Before you start

Hi Drupalers,

I have a site to do which includes a feature where registered users can sit multichoice tests, I need them to be able to see their test scores in their user profile for each test, if they attain a high enough score, they get a PDF certificate, they can sit the tests multiple times. I also need simple classifieds and a public searchable listing of some custom profile fields.

Normally I would build this sort of thing with CakePHP, but I saw a fascinating video on Slashdot in February where a guy used Drupal to build a very fast app.

I've tried searching, but am not able to find recent information on the topics that I'm interested in. So I appologize if I am repeating something that I just haven't found. But...

I've played with D6 and D7. But they were small sites on Hostgator co-hosted servers. I'm now working on a project that will eventually have a dedicated environment. My question is about performance for heavy use sites hosting complex data structures. Any graphics or video will only be for tutorials, so not a significant concern.

1. Does anyone have any performance comparisions between Drupal and other CMS systems that they can share? Have there been any performance comparisons between a Drupal and .Net environment (e.g. server load for heavy use sites)? Is there a type of Unix or Linux that is best for Drupal?

2. Given Drupal 6, 7 and 8 has performance been improving? (In my experience, D7 actually seems slower even on a simple site). Are there any performance tuning tips, tutorials, etc (I've already knocked out several optional modules on D7 and that helped, but doesn't bode well for performance). Again, my biggest issue will be holding complex data structures while a client is working with them.

Hi.
Could you tell . is it worth to use Drupal with some moduls and customize it a lot to make Shoping Cart like this
http://pjcarrot.com/customize-and-order?productid=11
Is it easy to use to put in scripts. Because as you see I need a lot of product options in my cart. And I wanna to make it on one page using AJAX.
If it is ok. What is better to use Ubercart or Ecommerce.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Just checking before I try this - Will Multi-site work with each site having it's own Private files directory outside the webroot?

If so can i safely assume that each site's files would be completely inaccessible from 1) people logged into one of the other sites and 2) people not logged in at all (e.g.search engines, hotlinkers, hackers)?

thanks
zeebo

I've been with 1&1 for three years now after a recommendation from a friend. However, I have noticed that now they're so bogged down that I can't even auto-upgrade my WordPress installations or upload photos within the WordPress install. Drupal is even more of a heavy hitter than WordPress, so I know it's time to move to a more robust web host.

I don't have a lot of money so I'm forced to use shared hosting for the time being. What are your recommendations? BlueHost has excellent customer service but they throttle the hell out of even a small 3k visitors/month website.

Hi,

I am about to launch a site that I am hoping will have if not thousands of users each creating their own profiles and sharing them.

My worry is the server as I want the experience of my site to be as quick as possible for members and new users.

If I was to get a server with 8GB would Drupal utilize that or would that be overkill? What is it I should really be looking for to get the best experience for my users and any ideas on hosting companies that specialize in Drupal hosting?