Clusters for hosting

MiniCluster

New member
Hi all,

I heard many people lately having problems with high loads on their hosting servers. Machines that hang or they are slow because of too many processes running on them generated by too many hosting customers. Of course, it's logic to have many customers and their number to grow, but at some time in the future that server will overload.
I have an idea in my mind that came to me a couple of months ago about offering clusters to people that already have or want to start a new hosting bussiness. In my opinion a cluster can solve all these problems by migrating the processes to all the nodes available. Besides this the cluster can be upgraded with new nodes, thus being able to host many other clients that keep coming
I mean what do you think, would this work? Would people rent such a machine? I know it's a new technology and for some not so easy to understand or handle.

Best reagards,
Gabriel Constantinescu.

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http://www.mini-cluster.com
 
MiniCluster said:
Hi all,
I have an idea in my mind that came to me a couple of months ago about offering clusters to people that already have or want to start a new hosting bussiness. In my opinion a cluster can solve all these problems by migrating the processes to all the nodes available. Besides this the cluster can be upgraded with new nodes, thus being able to host many other clients that keep coming
I mean what do you think, would this work? Would people rent such a machine? I know it's a new technology and for some not so easy to understand or handle.

Clusters are getting more and more popular and powerful. You can start with 2-3 server cluster with windows and linux. The thing that matters is what is offered in a cluster and the benefits of getting a cluster instead of individual servers. For example servers setup fees can be minimal in cluster.

Also, you must have a team of experts to offer server and application management services. Server management services are the real revenue generater.

Hsphere is a web hosting control panel (cluster based) that is gaining popularity in big way. I would suggest target marketing for dedicated servers with an open option of clustering services :idea:

Thankyou
 
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Hi Ya'll,

One of the hosting companies that has started to use clustering and has been doing it for about a year now is mesopia.com now netbunch.com. Like any testing it does have its issue and with cpanel, plesk, ect it is difficult to do. They have like 4 to 5 web servers a MySQL server and a mail server in a cluster. It is a neat idea. Now if the control panels would catch up we could produce lower server loads, more clients/server, and happier customers do to performance increase. :)
 
Clusters are a very popular/already present service. However, not many individuals are going to go for a cluster, your target for this market has to be either large corporations, heavily trafficed forums/sites, hosts, etc... Like almost everything else, it hits the business sector, then it slowly filters down in price and availability for the personal sector.
 
Thank you all for your opinions.
You all have good points.
BHN, I tried netbunch.com but I did not seem to find any cluster service on first sight.
Anyway the thing about web administration should not be a problem since the open mosix cluster is transparent to all applications. They all see one big machine, a feature offered by open mosix with migshm that allows threads to migrate from one node to another.
So, in other words, applications like cpanel or hsphere or others should see only one machine. With the addition of a direct file system access DFSA or Parallel Virtual File System (PVFS) the idea of a single system image, one unified machine should be even better.
Exon you have a good point to. Only big companies should get something like this.... but I remember a couple of years ago, a friend of mine, came at me with a problem with his web server. I remeber he had about 300 sites hosted on a P4 2.4 Ghz with 1 GB ram. That server had a constant load of 2 or 3 (it was a linux). So I thought if that kind of machine can not handle more than that, than he has a problem. Of course, now there are 3.6 Ghz procs or you can even get duals, but those have a close limit too...

Clear skies,
Gabriel.
 
MiniCluster said:
Exon you have a good point to. Only big companies should get something like this....

I didn't say that all. I said that the target market for this is going to be bigger companies or organizations, but the majority of everyday users are not going to need this so you just have to know where and how to market it.
 
Yes, the marketing strategy is always a problem. I haven't seen reliable marketing solutions, that really turn clicks into sales lately.
Besides this, I noticed that people are really dependant on web administration tools like cpanel, hsphere and others. Probably I should add that too in the services that I offer.
Did anyone use webmin or see a hosting company offering open source web administration tools?

Clear skies,
Gabriel.
 
Minicluster,

netbunch.com does not provide solutions. All hosting clients are on clustered solutions. And, if you are capable of bring clusters and making the function right I know as a hosting company we would look into the solution. :)
 
I have in mind an ideea to hook online a 2 or 3 node cluster and offer it as tests for interested people. But I'll see about that...
 
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