Getting a site a great deal of traffic is no simple matter, likewise, neither is finding a hosting company for a site that is well promoted. When youâ ™ve spent the time to drive traffic to a website, the last thing you want is for that website to go down. As the old saying goes, time is money, and the right web host can make a big difference when it comes to your site. It is the intention of this article to provide information regarding what sort of options a good web hosting company will provide to a high traffic site.
First, a few definitions:
Availability: The status of your siteâ ™s network. Is it up and running, or has there been a failure and it is down? Meaning, can your network handle a failed device?
RimuHosting - Linux/Xen VPS Hosting | Tomcat JSP Hosting | JBoss J2EE ::
RimuHosting VPS and Dedicated Server Hosting Options. Select a VPS hosting plan. 23 May, 2007: High Data Transfer Options at The Dallas Data Center
http://rimuhosting.com/HOME |
Performance: The speed at which an application will respond to a user request. Meaning, can your network handle a lot of traffic?
There are four main technologies that can be used to improve availability and performance:
- Load Balancers hardware price range ($3,000 - $30,000)
- Web Accelerators hardware price range ($10,000 - $60,000)
- SSL Accelerators hardware price range ($1,000 - $50,000)
How to Create an E-Commerce Web Site [Adobe PDF]III. Step Three: Set Up Your Web Server—or Select an ISP to Host Your Site_ 5 on a server, and also offers Web server software, access to its high-speed Internet more hits from: http://www.hooverwebdesign.com/how_to_create_ecommerce_website.pdf ::
III. Step Three: Set Up Your Web Server—or Select an ISP to Host Your Site_ 5 on a server, and also offers Web server software, access to its high-speed Internet
http://www.hooverwebdesign.com/how_to_create_ecommerce_website.pdfHOME |
How to Start and Run an Internet Business: Everything you Need to Know [Adobe PDF]Feeding your golden retriever a diet high in. the recommended doses of vitamins and minerals can will have to select your web host. This is the company that will more hits from: http://www.thewebtrafficco.com/books/startmyinternetbusiness.pdf ::
Feeding your golden retriever a diet high in. the recommended doses of vitamins and minerals can will have to select your web host. This is the company that will
http://www.thewebtrafficco.com/books/startmyinternetbusiness.pdfHOME |
- Traffic Compressors hardware price range ($9,000 - $50,000)
Royal Pingdom::
uptime monitoring web Web 2.0 web hosting webmaster website yahoo about the architecture of high-traffic websites to serve as examples to others.
http://royal.pingdom.com/index.php?tag=websitesHOME |
As you can see, these technologies can be quite expensive, which can translate into high maintenance costs from your web host. And much like strapping a jet engine onto the back of my Ford Fusion probably isnâ ™t a good idea; neither is buying a $60,000 web accelerator for your simple brochure site. So, in order to choose between what is necessary and what is overkill, here is what youâ ™ll need to know:
Load Balancers
Load balancing for a web application is a great tool for both availability and performance. A Load Balancer stands in front of the web servers, creating a virtual address to which the client connects. It then distributes traffic evenly over the web servers to reduce the load on any single server. If one of the web servers is not available, the Load Balancer will detect the failure and reroute the traffic to all of the remaining available servers. It also provides a layer of security by hiding the real IP addresses of the application servers.
Who Needs it:
- High bandwidth utilization sites.
- Sites with constant traffic where availability is key
- Example: A high traffic Adwords site (thousands of unique visits daily; ads need to be available at all times)
Load Balancers on a Budget
If you must have a load balancer but canâ ™t really afford the separate appliance option, there is software available that will do the trick for a fraction of the price. This solution is not as efficient or robust as the hardware solution, but still affords the benefit of availability and is better than not employing a load balancer at all.
Web Accelerators
Web Accelerators use technologies such as caching and compression to deliver data to a large user community faster. It mitigates pressure on your system by storing data that otherwise will be transmitted repeatedly and delivering it straight from the cache.
Who needs it:
- Heavy-traffic, database driven sites that deliver web applications
- Sites with a global audience
- Example: Epson.com (database driven, over 1 million vistors/day from around the world)
SSL Accelerators
SSL Accelerators, also like Load Balancers, stand in front of application servers. They handle the encryption and decryption of a secured communication and eliminate the need for multiple SSL (Secured Socket Layer) certificates, reducing the load on your web servers as well as the administrative costs of SSL certificates. An SSL Accelerator can be purchased as a â śmodule,â ť meaning a smaller piece of equipment that can be plugged into the primary appliance consolidating your equipment.
Who needs it:
- Sites whoâ ™s pages are predominantly secured (Banks, Insurance, etc)
- Heavily trafficked ecommerce sites
- Inefficient shopping carts.
- Example: Fabric.com (Thousands of daily visitors; Shopping cart exists on multiple servers)
High Availability
For best availability, your web host should offer all of these solutions on High Availability (HA) packages. HA is the ability to have two or more appliances that are failover capable such that if one of the appliances becomes unavailable the other picks up the load.
With HA, you can eliminate the risk of a single point of failure in your network.
Overall
Most of these technologies are more efficient and easier to maintain when implemented at the hardware level. The appliances can be pricy, but you can find good deals on refurbished and second hand equipment. Support is also quite expensive so keep it in mind.
When it comes to availability redundancy is key. It is highly recommended that your host give you the option for all applications to run on at least two servers. If you canâ ™t afford two servers, make sure youâ ™re constantly backing up your data someplace else!
When it comes to performance, itâ ™s all about hardware. Here are the fundamental elements that will make your systems run faster:
- Processors (CPU) with the highest speed (the latest and greatest)
- Lots of memory with the fastest bus (RAM) (2 GB â “ 128 GB)
- A reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP) with the latest routing technology and a solid network
Finding a web host that can create a highly available and performance driven network is a daunting task for any webmaster regardless of budget. These recommendations hopefully have given insight into how anyone can achieve excellent results in performance, and what sort of hosting upgrades can be made to super-charge your site. Keep informed of new technologies and try to find a knowledgeable partner that is willing to do the research for your business.
 I Am a Sinner – What About You?
 Global Sourcing and Supplier Online by Dylan
|
High Traffic Websites: How to Select a Web Host