Forum Moderators: phranque
I am looking for a host for a, soon to be live, osCommerce store.
I am sure I have found one that is everything I need, full OSC support, unlimited everything, lots of bells and whistles, for a not too unreasonable cost. However, in the T&C of this host, it states I would have a server usage limit of 5%.
My question to you people in the know, is 5% a reasonable amount?
I did ask the host and they said that unless I was using very complex or recursive scripts; or had millions of daily visitors (which would be nice), that I would be ok.
One other question. All things being logical, 5% would indicate around 20 sites on a shared server. Would that be about right?
Thanks,
Peter.
CPU spikes happen from scripts, database reads, etc. You probably couldn't be using a database with only a 5% limit.
I'd perhaps check on other hosts and see what they say.
To me, that seems unreasonable, but I've never checked into it myself.
I will ask around to see what others set a limit at. When I get some answers, I'll post them here.
If you dig deep enough, most shared hosts have a similar clause, although more commonly I've seen 10%. Even if they don't state it specifically, it's true for any shared host. They have a lot more than 20 sites hosted per computer (probably a few times that, I don't know specifically), but 99% of websites get about zero hits so they use very few resources.
Assuming that your database is on a separate server, I think you don't have to worry about using 5% for a relatively new commerce site.
I have just spent the last couple of hours reading the T&C of various hosting companies. You are right, just about all of them have this type of clause, although none put a hard figure on it. Infact the host I was going to use, is the only one that has. Honesty?
I have mailed 5 or 6 asking the same question, I shall see what responce I get.
peco, a merchant friend of mine had his site disabled by the tech people at his hosting company because it hit 15% of CPU usage - that was the threshhold where sites are automatically suspended per that host's TOS. To have left it up would have caused 200 sites to be slowed down.
It was never determined what caused it, unless somehow his heavy affiliate traffic ran it up, but his only choice, without knowing the exact cause, was to move to a dedicated or managed server arrangement.
Tt might make a difference how many sites are running on the same box at the same time. Some hosts squeeze 400-800 sites in (yep, I've seen it around 800), this one is apparently 200 as the limit.
There's a big difference between 5% and 15%, 5% does seem kind of low, so you might want to check around and price different options.
I am amazed that 800 sites would run from a single server, but that would explain something I always wondered; How do they make it pay?
What zomega42 said about 99% of websites get about zero hits so they use very few resources, is very likely the truth. Although to relate that to 5% server usage, 5% of 100% is always 5%, no matter if there is 1 site or a 1001. It is blind faith to believe the host, if they say you are monopolising resources. But what can you do?
I received 5 replys, from the emails I sent to various hosts.
One said the 5% figure was the same as theirs.
Another considered high resource usage as, "continual abuse by a customer using 50+% of CPU time a lot."
Two wouldn't put a figure on it, instead saying it was an "if deemed" situation. Which could be giving them carte blanche to make that judgement, whenever they want.
The last host I emailed, missed the point completely and wrote a lengthy email, on the subject of data transfer.
A couple of the hosts, one 5% usage and the other undisclosed, install and support osCommerce, which is important to me. Both say OSC isn't a drain on resources and server usage won't be an issue.
The one that gives a 50+% figure; for an equivelent service to my original choice, the cost of the package would be double.
I will continue to look, but I haven't found anything close to my original choice, yet. Although whether I need all that is being offered, is another matter for consideration.
