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Should I Upgrade Plan (or maybe cleanup server space)?

BradMcCain

New Member
affiliate
I'm about to launch a new product, and as it's a pretty unique product a number of large affiliates have signed up to promote it. I expect this to be my biggest launch to date - by far.

Sure, server meltdown is fine if you've set up everything with a nice margin of safety, but than had 10 times the expected traffic - but it's a real bummer if you were a moron who didn't prepare as needed.

Because of this, I'd like to make sure everything's set up right and would really appreciate your advice on this.

Current Setup:
  • WP site, possibly slow loading theme
  • Landing page streams a vid from my vimeo account (not locally hosted). Otherwise nothing very heavy there, except it being WP.
  • Buyers enter a members' zone, where the FrontEnd product is available for watching online (again vimeo) and BackEnd products will probably be set for downloading.
  • Currently using HostGator's shared Baby Plan. Too late to switch hosts (launching this Tuesday and enough work till then as it is) but switching plans or servers is possible.
  • My other sites using this account are pretty dormant. However, some have zillions of inodes.
Questions:
  1. At what rate of incoming traffic (Landing Page only) should I have to switch plans, and to what?
  2. Do I have to do this beforehand (based on expected traffic) or is migration (within same host) quick?
  3. Do I have to inform my host about the launch? Any specific info that I should provide?
  4. Does streaming from Vimeo load my server?
  5. How important is it to clean-up other websites that I have on this server? They're pretty dormant, but some have zillions of inodes.
  6. Backend products are heavyweight downloads (several gigs of videos). Should I set them on external servers or locally? which external providers do you recommend?
  7. Anything else that you think I should know.
Sorry for sounding like a complete noob, but I guess in this aspect that's what I am. Been marketing online for ages, but my previous products required few resources and I never bothered checking this aspect till now.

Thanks guys!
 
At what rate of incoming traffic (Landing Page only) should I have to switch plans, and to what?

This depends mostly on your site. However, since you're using Wordpres (a dynamic site that needs CPU cycles from the server to load, and based on Hostgator's own terms of service:

"customers who are using 25% or more of system resources for longer than 90 seconds would be in violation of our [Hostgator's] Terms of Service. Please see our TOS or contact us with any questions."

So, if you're worried, you may just need to contact them as their site suggests.

Do I have to do this beforehand (based on expected traffic) or is migration (within same host) quick?

It depends, but usually moves within the same company can happen with little to no down time. It depends on your site, their processes, and what all is involved. With a cPanel shared account, moving it to a VPS for example would be a fairly simple process. Again, you'll want to contact them to see what their processes are.

Do I have to inform my host about the launch? Any specific info that I should provide?

Your hosting provider wouldn't require you to, but you can just for your own peace of mind and ask them the questions you're asking here. They'd be the best qualified to answer these questions, honestly, as they have all the information they need right in front of them. That is, assuming their support is any good. I won't know about that though, never used them before.

Does streaming from Vimeo load my server?

No. The initial HTML code from your site that tells a browser where to go look up a video would load from your server, but after that, it's up to Vimeo. The streaming video should not affect your site speed directly.

How important is it to clean-up other websites that I have on this server? They're pretty dormant, but some have zillions of inodes.

If your product is a video series, adding additional clients (who won't be uploading or creating files or emails on your server), shouldn't significantly increase your inodes. You should be fine.

Backend products are heavyweight downloads (several gigs of videos). Should I set them on external servers or locally? which external providers do you recommend?

Vimeo is an excellent provider with lots of options and affordable rates. You'll need the "Pro" version to sell your vids - it's still pretty cheap though.

Anything else that you think I should know.

I'd recommend a CDN for your front-end site if you don't already have one. It will take some of the load of your hostgator account. CloudFlare is respectable and you can start out free.

Hope this helps!
 
This depends mostly on your site. However, since you're using Wordpres (a dynamic site that needs CPU cycles from the server to load, and based on Hostgator's own terms of service:

"customers who are using 25% or more of system resources for longer than 90 seconds would be in violation of our [Hostgator's] Terms of Service. Please see our TOS or contact us with any questions."

So, if you're worried, you may just need to contact them as their site suggests.



It depends, but usually moves within the same company can happen with little to no down time. It depends on your site, their processes, and what all is involved. With a cPanel shared account, moving it to a VPS for example would be a fairly simple process. Again, you'll want to contact them to see what their processes are.



Your hosting provider wouldn't require you to, but you can just for your own peace of mind and ask them the questions you're asking here. They'd be the best qualified to answer these questions, honestly, as they have all the information they need right in front of them. That is, assuming their support is any good. I won't know about that though, never used them before.



No. The initial HTML code from your site that tells a browser where to go look up a video would load from your server, but after that, it's up to Vimeo. The streaming video should not affect your site speed directly.



If your product is a video series, adding additional clients (who won't be uploading or creating files or emails on your server), shouldn't significantly increase your inodes. You should be fine.



Vimeo is an excellent provider with lots of options and affordable rates. You'll need the "Pro" version to sell your vids - it's still pretty cheap though.



I'd recommend a CDN for your front-end site if you don't already have one. It will take some of the load of your hostgator account. CloudFlare is respectable and you can start out free.

Hope this helps!
:):)
 
MI
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