Knowing when to go to multiple mongrel instances or dedicated server

Rails
1

I have a rails app with a growing user base. Right now it is on a
single mongrel instance on a shared server. Is there a quantifiable
method I can use to measure when I need to add mongrel instances, or
move to a dedicated server? Are there rules of thumb for how many
users or page hits an instance can support? Or is it solely
subjective, based on when the app starts to “feel” slow?

2

I have a rails app with a growing user base. Right now it is on a
single mongrel instance on a shared server. Is there a quantifiable
method I can use to measure when I need to add mongrel instances, or
move to a dedicated server? Are there rules of thumb for how many
users or page hits an instance can support? Or is it solely
subjective, based on when the app starts to “feel” slow?

A couple of years old, but it’s from the horses mouth…

http://rubyforge.org/pipermail/mongrel-users/2006-May/000200.html

3

Thanks, good info. That is more for a dedicated server, though. If
I’m on a shared server, how can I measure/compare to determine whether
I need the expense of a dedicated server?

4

Ed wrote:

I have a rails app with a growing user base. Right now it is on a
single mongrel instance on a shared server. Is there a quantifiable
method I can use to measure when I need to add mongrel instances, or
move to a dedicated server? Are there rules of thumb for how many
users or page hits an instance can support? Or is it solely
subjective, based on when the app starts to “feel” slow?

Ed, why not to move to phusion passenger? It’s fast and intended for
heavier load than mongrel (even in cluster)

tom

–

Tomas Meinlschmidt, MS {MCT, MCP+I, MCSE, AER}, NetApp Filer/NetCache

www.meinlschmidt.com www.maxwellrender.cz www.lightgems.cz

5

I’ll take a look at that, thanks. My hosting provider says that
passenger is slower than mongrel in a shared environment, because of
the delay when processes have to be restarted.

But ultimately I will have the same question: how can I measure when
traffic is too much for my shared host?

6

Ed,

If you’re hosting provider is suggesting that passenger is slower,
it’s in their environment. You might consider another provider then.

You might take a look at the survey results we just posted at
http://rails-hosting.com.

Cheers,
Robby

On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Ed [email protected] wrote:

I have a rails app with a growing user base. Â Right now it is on a

–
=========================================================================== ====
Tomas Meinlschmidt, MS {MCT, MCP+I, MCSE, AER}, NetApp Filer/NetCache

www.meinlschmidt.com www.maxwellrender.cz www.lightgems.cz
=========================================================================== ====

–
Robby R.
Chief Evangelist, Partner

PLANET ARGON, LLC
design // development // hosting w/Ruby on Rails

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7

On Mar 11, 2009, at 2:23 PM, Ed wrote:

I’ll take a look at that, thanks. My hosting provider says that
passenger is slower than mongrel in a shared environment, because of
the delay when processes have to be restarted.

This is only relevant if you don’t get enough traffic to keep the
passenger/rails instance alive. What I’ve read says that once up and
running passenger is faster than mongrel, but best to do your own
research.

Start here: Support (part way down)

But ultimately I will have the same question: how can I measure when
traffic is too much for my shared host?

That’s a question for them. Find out what their limits are and then
figure out when you’ll hit them.

8

2009/3/11 Ed [email protected]

I’ll take a look at that, thanks. My hosting provider says that
passenger is slower than mongrel in a shared environment, because of
the delay when processes have to be restarted.

But ultimately I will have the same question: how can I measure when
traffic is too much for my shared host?

It seems to be a rather naive answer but can you not tell that the
traffic
is too much by the fact that it slows down unacceptably? Or am I
missunderstanding the question, are you trying to predict in advance at
what
traffic level it will slow down too much?