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Posted on Nov 10, 2008 - 1:20am by John P. in Work
I’ve had a lot of friends lately asking me for hosting advice since I happen to work at Layered Tech. Since everyone’s situation is different, I’ve kind of standardized on an approach to explaining the hosting situation…
Since the dawn of the World Wide Web, Webmasters have sought out the fastest hosting options with the greatest bang for the buck. We often start with shared sites that can accommodate many infrequently visited domains (like a $5 per month hosting account), but after achieving popularity on at least one, a Webmaster’s attention usually turns to a dedicated server to avoid the pain of service interruptions.
The logic is simple. If having a shared hosting plan (or a VPS) is good, getting the entire server is better! The only question that remains: is it the best available option? Well, companies like Layered Tech have taken the dedicated server one step further by combining the resources of many physical machines into one large computing Grid. So, if one server is good, surely 100 is better!
The obvious advantage of migrating to a dedicated server is that the machine has far more “spare” resources than an overworked shared server (where you are probably sharing one computer with over 1,000 other people). The less obvious problem is that even a dedicated server will eventually become saturated, necessitating yet another migration to yet a larger physical machine.
Grid based servers avoid this problem by allowing Webmasters to increase the physical resources on demand. This allows the provisioning of a small “virtual machine” initially in order to keep costs low, yet maintains the flexibility of upgrading the power as simply as flipping a switch. No physical migrations to a new platform necessary!
Layered Tech’s focus on selling massive Grids to enterprise clients has not prevented them from also offering individual Virtual Machines to Webmasters of all sizes. Prices start at $49/mo. so there is really no reason to ever get stuck on an underpowered machine again.
So, if you’ve grown beyond simple shared hosting, and you need some help with a larger hosting account, feel free to drop me a note or a comment and I’ll be happy to help you out. I’ve already done so with a lot of my friends, and I don’t mind a bit.
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I have considered grid hosting with other companies but decided against it for two reasons: Limited Resources and Costs.
Limited Resources. Grid hosting companies often use their own technology, which can be limiting for some users. That is, are there any types of people who would not benefit from a grid server plan due to grid server limitations? For example, would a grid server plan work well for (1) people who need a lot of MySQL databases, (2) people who need very large MySQL databases, (3) people with thousands of infrequently visited domains, etc.? I ask because I had trouble finding a host that could meet all my needs, so I have hosting accounts with two companies.
Costs. Does a person pay more for grid hosting? That is, it seemed like grid hosting was more expensive in a side-by-side comparison with traditional hosting companies when I looked at them. (Media Temple was the company I considered.)
I could be wrong on these. Thanks for considering these questions.
The hosting issue is one that constantly pops up. Is the idea of a computing grid is similar to the setups search engines use?
Thanks for the insight John, I was actually discussing the hosting options with a friend yesterday for an upcoming project and will certainly drop you a line when it’s time to move on it.
Jeremy
Hi, i would recommend you to go for dedicated servers because i have rented 3 servers from different companies and they are the best, we need to signup with server support companies for best services and highest uptime.
Amit, I understand what you are saying, but I think the idea behind a grid server is you pay for what you use. That is, a grid server can grow with you from infancy (when a dedicated server is unnecessary) to magnitude (when a dedicated server might not be enough). But maybe I am missing something.