzing and fine-tuning your scripts and DB. Poor performance can also stems from bad design.
Optimize your scripts as has been suggested above and get a cheap VPS plan from someone like a2hosting.com, they have plans from $24mo, but you'll have to manage it yourself.
I have sites with over 25k visitors a day on shared hosting with no probs. Before springing for a VPS, which imho will not solve your problems, as it is CPU related, a script audit/optimize is the way to go.
BTW, for 13 that's excellent. Keep it up and good luck.
I agree completely. Assuming your making some revenue off the site (with that kind of traffic, you would be insane not to), I would recommend going ahead and getting a managed VPS. Keep in mind that even managed VPS require basic server knowledge and is slightly more complex than just running off of a shared hosting account.
You may require script optimization services if you can't do it yourself. VPS is a good option, if it's not enough, then dedicated plan will fit you. However, there's one more option, semi-dedicated, it gives you a s much resources as VPS plan, but you don't have to manage it.
Check WHB semi-dedicated plans.
I haven't found any info about it on the web site of A2hosting.com but I have fund out that they support PHP 5.2.x, MySQL 4.1.x, MySQL 5.0.x, PostgreSQL 8.2.x, Ruby on Rails 1.2.x. Guess it's important.
Forgot about this thread, but I switched to a dedicated at the ThePlanet for $234 a month. I got it setup fine with the help of a friend, and everything is up and running now. Thanks for the help people.
