dreamhost is very slow...my everage page load time is about 10 to 20sec...with minimum module enabled.

sighs.. although the service is cheap and with multiple domains, but what you pay is what you get. :(

Comments

benthere’s picture

I checked the server load -- that's fine. Static pages load fine.

So my conclusion is that the database server is overloaded. Anyone know a way to check that?

I almost emailed support about it, but it got better right before I sent it. But it's bad right this moment.

-- Ben

laura s’s picture

However, I've been with them for about 10 years now and they are great for affordable webserver stuff. Today we use them to serve up large media files on the html level, and would not hesitate to host a static html site with them. It's just that their database configuration (on a separate machine, with a narrow pipeline, afaict) leaves very much to be desired.

On the other hand, when it comes to compex websites that are more than your typical blog or BBS software, it seems that most of the shared hosting plans will leave you vulnerable. We've pulled almost all of our client sites off of a shared host that, until the past few months, rated at the top for service and reliability, because we were facing repeated and persistent shut-downs and slow-downs. It's just not worth it.

Today we won't do any hosting on anything less than a robust VPS environment (if not a dedicated server), and advise our clients on shared systems caveat emptor. All it takes is Joe Blow sending a zillion spam messages to bump way up the server load, and your database-driven site is suddenly craaawwwwwwwwwlllllliiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

Laura
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design, snap, blog

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Laura Scott :: design » blog » tweet

BryanSD’s picture

I agree with Laura, the VPS is a way to go. In no way am I being critical of Dreamhost's shared hosting plans...this is just the nature of shared hosting plans. After bouncing around a number of shared hosting plans, there is not one that really met my needs when it came to Drupal. I use a VPS for several low traffic Drupal sites...and not a single complaint by me or my clients.

One thing Laura doesn't mention is that if you're not confortable with managing your own server, a VPS or dedicated server may not be right for you. Though, there are companies and services out there that will manage the server for you.

My Drupal Site:
CMSReport

StevenPatz’s picture

a VPS is also shared.

BryanSD’s picture

Yes, a VPS technically shares a dediicated server with other VPS...that's why they call it virtual. I know you probably know this, but since others might not understand the difference between shared hosting and Virtual Private Servers (also called Virtual Dedicated Servers)...here goes...

With virtualization...barring any hardware malfunctions or kernel problems...you can be assured resources given (specifically CPU and memory) are yours and yours alone. One of the issues with shared hosting is that if one or two sites are sucking CPU and/or memory resources it will limit the resources for others that are sharing the same host. With a VPS...you should have consistent performance which you don't always have with shared hosting. Many shared hosting plans try to attract customers by drive space and bandwidth, but really it's the CPU and memory that is the key to a well performing site.

The following is an excerpt from a FAQ on VPS with a hosting company I'm associated with, Dakota Hosting. Before the excerpt though, I'd like to put one disclaimer about VPS and Dedicated Servers though. If you don't have system administrative skills, you need to make sure you have someone available to manage your server. Unless of course, you're a natural geek and willing to learn (about half the Drupal community I believe). It took me about two months to get my VPS to a level of performance that I was happy with. In other words, just like Drupal...a VPS or dedicated server isn't for everyone.

What is a virtual dedicated server?
Last Updated: October 31, 2005 3:59 PM

Occupying the space between the shared and dedicated hosting formats, a virtual dedicated server offers many of the capabilities and features of dedicated servers, including admin (root) access and dedicated IP addresses, but at a much lower price. Users share a server, but because each virtual dedicated server is effectively isolated from other accounts, the user has full control over the server space.

Also, virtual dedicated server plans feature very high performance and available disk space and bandwidth.

We partition our servers in such a way that each virtual dedicated server operates almost entirely independently of the other accounts that share the server space. This means that with a virtual dedicated server, you will enjoy consistent, high performance, even when usage peaks on the main server.

Virtual dedicated servers are particularly useful for companies and individuals that run higher-traffic Web sites or complex applications and thus need the bandwidth, consistent performance, and flexibility of a virtual dedicated server.

Bryan

My Drupal Site:
CMSReport

StevenPatz’s picture

Just don't try to do a stage1 Gentoo install on one. :)

edrupalec’s picture

dgtlmoon’s picture

does this help? an article about speeding up drupal 5.x on dreamhost a lot of the slowness i found was due to the excessive mysql calls