Hosting Evaluation

[biologyben]

Looking for advice as we look to implement CiviCRM for our small non-profit org in US.  We are currently hosted on a slightly above the bottom of the barrel shared host that we are happy with.  Unfortunately, even with just 50 contacts in the system, the ajax fields load very slowly compared to the WP Demo site, nearly to the point of being unusable. Our host offers a VPS option with the following specs:. 

For $15 a month:

50 GB    DISKSPACE      
500 GB  BANDWIDTH
512 MB  GUARANTEED RAM
Month-to-month

Compared to CiviHosting shared service at $15 per month:

1 GB       DISKSPACE   
200 MB   RAM
20 GB     BANDWIDTH

What other features or comparables should I be looking at to ensure civi runs well?

Keep in mind - I know enough tech things to be dangerous, but not enough to be competent. 

[Hershel]

Figures for disk space and bandwidth are only relevant if you need more than what is provided.

Memory is important, but it's as import how the server manages and utilizes that RAM. In general, more is better, but we have seen cases where a smaller amount of memory on a better-managed and optimized server gives far better performance than a lot of RAM on a sub-par server.

The CPU details are the same--a better CPU should be faster, but a poorly-managed server won't allow full utilization of the CPU.

Bottom line is the proof is in the pudding. If the two services have similar figures, then an empirical test would be the only certain way to determine the true performance of each.

[biologyben]

Thanks for the response Hershel! 

I didn't know if there was some magic pudding that I should inquire about directly that would significantly affect the way the system may run. 

While I have installed created our website (and a few partner sites) myself over the last few years, the migration of everything to a new service all at once is a much bigger challenge.  Thus, I'd like to only have to do it once.

Unfortunately, as the Exec. Director of my org, I don't have the time to configure servers time and time again nor does my org have the excess funds for the tech support and migration costs - So I'd like to try to compare specs apples to apples.

I suppose my question really gets down to what are the primary influencers of the ajax loading speed from the server - network speed, cpu speed, Ram, host os, etc?  And then, are those comparable across companies.   

[Hershel]

The factors most affecting speed are network speed, CPU and RAM. However, comparing apples to apples in this case is not actually a good indication of the actual result.

[Michael McAndrew]

I suppose my question really gets down to what are the primary influencers of the ajax loading speed from the server - network speed, cpu speed, Ram, host os, etc?  And then, are those comparable across companies.   

It is not that simple (and that particular metric isn't something that I would single out above others).  In my experience, the primary factor in how well the server works with CiviCRM is how the server (how php, nginx/apache various caching tools, etc.) is configured.

If your host is optimizing the config for Wordpress / Drupal / Joomla, then it is fairly likely they will have made some configuration choices that mean it won't work amazingly with CiviCRM.

Like Hershel said

Memory is important, but it's as import how the server manages and utilizes that RAM. In general, more is better, but we have seen cases where a smaller amount of memory on a better-managed and optimized server gives far better performance than a lot of RAM on a sub-par server.

Cheaper hosts generally give you less options as to how you can configure your server, and therefore, you might not be able to get around the issue without moving host.

Given the above, choosing a host, because they specialise in CiviCRM is a good idea. And note that specializing in CiviCRM is not the same as mentioning civicrm or having the civicrm logo on your website (the former is much harder to do that the latter).

So I would find a host that does specialise in CiviCRM, and get references, etc.  FWIW, I know a quite a few orgs (especially smaller ones) that say v. good things about CiviHosting.

Michael