Most web hosting companies today use a standalone server technology where you have a number of servers each of which is running up to 8 services: Web Server, MySQL/database Server, FTP server, DNS, User Control Panel, Account Database, Email Server. The problem with having so many processes running on a single machine is that these processes are all using the same resources, which leads to high server load, slow performance and quick hardware amortization. Imagine having an email client, an instant messaging program, a browser, an office application and an image editor running on your personal computer at the same time – now imagine that you were able to work in all of them at the same time, would you expect it to work fast? Not really. And this is just one account on your computer, now imagine there were several hundred. It is just like this with web servers too – many services running at the same time and many accounts on the same server mean bad performance.
One solution to this problem is to host only a small number of accounts on the same server, which means high expenses for server hardware and administrative support. Although a possible one, this is a high-cost solution and the expenses are covered by the customer – high monthly fees cover the high expenses. On the other hand, if you host a larger number of accounts per server, the performance gets worse, so you end up either having a quality, but unreasonably expensive service, or an affordable price, but poor quality. And, of course, there are always these companies that combine both poor quality and high prices.
Another possible solution would be to have ridiculously small plans or large plans with many limitations, which make them practically unusable. Some companies adopt this practice and achieve partial success at the expense of customer satisfaction. This one is the ugly solution.
FreeHostia has come up with a better solution – the good one. Instead of having many services on the same server, we have different servers for different services. An intelligent load balancing system guarantees smooth performance and high speeds. Having separate servers for MySQL, email, data storage, user web hosting control panel, etc. allows many more accounts to be hosted per server. The high number of web hosting accounts per server means low expenses, while the performance remains excellent. Because the server load on our clustered server is always within reasonable limits, hardware amortization is no more such a problem, customer web sites load faster and the overall speed and uptime are much better.
Possessing the right technology is just the beginning. We are monitoring server performance 24/7 and making the necessary updates and changes to the system to optimize it to the point of excellence that we are aiming to achieve. We combine high-end technology with powerful server hardware to achieve maximum productivity.
FreeHostia is years ahead of most competitors when it comes to technology. Many companies promise good performance but the truth is that with today’s technology there are certain limits that you just cannot pass. That is why we are using tomorrow’s technology.