Deciding on the correct hosting solution for your Pligg or Drigg based project is as important as what system you choose to put online. Choosing the wrong web host can destroy a new web based venture faster than you can say 404 error, you can have the best looking most feature laden website in the world but if your members can’t access it or it take a long time to load your project will suffer greatly. This article will provide you with the information needed to make the right decision first time round saving you money and headaches.
There are three major decision when setting up a new project, CMS System, Domain Name and Web Hosting, all of these are crucial to the success of your project but with so many options available what web hosting solution should you choose.
Below are the most common types of web hosting available for you to choose from.
Shared Web Hosting
A shared web hosting service refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site “sits” on its own partition, or section/place on the server to keep it separate from other sites. This is generally the most economical option for hosting as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) Web Hosting
A virtual private server (VPS, also referred to as Virtual Dedicated Server or VDS) is a method of partitioning a physical server computer into multiple servers such that each has the appearance and capabilities of running on its own dedicated machine. Each virtual server can run its own full-fledged operating system, and each server can be independently rebooted.
Dedicated Web Hosting (Managed)
A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting where the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as organizations have full control over the server(s), including choice of operating system, hardware, etc. Server administration will usually be provided by the hosting company. In some cases a dedicated server can offer less overhead and a larger return on investment. Dedicated servers are most often housed in data centers, similar to co-location facilities, providing redundant power sources and HVAC systems. In contrast to co-location, the server hardware is owned by the provider and in some cases they will provide support and carry out updates for your operating system or applications.
Dedicated Web Hosting (Unmanaged)
An unmanaged dedicated server is the same as a managed server apart from the fact you are in complete control of your server. This in turn will require you to know how to update you chosen Linux OS with security updates etc, if you don’t know Linux or anything about server setups don’t consider an unmanaged server and you will normally be charged for support if you require help from you provider at any time.
Now we know what options are available lets have a closer look.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared web hosting might seem like an attractive option initially due to large bandwidth and storage figures touted by companies offering these services nowadays, DO NOT be fooled by these too good to be true claims of 5TB bandwidth per month and 5TB storage it looks attractive and that’s the whole point. Most shared web hosts can be less than reliable whether it HTML or MYSQL servers gong down or simply another customer hogging all the servers resources, some web hosts cram as many customers as possible onto a single server and if a single customer has a resource intensive script all others on that server suffer as a result. This in turn can slow your site to a crawl or worse simply cause timeouts and make your site completely inaccessible.
I realise some readers will be on a tight budget or just want hosting to get started with, if that’s the case we would highly recommend Servage.net. Servage has been host to this site since the beginning and were one of the first hosting companies to use a cluster system of servers to spread load, support with servage is also pretty good as is there custom control panel. Although this site is starting to outgrow it current home servage.net has served us well to date and has proved to handle 2000+ unique visitors per day for clients that have used servage’s services for Pligg.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) Web Hosting
VPS Hosting could be considered as the “Man In The Middle” Solution that sits between Shared and Dedicated Hosting, your still not on a server all to yourself but your guaranteed less sites on a VPS. Most companies will host no more than 10 - 20 clients on a VPS server compared to 100’s for a low level shared server. There is no doubt that a VPS is a step up in hosting from low level shared but prices can be much the same as a full dedicated package if you research providers, this leaves a dilemma when choosing a VPS in exactly what benefits you gain over full blown dedicated hosting. Most VPS providers i have worked with in the past (Including The Popular Ones) have been expensive and disappointing overall, if i can get dedicated server for the same price as a VPS that’s the solution i would use every time.
There is no denying that VPS hosting is more reliable, solid and usually faster than all out shared web hosting but most packages in my opinion are over priced.
Dedicated Web Hosting
Dedicated Web Hosting is a server all to yourself and for a Pligg Or Drigg project this should be your hosting solution of choice, secure, fast, reliable and with dedicated servers located in the USA starting for as little as $49 per month it’s not a budget breaker either. Going Dedicated from day one of your projects launch will ensure any sudden leaps in user numbers due to media coverage will not bring down your site, coverage on mashable, killerstartups, techcrunch etc will bring a surge of users initially that shared hosting simply wont handle. Another upside of having a dedicated server is that you can host more than one site on it, if you have a few sites other than pligg or drigg you can also run these on your server to begin with.
Conclusion
For various reasons a Dedicated Server is preferable if you are going to host a Pligg or Drigg site. Pligg can be heavy on resources and a dedicated server will allow your site to flourish where others have failed with speed issues, you will still need to optimize pligg a little to get the best speed possible but the server will help greatly. DRIGG on the other hand isn’t as resource intensive as PLIGG in general but hosting on a dedicated server will still provide the best base for your site, with DRIGG being drupal based a Dedicated server can offer feature’s like adding video uploads and using FFMPEG on your server for conversions.
For users that have no experience of hosting any web site before always look at the managed server options, if in doubt get some inexpensive shared hosting to learn a little more about hosting your own website and whats involved first. If you have a little more experience i would suggest an unmanaged server you will save money and be in complete control of your projects infrastructure which is important if it starts to grow.
Below are some example’s of where existing pligg sites are hosted so you can get a better idea of whats being used out there.
Pligg Examples
- p2pvine.com - Hosted on a dedicated server located in LA, California.
- pornsifter.com - Hosted at servage.net shared clustered webhosting.
- Designfloat.com - seems to be hosted on shared hosting at answerable.com in the US datacentre.
- BloggingZoom.com - hosted at theplanet.com package unknown but doesn’t show as dedicated in a whois.
- jeqq.com - Hosted at mediatemple.net it’s worth noting designfloat.com previously slowed to a crawl at mediatemple.net.
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This post was written by:
Lincoln - who has written 182 posts on Social CMS Buzz.
Founder of Social CMS Buzz and a fan of all things open source, social and design related.
The major problem with VPS solutions is someone on the VPS may run away with the resources and force your VPS to run slower. Dedicated managed servers are always the best way to go. No fear of someone else slowing your server/resources down. Plus VPS normally don’t offer Managed support. Some companies like Server Intellect do offer VPS Manged support, but most don’t. If you have the money get a dedicated server over a VPS.