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Building/Testing of a High Traffic Infrastructure?

Posted by Cliff on from the transactions-and-pages-per-second dept.

New Breeze asks: "I'm currently working on my first web 'application', and have discovered that I know less than nothing about setting up the infrastructure to manage a high traffic system. Where does one go to learn about setting up the infrastructure required to host something like Slashdot? Or do you just say, 'Not my area!' and help them find a consultant?" "My experience is pretty much limited to:
1. Install the web server on one box, the database on the same box if it's a small installation or a separate box if performance seems like it will need it. Add more memory and processors based on SWAG criteria. (Scientific Wild Ass Guess)

2. Contract with a hosting company.
I had a potential customer ask what I would recommend if they wanted to self host, they have around 300 remote locations and would have multiple users from each location hitting the application at the same time, so saying a couple of beefy servers probably isn't the right answer.

I haven't a clue. The last place I worked with on something like this hired a high dollar consultant who spend a huge pile of their money setting up a load balanced, oracle parallel server redundant everything system.

How do you test it? I've worked where they actually had a room with hundreds of systems on racks that they would configured to run test transactions against different servers and software builds for stress testing, but that's not in my budget..."

5 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    First Post

  2. The obvious answer is: by Neil+Blender · · Score: -1, Troll

    If you have to ask...

    1. Re:The obvious answer is: by Neil+Blender · · Score: -1, Troll

      Jesus what an asshole this parent poster is. Someone asks for advice and this arrogant guy calls them incompetent for not being born with the knowledge. Someone please mod him troll; this is exactly why non-techies think we're all arrogant.

      Sorry, but an "Ask Slashdot" on how to set up a high traffic web site???? That is not just something you go out and do. If you are working on such a project, have no experience and your first inclination is to run to Slashdot for advice because you have no idea what you are doing, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. This guy isn't asking, "hey, i'm setting up a blog, what's better php/postgres or perl/mysql", he's asking "hey, i'm setting up a site that is going to get massive amounts of traffic and I have no idea what I am doing." He might as well be asking, "Hey, I have to fly 400 people in a 747 tomorrow, but I have no idea how the plane works. Could you give me some advice?"

  3. Here are some websites to refer to: by karmaflux · · Score: -1, Troll

    http://www.ite.org/ -- this is the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Here you can find resources and contact information for traffic engineers.

    http://www.iht.org/ -- this is the Institution of Highways and Transportation. More traffic information.

    Oh wait. Did you not mean that kind of high-traffic infrastructure?
    MAYBE IT WOULD HELP IF YOU'D SPECIFY.

    --

    REM Old programmers don't die. They just GOSUB without RETURN.

    1. Re:Here are some websites to refer to: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      "I'm currently working on my first web 'application'..."

      Idiot.