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MTHostingDeveloperInfo
s0urc3x.myopenid.com at 2007-03-07 15:01:31.
This page details some shared experiences and issues related to use of Movable Type/MT Enterprise in common commercial web hosting environments.
Please note that this page is not for comparing different web hosts and/or promoting one over the other. In many cases, developers have no choice but to use a particular web host for their client so please keep feedback related to each host constructive and useful.
DreamHost
- Process termination - DreamHost has a process reaper that kills processes based on a certain set of aggressive and, unfortunately, mysterious criteria which together may impact their shared hosting environment.
- It does not seem to solely operate on either load or process time, but, I am guessing a combination of both.
- It seems as though you can avoid for long running processes (e.g. the rebuild queue daemon) it by using 'nice' on any long running processes
- RebuildQueue Usage - Due to the aggressive process termination issue, execution of the RebuildQueue process daemon from the crontab is an exercise in futility. It was for this reason that the restart_rebuild_queue script was created. This script should be altered to suit your needs and executed from crontab instead of the RebuildQueue script.
- FastCGI - Movable Type/MT Enterprise can be run over FastCGI on DreamHost. For more on that see here. In some odd cases when an internal server error is experienced, subsequent 'touch'ing of the MT scripts to prompt a FastCGI server restart doesn't work. When this happens, the server will often right itself in a short time.
1&1
- 1&1 does not support Image::Magick (which MT uses for creating thumbnails of uploaded images); instead, you can tell MT to use Net::PBM by adding "ImageDriver NetPBM" to your mt-config.cgi file.
MediaTemple
- At this time (22 Jan. 2007), Media Temple has not implemented FastCGI on the ss or gs plans. There is access to FastCGI via Ruby on Rails on the gs plan in what is called a container, but this, of course, does us Movable Type users no good.
(ss)Shared Server plans
- The ss plans are being phased out in favor of the new gs plans.
- MediaTemple's ss (shared server, a.k.a. virtual hosting) plan only allows crontab items to run a maximum of once per hour. Scripts running under cron on the ss plan must be web-based and accessed via a URL rather than a path on the server. You can get around this with a wrapper CGI script. You also cannot modify your crontab directly (ex. crontab -e), but must file a support request. More info.
(gs)Grid Server plans
- The gs (grid server, or next generation virtual hosting) plan does not have the ss plan cron restrictions. However, the gs plan is limited to five cron jobs for each hosted domain (as opposed to mirrored domains), and users are still do not have access to crontab via shell. There is a web-based interface to create cron jobs.
(dv)Dedicated Virtual Server plans
- Dedicated Virtual plans have access to FastCGI via mod_fcgid, which must be activated on a per-domain basis.
domainFACTORY
- The european hosting company domainFACTORY supports CGI::Fast but not Crypt::DSA.
Pair Networks
Pair only allows crontab items to run a maximum of once per hour
Pair has implemented exceptions for MT's resource usage in its reaper system, but they are tied to the default filenames, so you can't take advantage of mt-config overrides.
any cPanel-based service
- Recommended? Not recommended?
- See this cPanel forum thread.
Any host running Zeus
Under Zeus, there is an issue with the way MT::Bootstrap determines the MT directory, such that plugin CGI scripts cannot find the config file. To work around this, you can hard-code the MT directory path into the plugin CGI script by putting this before the "use MT::Bootstrap" line:
BEGIN { $ENV{'MT_HOME'} = '/path/to/mt'; }
TextDrive
From their AUP:
Processes using a "significant percentage"" of a server's processor will be terminated at TxD's discretion. Several "tools" look for such processes and will re-nice them. TxD says it alerts customers to these problems. Judging from forum chatter, they do.
Cron jobs, etc., that "do not excessively use processor or network resources" may be run no more than once per hour. A scheduled process that is "processor- or network-intensive" may be run no more than once a day.
Long-running (more than 5 minutes) processes are not allowed, "unless specifically authorized in advance."
Process limits: CPU time: 20 minutes; Resident memory: 48 megs; virtual memory: 80 megs; open files: 240; running processes: 20
FastCGI: Not on Apache; allowed on self-installs of lighttpd
Nexcess.net
" is now a certified Movable Type hosting partner. This allows us to offer the Movable Type software starting at $2.95 per month. We are currently offering both the Unlimited Personal and Commercial editions."
I've used them for years, and their customer service is spectacular and often pro-active.
s0urc3x.myopenid.com at 2007-03-07 15:01:31.
