Scalability / concurrent users etc

[tidy +]

I am planning to use 68 Classifieds for a site that will start off small, but of course the hope would be that it could become popular in time, and my client would like to know whether this script would still be a robust option down the line in that event?

I realise that hosting plays a major role in this. It's envisaged that the site will just be on a standard shared hosting account starting off. But given that the site could be hosted on a VPS or dedicated server if needs be, how scalable is 68 Classifieds - has any load testing been done, or is there data on the number of concurrent users that could be accommodated etc? Are any major traffic sites running it?

Thanks,
Janine.

[Lhotch +]

Janine, all good questions bt most of them boild down to the hardware or the applications that 68C relys on like apache and mysql. Both apache and mysql are very mature and robust products which have configuration settings to limit users which in a shared hosting environment are pretty tight so that will generally be your limiting factor.

When you talk about scripts there are generally no limitations imposed by the script itself just the undelying hardware and software technologies.

[tidy +]

Thanks for the reply Larry. I figured hosting infrastructure was the key determinant alright.

It's just that you do hear complaints of some scripts, more in the open source area, not helping matters by running an excessive number of database queries per page or other clear inefficiencies.

[Lhotch +]

Originally Posted by tidy

Thanks for the reply Larry. I figured hosting infrastructure was the key determinant alright.

It's just that you do hear complaints of some scripts, more in the open source area, not helping matters by running an excessive number of database queries per page or other clear inefficiencies.

I totally understand your concern. From a development standpoint its hard to stress test an application where multiple user access is needed. And doing so would result in numbers that would ultimately be directly linked to the environment in which the script was run in terms of hardware and apache/mysql settings. All of these metrics are by and large dont mean anything to 99.9% of the people running this script and even if they do, how to tweak apache/mysql and the server environment to improve these metrics is generally beyond them as well.

I know there is a site currently running 68C V3 and has an alexa ranking of 1,609 and averages about 600 ads. I know of another V3 site that gets dealer ads imported daily and has consistency about 600 ads. If memory serves I also heard of another 68C currently supporting about 40,000 ads.

If you evaluate any script you can probably find some database query that can be eliminated for your specific need but ideally I would recommend starting at the server. Monitor disk and network traffic as well as database queries and tweak performance starting at the server/apache/mysql level before looking at rewriting code. Of course to effectively do this you need your own dedicated server.

[tidy +]

Hi Larry,

Totally with you, and I'm no sys admin so if the site required dedicated hosting down the line, others would be involved, as if the site went that major it would be a whole different ball game.

The examples you mention bode well, and the more research I do into 68 Classifieds, the more it seems to outshine the plethora of other scripts available, even at much higher price points.

Many thanks for all your input,
Janine.

[bowers01 +]

I run mine on a self managed vps, i have little web hosting experiance and it is running fine, i have not had a problem with the script. Even if you are just starting out i do not recomend any of the $5 month hosting, you get what you pay for. Classified sites are site that must work all the time, if someone goes to use it and it doesnt work chances are they are not coming back.
I was on shared hosting before hand and had a bit of down time, the hosting company said it was other sites running scripts that "crashed" the server, since being on a vps i am on the only one with sites on it and my monitoring shows no down time at all.

Just my 2c

Nick

[tidy +]

Thanks for your input on this Nick. Glad to hear your VPS is working out well for you. The site would not be a classifieds site as such and would be hosted with a reliable Irish host who also offer VPS plans if needed down the line.

Many thanks to everyone for all their input on all my pre sales questions.