traceroute

[Fortune]

I run a host connection test many times in http://www.tophosts.com/cgi-bin/traceroute.cgi,
futurequest.net is always the loser. What does it mean?

[Deb]

It really depends on how they are doing their trace routes, where from, and how they decide the penelty points..

As long as we keep it under 200ms it's not bad... I also tested Yahoo.com against it and Yahoo lost.... Yahoo is considered to have some of the fastest lines on the net with their own server in the biggest noc in the US... e.g. hard to believe they lost too http://www.aota.net/ubb/frown.gif

Your best bet is to ask the owners of TopHosts.com how their trace route deal works and go for the specifics...

Hope this helps
Deb

------------------
Unlocking the Power of the Internet!
www.FutureQuest.net (http://www.FutureQuest.net)

[Fortune]

Your reply is really fast.

Some hosting companies use OC-3 and DS-3 connections, but futurequest uses T1.
When futurequest get more clients, will the connection speed drop a lot?
My hosting company worked fine at first, but when it grows, problems come, and speed and service get worse.

[Deb]

We try to make sure everyone gets a reply as fast as possible... sometimes that means minutes.. sometimes it means a few hours.. but never more then 12 hours.

As far as lines go... many hosts brag about their OC-3 and DS-3 connections... we would too http://www.aota.net/ubb/wink.gif but at the same time I can almost guarantee you that not one of those hosts owns the entire line all to themselves... these things run about 80 grand a month... I don't think lowcost hosting packages are going to cover those types of bills http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

The real question is how many other hosts are utilizing these lines? How much of the bandwidth is your host allowed to use? etc...

FQuest has 6T1s running into our location we share the lines with one other company.. we only cater the needs of our clients and have full access to the bandwidth... at this time we are having no bandwidth problems but are also very aware of our rapid growth. As such we are already talking with other NOCs and looking for a new location (and raising our bills) to offer more bandwidth so that we do NOT run into the types of problems you are referring to.

Deb

------------------
Unlocking the Power of the Internet!
www.FutureQuest.net (http://www.FutureQuest.net)

[Sandy]

I was eavesdropping as usual here..just want to add that my site always loads very fast http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Jacob Stetser]

Hi,

traceroute and ping tests and their ilk also depend on where you're doing the test from. The fact that futurequest.net loses from your connection or tophosts (I don't know where it does the trace from, I'm assuming tophost) reflects that there are a bunch of jumps in between tophost and futurequest....

My admittedly unscientific method of testing the responsiveness of a server is to check it about a zillion times over the period of a week, typing in the address to a page on the server and loading.

FQ has always loaded fast for me, never had a problem http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

Off to try out the tophosts cgi http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif


------------------
Fun signature will go here.

[Deb]

(I don't know where it does the trace from, I'm assuming tophost)

It's easy to assume it is coming from TopHosts.com simply because if you run them through the test they will win always... with a whopping 0ms!! e.g. it's taking no time whatsoever to get to them http://www.aota.net/ubb/wink.gif

So you are correct... the trace route starts at tophosts.com and finishes at the location of the server/s being tested....

Thanks for the kind words Sandy and Jacob.. always appreciated and happy to hear the server is treating you well http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

Deb

------------------
Unlocking the Power of the Internet!
www.FutureQuest.net (http://www.FutureQuest.net)

[Del]

About trace routes, remember you can always do one from your own DOS prompt at your own machine (assuming you have a dos prompt that is). Just type 'tracert domain.com' (no single quotes) and watch (takes a bit o math too).

As far as page loading, I'd like to point out that my pages all load in like .25 seconds from FQuest (max of .50 seconds). My previous hosts would load em in (on average) 1.5 to 2 seconds.



------------------
Del
http://www.downinit.com/

[pqwabbit]

hehe I just want3eds to make a comment about that whole yahoo supposedly being the fastest connectiong - yeesh - ya'd never know it.
I could nap waiting for them silly sites to load arrrrrrregh! probably cos traffic is way heavy but even when traffic has been hoppin on dhearts man it doesnt gimme that much grief!
hmmmmmmmm and of course there is abig fat advertises ment to use their services - hmmm
makes me suspicious - is this an advertising ploy???
I just tested futerquest and it came in really graeat at 103 ms - but gees what is this speedy web thing coming in at 39 ms?? I have never seen a time like that!
jeepers so yeh fq is a loser compared to that but 103 is still toip notch - how the heck is speedyweb run that they can get that kinda time? I think just about everything is gonna coome up a loser there yeesh!

further more if you look at the internic host rcord for speedy web they give fake phone numbers which some peole may not think thjats a big deal but um if theer lyin on something like that I dunno if I'd trust em ya knpow
Lea


[This message has been edited by pqwabbit (edited 12-16-98).]

[Deb]

I just tested futerquest and it came in really graeat at 103 ms - but gees what is this speedy web thing coming in at 39 ms?? I have never seen a time like that!

Put in laymans terms .. imagine it this way.

Red Car and Blue Car decide to race in order to see which one is the faster car.

Now Red Car has a space shuttles engine in it
and Blue Car has a lil lawn mower engine in it (trying to avoid downing anybody's favorite brand names here hehe)

It would seem obvious that the Red Car is going to be faster.... but surprisingly it's easy to cause the Red Car to lose. Here's how.

The race has no starting line... to win you must arrive at Disney World in Orlando Florida first.

Now if the Blue Car starts at the front gate of Disney World in Orlando Florida and the Red Car starts in oh let's say the planet of Mars... the Blue Car is going to win by a long shot.

This is essentially what comparing trace routes is doing to servers.

If you test TopHosts.com on that trace route they come in with an impressive zero ms. Which even makes SpeedyWeb look slow. But TopHosts is sitting at the finish line.. and speedy web is sitting 32ms away from the finish line, and FutureQuest is sitting over a 100ms away from the finish line.

The key here -- Where is the starting line?

If you really want to compare hosts you need to assure they are both starting at the same place, try doing a trace route from your own computer to the hosts you want to compare... the one that wins there... has had a fair shot as well as the losers.

But if you do this as a way to determine speed it is also important to consider your visitors.. are they too starting from the same line as you? e.g. using your ISP... odds are not. So your 'winner' could be their 'loser'. *sigh*

It's important to not depend solely on trace routes.. there is so much more to it and they are just a piece of the puzzle....

What if the blue car only weighs a couple of ounces and the Red car weighs 5 tons...(what if one server is hosting 4 thousand sites and one is only hosting 50 sites)

What if the blue car starts out on dirt roads in the back woods and the red car has a brand new freeway to start at...

What if the red car has 'Goofy" building the engine and the blue car has NASA's whole engineering team building the engine? (it wouldn't matter how fast the red was if Goofy can not figure out how to start the engine)

The list goes on and on and on....

A Day In The Life..... hehe

Deb

------------------
Unlocking the Power of the Internet!
www.FutureQuest.net (http://www.FutureQuest.net)

[Terra]

Here is a link that I stumbled on... It metaphorically describes what bandwidth is...

http://www.rcarnell.com/newbie/02internet10.htm

--
Terra
sysAdmin
FutureQuest

[Paul]

Let me tell you a story...

I also used the host connection test at tophosts.com while my website was being hosted at ****.com (rhymes with icom http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif)
and it always came out as a winner usually against "speedyweb".

The problem with that is as follows...

I had countless problems with ****.com (rhymes with icom http://www.aota.net/ubb/frown.gif).. continuous email problems to the point where I had people use and alternative email address to be sure I could read my email.

Very slow loading of my pages MOST of the time. Many times I would see 168 bytes per second and ridicules amounts similar to this.

When using FTP to load or delete files.. there were times (often) that the process was sooo sloooow that I ran out of patience and would just NOT make a change.

Server would go down for hours at various times pretty regularly.

Extremly slow response from their support staff and even then I would have to go back and forth with them for days before I could get the problem resolved (if I was lucky).

And on and on and on...

So to me, tophosts.com connection speed test means absolutely nothing. When I decided to move to another server.. I sent an email to several hosts at their "support" email address to see what kind of a response time there would be since I consider support extremely important. I sent one to speedyweb
nearly two weeks ago and I'm still waiting...
I sent one to FutureQuest and I got an answer somewhere between 12 and 17 minutes.

I am VERY happy with the service, server speed, support at FutureQuest.net as I think anyone would.

Sidenote: Tophosts.com rates ****.com (rhymes with icom http://www.aota.net/ubb/biggrin.gif) in their top 15 webhosts, and they advertise heavily on tophosts. Coincidence? You decide.

Ok.. I'm done now.