MySQL DB question

[Dennis]

Hi,

I was wondering if you guys run your MySQL DB on the same server as you host your clients or do you run it on a totaly seperate machine?


I was wondering if it is worth it to have extra machines for MySQL DB's or just host it on the same machine as the customers sites.


Thanks
Dennis

[Mark]

I run it on the same server. Its not really going to hurt server performance because most virtual hosting accounts are small sites. But it really depends on what kind of sites you are hosting. A large forum or e-commerce site would be better off having a seperate db server, but you would probably have to pass on the extra cost to the customer.

[Deb]

We have separate servers dedicated to the MySQL DBs and it has proven to be one of the best decisions we ever made!! As Mark noted, if most of your clients are going to be small low usage sites then it shouldn't matter but when even a single client decides to go crazy with his MySQL services it's a shame to see all of the services suffer because of it.

As we've grown, we've pulled more and more off of the community servers and spread the load between multiple servers dedicated to their specific tasks. Pulling off many email operations such as mailing lists and all of the MySQL Databases were the two biggest things that improved our overall service offering and in the end even proved to make maintenance a bit less dramatic.

If you can do it cost effectively, I think its worth it.

[Dennis]

Thanks for the responces!

well if you are using a different server for your MySQL DB does it use up a lot of extra bandwidth, I would think transfering data back and forth between the two servers would use a lot of extra but I'm not sure because I'm havn't played with it before.


Thanks for the help!
Dennis

[Deb]

It would use "switch bandwidth" but not actual outbound bandwidth or egress, so you would not be responsible for paying your provider for it. Unless of course, they are calculating the bandwidth usage at your switchport. If someone is charging you at the switchport, then yes, I would reconsider based on the higher expense and/or preferably requesting your provider to do your bandwidth calculations at the router and not the switch. For us, we own the switches (and the routers), so there is no expense outside of ensuring the pipe between them is able to handle the loads; which isn't a problem. Our Foundary FastIron 4802 can handle all ports, fully saturation, at wire speed. In this case the usage isn't really an issue. Millage may vary of course depending on your own setup and expenses.