DSVR - Bandwidth

[Rich]

I don't know if many people here host with DSVR (Designer Servers), but thought I'd just post this in case there are any.

On the 19th March they installed an update to all servers to address a number of issues, one side effect of this is that they now log inbound bandwidth more accuately. If you run anything that pulls external data; like amazon webservices, AWIN shopping script or frequent product file downloads you may want to check your bandwidth graphs to make sure you're not going to exceed you quota.

My server shows as having more inbound traffic than outbound! :eek:

Other than this issue, which I guess isn't really thier fault (as long as the stats are right), I've had no problem with DSVR, so need to decide whether to get an extra virtual server from them, or if its time to either change hosts or split the sites between hosts.

I could upgrade the server, but its currently 300Mb/10Gb/£300, and the next version up is 750Mb/15Gb/£700.

How much effort is a rackshack type server to look after? I'm happy editing httpd.conf etc, but don't know much about recompiling php etc.

[Aquanuke]

How much effort is a rackshack type server to look after

Cpanel is a godsend for server admin as it updates 99% of things itself. If you have ever run an Ensim box then you no doubt have bags under your eyes.

If you go with RS just make sure you take a cpanel box. Even a plain box is better then Ensim.

[Rich]

Thanks for that, answered my next question even before I asked it.

I know moving from dsvr to rackshack would be a big step, but there are times when I've wanted to do things with large databases that just haven't been feasable on a virtual server.

I'll have to have a read back though the forum and see what other hosts have had good reviews.

[Jeff]

As Aqua said, Cpanel saves loads of time on server admin, it's worth paying the extra.

And if you go with Rackshack you can get Fantastico for no extra cost, which can automatically install loads of different scripts for your sites.


The biggest problem with a dedicated server is securing it, you need to install a firewall before doing anything else. But once you've done that Cpanel can install the latest releases of most of the server software without you even having to know about it.

[Rich]

Thanks Jeff & Aquanuke

I'm still looking at changing hosts, looking at rackshack & asuk, as if they're good enuf for Aquanuke they should cope with little old me, but have brought myself some time by finding the main culprit of my bandwidth usage.

In case it helps anyone else, here's the issue: -

I was using PHP/NuSOAP to access Amazon webservices and a typical ASIN search response was looking like about 5k. This just didn't add up with the bandwidth I was using. I ended up working thru NuSOAP to work out if it was making repeated requests, when I realised that it will be requesting the wsdl file before each request. I checked that and its 65Kb. So each request was 14 times the size I was expecting!

I checked and the wsdl file hadn't been changed since last November, so I just saved a local copy of it and directed NuSOAP towards that.

So simple once you find it! Still at least a week of digging thru the site has made it quicker, more stable and more efficient - there are even 'some' comments in the code now