Is it time to move on from shared hosting?

[ZomgStuff]

So I can't tell if bluehost.com has some really outdated hardware, or am I really causing them server performance issues. Basically they said if I cause them problems one more time they're permanently suspending my account. I've apparently running a lot of slow SQL queries.

A little information about my site
URL: http://forum.zomgstuff.net/
Total Threads: 16,353
Total Posts: 160,968
Total Members: 9,477
Average Daily Unique Members: ~105
Data Usage: 128.15 MB
Index Usage: 51.23 MB
Size of database SQL backup: ~135mb

I also have quite a bit of plugins as well.

Server average load times used to be 2-4 seconds, but after I forced guests to register to view thread contents, it's currently 1.3 seconds.

I've looked at the sql_sloq_queries log in my hosting and I see dozens of daily entries. Most of them say the "slow" script ran for an average of 3-4 seconds.

Here's a couple of examples of slow queries.

# Fri Nov 28 13:19:35 2008
# Query_time: 2  Lock_time: 0  Rows_sent: 4  Rows_examined: 32
use zomgstu1_theforums;
SELECT
  post.*, post.username AS postusername, post.ipaddress AS ip, IF(post.visible = 2, 1, 0) AS isdeleted,
  user.*, userfield.*, usertextfield.*,
  icon.title as icontitle, icon.iconpath,
  avatar.avatarpath, NOT ISNULL(customavatar.userid) AS hascustomavatar, customavatar.dateline AS avatardateline,customavatar.width AS avwidth,customavatar.height AS avheight,
  spamlog.postid AS spamlog_postid,
  deletionlog.userid AS del_userid, deletionlog.username AS del_username, deletionlog.reason AS del_reason,
  editlog.userid AS edit_userid, editlog.username AS edit_username, editlog.dateline AS edit_dateline,
  editlog.reason AS edit_reason, editlog.hashistory,
  postparsed.pagetext_html, postparsed.hasimages,
  sigparsed.signatureparsed, sigparsed.hasimages AS sighasimages,
  sigpic.userid AS sigpic, sigpic.dateline AS sigpicdateline, sigpic.width AS sigpicwidth, sigpic.height AS sigpicheight,
  IF(displaygroupid=0, user.usergroupid, displaygroupid) AS displaygroupid, infractiongroupid
		FROM post AS post
		LEFT JOIN user AS user ON(user.userid = post.userid)
		LEFT JOIN userfield AS userfield ON(userfield.userid = user.userid)
		LEFT JOIN usertextfield AS usertextfield ON(usertextfield.userid = user.userid)
		LEFT JOIN icon AS icon ON(icon.iconid = post.iconid)
		LEFT JOIN avatar AS avatar ON(avatar.avatarid = user.avatarid) LEFT JOIN customavatar AS customavatar ON(customavatar.userid = user.userid)
		LEFT JOIN spamlog AS spamlog ON(spamlog.postid = post.postid)
  LEFT JOIN deletionlog AS deletionlog ON(post.postid = deletionlog.primaryid AND deletionlog.type = 'post')
		LEFT JOIN editlog AS editlog ON(editlog.postid = post.postid)
		LEFT JOIN postparsed AS postparsed ON(postparsed.postid = post.postid AND postparsed.styleid = 72 AND postparsed.languageid = 1)
		LEFT JOIN sigparsed AS sigparsed ON(sigparsed.userid = user.userid AND sigparsed.styleid = 72 AND sigparsed.languageid = 1)
		LEFT JOIN sigpic AS sigpic ON(sigpic.userid = post.userid)
		WHERE post.postid IN (0,168362,168390,168583,168584)
		ORDER BY post.dateline

# Sat Nov 29 20:35:29 2008
# Query_time: 6  Lock_time: 0  Rows_sent: 1000  Rows_examined: 14889
use zomgstu1_theforums;
SELECT postid
  FROM post AS post
  INNER JOIN thread AS thread ON(thread.threadid = post.threadid)
  WHERE post.userid = 1
  AND thread.forumid IN(104,2,90,102,131,12,429,430,426,69,431,18,44,432,132)
  ORDER BY post.dateline DESC
  LIMIT 1000

# Sat Nov 29 20:59:22 2008
# Query_time: 3  Lock_time: 0  Rows_sent: 4958  Rows_examined: 4958
use zomgstu1_theforums;
SELECT postid, wordid,
  CASE intitle
  WHEN 0 THEN score
  WHEN 1 THEN score + 5
  WHEN 2 THEN score + 5 + 5
  ELSE score
  END AS score
		FROM postindex
		WHERE wordid IN (0,1126,2261,5755)

Basically do you think I've outgrown shared hosting, or do I just need to make my scripts more efficient and optimize them?

[SEOvB]

You shouldn't have those problems on bluehost unless your getting hammered by bots looking at your 23 members who have logged in today, unless of course all 23 were at the same time

You probably need to optimize your vBulletin and see if that can satisfy their usage requirements. If not then it'll be time to upgrade

[punchbowl]

I bet the people who are sharing the server are thinking the same thing. But to answer your question yes I think you should move to at least a vps. With shared hosting it all depends on who you are sharing with. If it's dormant or static webpages, things could be fine but put another forum on there and you're f*cked.

[Brandon Sheley]

I wouldn't even consider a shared hosting account.
Get a VPS so you know exactly what is going on.

[ZomgStuff]

Yeah, well problem is that I can't afford VPS at this moment. I'm a full time college student with no time for a job unfortunately.

[Brandon Sheley]

I'm sure you could get a starter vps somewhere for 30 a month, and put 2 ads on your forum.
If the traffic is correct, you should be able to make 30 a month, but I see no advertising at all

[ZomgStuff]

Yeah, I'm very much against ad's and would rather pay out of pocket money than ruin my member's forum experience.

[HouseT]

Have you considered seeing if your users are willing to donate to the cause?

Jules

[Marco van Herwaarden]

If this turns into a hosting discussion, then please use the vB.com Hosting Options forum.

[fattony69]

I used bluehost.com. Their servers are outdated and not protected. I was hacked 6 times in one week, and 4 of them by one guy because he hacked through another site and attacked mine and others on their server. He told us this on my boards after he signed up. Anyway if you want to read more: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=187974 Get a VPS!