Can HostGator really deliver?

[jingjo]

I just signed up for an incredibly cheep baby crock package. It comes with 100gb disk space and 1000gb band width.

I expect to be a fairly heavy user using an estimated 10gb disk space and 100gb band width per month - but only about 1/10th of what the plan offers.

However, after reading these forums and hearing about accounts being suspended because they use excessive resources I'm starting to wonder if Hostgator can actually deliver on its promises.

1000gb per month is a lot of hits and would be quite demanding of resources. Has anyone had any experience with this amount of traffic on a shared plan?

[jmunzing]

That is the same plan that I am currently on. So far, I'm only using 4GB of Disk Space and 12GB of bandwidth.

Our site is still pretty knew, so we are still designing/adding content and we hope for it to be pretty popular.

On the other hand, I haven't ran into any problems with anything. Support is awesome, I'm sure they could say I've annoyed them with all my DNS Entries.

[riostyles]

Welcome jingjo,
You have the price you buy. This said, I feel better here as elsewhwere.
Whats sure is that with HG you will have it really in a good environment with a real 24/7 support.
Before as you run out of cpu and BW, you have to throtle a lot.
The rule in a shared environment is that everybody behaves clean, so everybody works fine.

[PsiPro]

Originally Posted by jingjo

I just signed up for an incredibly cheep baby crock package. It comes with 100gb disk space and 1000gb band width.

I expect to be a fairly heavy user using an estimated 10gb disk space and 100gb band width per month - but only about 1/10th of what the plan offers.

However, after reading these forums and hearing about accounts being suspended because they use excessive resources I'm starting to wonder if Hostgator can actually deliver on its promises.

1000gb per month is a lot of hits and would be quite demanding of resources. Has anyone had any experience with this amount of traffic on a shared plan?

No they cannot deliver on their promises, its simply too much space and bandwidth, however as long as most of their clients do not even come close to this limit, they will likly be able to provide you with what you need.

Most of the resource issue suspensions you see going on are for CPU usage.

[Serra]

Originally Posted by jingjo

1000gb per month is a lot of hits and would be quite demanding of resources. Has anyone had any experience with this amount of traffic on a shared plan?

Those amounts are really not an accurate estimate of what you can get from an HG plan. You are limited by CPU, INODES and MySQL connects as well as max bandwidth. (Storage is not a problem, no one has ever been suspended for storage as far as I know).

Basically, if your site(s) doesn't need a whole server to run, you will be fine. If you need a P4 server amount of CPU, you will be suspended for using too much CPU. This is not because HG is putting some unrealistic limit on your site, but because it is simply impossible for you to use a whole server's worth of CPU and share that server with 500 other people.

[jingjo]

Originally Posted by Serra

Those amounts are really not an accurate estimate of what you can get from an HG plan.

Thanks Serra

I think you are right.
I feel like a fool who got sucked in by the advertising hype and thought that HostGator were the 'white knights' of the hosting world - paticulary after reading the stuff that HostGator say about other hosting plans. Check this out at: http://www.hostgator.com/tips.shtml

"2. Scam Plans

If it sounds too good too be true it usually is! All hosts have the same basic limitations when it comes to server resources and specs. There is no magic server that has a never ending supply of RAM and CPU. If a host ever claims to give unlimited space or bandwidth DO NOT JOIN THEM. The thing to remember is that the average web site uses about 50 Megs space and less then 1 gig bandwidth a month. So what hosting companies do is they lie! They make up scam plans with tons of space and bandwidth for around $8 bucks a month. It's a numbers game... Only one or two of every 100 people that signup on the plan are going to use all the bandwidth advertised. So what do they do? They usually terminate the sites that use it saying "your site is using too many resources." They aren't lying about the resource usage. IT'S the truth! Most people don't realize that bandwidth and space used have nothing to do with the server resources being used. Resource usage has to do with the amount of CPU and RAM a site uses. If a site uses a lot of bandwidth they aren't kicked for using their bandwidth they are kicked for using up most of the servers cpu and ram. Another thing to remember is that the cheaper the plan is, and the more space / bandwidth included the more sites per server the host will have to pack in to make their money back. So the lesson here is don't shop for a host based on their plans! You should shop based on recommendations and experience!"

From what I'm reading in these forums it looks like this type of behavior applies to HostGator as well!

[Serra]

Originally Posted by jingjo

From what I'm reading in these forums it looks like this type of behavior applies to HostGator as well!

Oddly, HG use to take the high ground and avoid selling scam plans, but the market has really forced HG to adopt its strategy of "Everything is a scam all of the time".

The good news is that with the newer servers that are coming out, HG will actually be able to offer those plans and have a good chance of actually being able to provide them.

[charlesgan]

in normal upload/download, cpu usage should be low.

high cpu usually caused by script, bugs in coding, cron jobs, database intensive, unterminated processes or database connection etc.

[Serra]

Originally Posted by charlesgan

in normal upload/download, cpu usage should be low.

high cpu usually caused by script, bugs in coding, cron jobs, database intensive, unterminated processes or database connection etc.

The problem is that most sites are no longer uploading and downloading as their primary function. Most are using databases, so CPU is becoming more important that storage or bandwidth, but the customer is trained to look at those two when evaluating what type of hosting to buy. CPU is much harder to market/understand/track.

The market will catch up to demand, but customers will take some time to understand how it is being sold.

[16hosts]

Jinjgo, what type of a website do you have?

[Hostalot]

They can't deliver. Other hosts won´t suspend you straight away for excess bandwidth usage but only disable your account temporarily.

[Fedz]

Originally Posted by Hostalot

They can't deliver. Other hosts won´t suspend you straight away for excess bandwidth usage but only disable your account temporarily.

Suspended or disabled they both have the same effect.

All one has to do is contact HG support and upgrade your plan to one that fits your bandwidth.

For only $5 difference why chance your site(s) on it if your pushing the limit?

[quietFinn]

Originally Posted by Hostalot

They can't deliver. Other hosts won´t suspend you straight away for excess bandwidth usage but only disable your account temporarily.

What you say does not make any sense.

1st, if you are exceeding your bandwidth usage then HG has already delivered the bandwidth they promised.

2nd, suspending an account is exactly the same as disabling it temporarily.

[PsiPro]

Fedz is right, if your pushing 80% of our bandwidth usage a month you would be smart to upgrade as $5 is chump-change anyway you slice it.

quietFinn is also correct...

Originally Posted by Hostalot

They can't deliver. Other hosts won´t suspend you straight away for excess bandwidth usage but only disable your account temporarily.

And, most hosts will instantly disable/suspend you (same button) when you go over your bandwidth becasue its built into cPanel to work that way. then at the start of the next allotment period (12:01ish, 1st of the month) your site is unsuspended.

[charlesgan]

Originally Posted by quietFinn

What you say does not make any sense.

1st, if you are exceeding your bandwidth usage then HG has already delivered the bandwidth they promised.

2nd, suspending an account is exactly the same as disabling it temporarily.

quietFinn.. my vote for your points

[choopie]

I have been on many hosts with many plans. This service is good and is a great value for the money. If you get too close to your limits, you can upgrade the plan easily. The Cpanel is the best. Both my corvette forum and my prepress forum have done real well on host gator and I'm planning to stay awhile. I think I've been on host gator for about a year and a half and I use all 5 servers actively every day, works great.

Host Gator is run by a hands on guy that has been very responsive. It's not like other hosts where you wonder is anybody is even running the thing. I have had a few minor problems but have 5 packages on different servers. Compared to all other hosts I have used this is the best place to be. Good luck and HTH.

[antimon]

Originally Posted by choopie

Both my corvette forum and my prepress forum have done real well on host gator and I'm planning to stay awhile.

Great forums, congrats.
One question, how many online visitors you had on hostgator? Checked your forum peak records but dunno if these were on HG back then.