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Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

Try a Search First
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Server hosting and performance

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    Server hosting and performance

    Hi there

    I was wondering what sort of performance people are getting on servers and what sort of cost for hosting. If you host for about 20 concurrent users what would be your typical cost and would performance be acceptable?
    Is anyone happy to assist on consulting rate with setup (sql server. alpha anywhere. and android setup)?
    I have been out of alpha for a while.

    thanks

    #2
    Couple things first: What version of Alpha are you working with currently? ...and is your app using the standard app server or IIS? Is this a web app, mobile, both?

    That said, I have had a lot of success with Amazon's AWS platform. It's rock solid and their support, for me anyways, has been second to none. There are other developers on here using other hosting vendors, Google, Zebra Host, and then of course there is Alpha Cloud.
    Mike Brown - Contact Me
    Programmatic Technologies, LLC
    Programmatic-Technologies.com
    Independent Developer & Consultant​​

    Comment


      #3
      I use a VPS provider "CONTABO",
      I use the application server, not IIS.
      it hosts a multi-tenant application, mainly mobile.
      There is not huge traffic to the server, but around 80 mobile device hits the server when they save a record (not simultaneously).
      From the beginning of the month till now, around 3500 records were added to the main table.

      Ther performance is acceptable, but at least once a week the WAS will freeze and I have to manually restart it.
      the VPS I rent is 10 core, and 50gb ram with SSD
      I have on the same machine MS SQL server (express edition)

      Comment


        #4
        We host our own IIS server and with about 100 Alpha users, there are no major issues with Alpha performance. I can get server ping replies anywhere from <50ms to over 300ms depending on times.
        Our biggest bottleneck seems to be the overall internal network traffic (non-Alpha users) which sees 1,000's of users and sometimes makes things slow around peak times (lunch hour and shift changes).
        Alpha Anywhere v12.4.6.5.2 Build 8867-5691 IIS v10.0 on Windows Server 2019 Std in Hyper-V

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by iRadiate View Post
          We host our own IIS server and with about 100 Alpha users, there are no major issues with Alpha performance. I can get server ping replies anywhere from <50ms to over 300ms depending on times.
          Our biggest bottleneck seems to be the overall internal network traffic (non-Alpha users) which sees 1,000's of users and sometimes makes things slow around peak times (lunch hour and shift changes).
          May I ask what the specs of the server you use are and do you have 2 application servers or just one?
          thank you!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Claire Shuttleworth View Post

            May I ask what the specs of the server you use are and do you have 2 application servers or just one?
            thank you!
            The physical server is HP Synergy 480 Gen 10 with 16-core 2.30 GHz CPU and 512 GB RAM
            Windows Server 2019 Std x64
            Running Microsoft Hyper-V Manager 10.0

            The Virtual server is allocated 8-core 2.30 GHz CPU and 32GB RAM
            Running Windows server 2019 Std x64

            We are just running one virtual IIS application server.
            Alpha Anywhere v12.4.6.5.2 Build 8867-5691 IIS v10.0 on Windows Server 2019 Std in Hyper-V

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by iRadiate View Post

              The physical server is HP Synergy 480 Gen 10 with 16-core 2.30 GHz CPU and 512 GB RAM
              Windows Server 2019 Std x64
              Running Microsoft Hyper-V Manager 10.0

              The Virtual server is allocated 8-core 2.30 GHz CPU and 32GB RAM
              Running Windows server 2019 Std x64

              We are just running one virtual IIS application server.
              thank you

              Comment


                #8
                AWS maybe 'rock solid" but very expensive.
                Just setting up cost us $457 in 5 days before even one app was loaded. Based on their charges, we estimated it would cost us $3000 - $6000pm, too much for a start-up NFP NGO.
                Now looking to go back to Build 5581, and find someone to work with us in opening up in the USA. Our methodologies are patented and very useful - will change the way people will find, buy and sell food. We are in Australia.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by ctmacquet View Post
                  AWS maybe 'rock solid" but very expensive.
                  Pricing depends on configuration. I have several clients on AWS: SQL Web, Load Balancer, etc for under $1000 a month. These clients of mine service hundreds of individual users a piece. Reserved instances are even cheaper. Using MySQL instead of MS SQL even cheaper. AWS can be expensive if it's over configured for an apps needs.

                  Mike Brown - Contact Me
                  Programmatic Technologies, LLC
                  Programmatic-Technologies.com
                  Independent Developer & Consultant​​

                  Comment


                    #10
                    We have a pretty large setup.....over 5,000 registered users and a public facing website that does not require login. The site is mobile friendly but we do not have an app.

                    Our biggest challenge is event registrations that require about 40,000 entries per year, each with their own deadline. Because of user's tendency to wait until the last second, we often see concurrent user counts of around 400 to 500 registered users with registration processes that require multiple trips to the server. Design is critical to keep things humming along.

                    In order to accomplish this we have 16 instances of the site (Classic Server) with a load balancer....hosted by Zebrahost. We have used them for about 12 years with an annual cost of the front end and back end for under 10k per year since we pay a year at a time for a discount. Clive has been very gracious with the price because we are a non-profit and have used them for over a decade. My guess is this pricing would be hard for a new customer to acquire, but maybe not? With this setup there are additional costs with the WAS license with Alpha due to the # of cores (16).

                    During the COVID lockdown we pivoted to virtual performance festivals where performance videos were uploaded to s3 (about 7 TBs of video data) and they were streamed by the judges so that the performance could be evaluated. Rather unusual process for Alpha but it worked incredibly well. I chose to use view boxes for that process to keep things light. That would be something to consider in your app design if you need to scale. We certainly use list controls but sometimes it is essential to consider other options if the traffic will be heavy

                    So it is possible to scale pretty well with Alpha with a combination of design and server setup. I have not tried AWS for hosting since I have been happy with the service and pricing with Zebrahost. I know the IIS server would provide some benefit but for us, this setup works perfectly at a reasonable price point so I don't see a need to change.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Agree with gregcolombus about Clive / Zebrahost. As a NFP NGO we were with them of 3-4 years pre-COVID when every shut down in Australia, so we did.
                      Now, Zebra won't have us back, even at triple the price of 2019, as it appears they are down-scaling their ops from about 15 AA servers around the world to 2., so no space for us, I guess.

                      Anyone using AlphaToGo Framework on AA in the Cloud? Seems to be a clash between ATG's Security setup and AA Cloud. Is this because of IIS? any opinions?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The other thing about AWS which was extremely frustrating : You cannot speak to / email anyone, except their Technical Support Chatline.
                        They have no CRM, but I guess that means just the opposite of what it was 20-30 years ago, perhaps Customer Restriction Management?

                        Anyway, I had a brilliant idea in the bath last night, where data storage / hosting is only going to cost me $3.28 pm, as opposed to the $3-6000 pm with AWS. Will let you know if it works, But only if you are a struggling NFP NGO, of course.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by ctmacquet View Post
                          Agree with gregcolombus about Clive / Zebrahost. As a NFP NGO we were with them of 3-4 years pre-COVID when every shut down in Australia, so we did.
                          Now, Zebra won't have us back, even at triple the price of 2019, as it appears they are down-scaling their ops from about 15 AA servers around the world to 2., so no space for us, I guess.

                          Anyone using AlphaToGo Framework on AA in the Cloud? Seems to be a clash between ATG's Security setup and AA Cloud. Is this because of IIS? any opinions?
                          I am sorry that we could not help with your project. As I said in the other thread where you relayed false information - everyone has different needs, budgets and requirements.

                          We are absolutely not "down-scaling" - in fact we have increased our infrastructure in Des Moines and Kansas City and also added infrastructure in Ede, Netherlands.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            What false info are you talking about?

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