Benchmark information
The conducted benchmark results fall into the following categories:
General information:
I will conduct this test at least 5 times during different hours on business days so that the statistics are as accurate as possible. Saturday and Sunday will not be included because the internet visitors are fewer then and so there isn’t a huge services load.
1. Normal PHP test – it tests the speed of the execution of a PHP request. Basically, it is a generated cycle – 5 simultaneous PHPs with 500 requests on the whole.
2. PHP + MySQL tests - these tests are comprised of one very short PHP test + inserts into DB and then random selections from the DB. They are being executed one after the other with 100 consecutive requests on the whole. The maximum time for conducting this test is 15 seconds per a request. If the three MySQL operations fail to pass in 15 seconds – the request is counted as failed.
3. MAIL server test. I will send a few emails to these hosts to check how much their mail servers are loaded and how fast the mails arrive in the mail box. The server from which I send the mail has no server load and sends the mail directly without any delay.
4. Customer support – I opened a support ticket(s) with a question and waited for an answer from the support team. I conducted this test several times as well in order to come upon different support staff each time. This way I will calculate the average response time and the quality of the response itself. Although I aim to make the most of this test – don’t take it at its face value. It is unclear how many support teams I’ve managed to test and whether they generally react in such a way or somehow suspected me and decided to act politely or rudely.
5. PHP stress test – while 5 simultaneous PHPs are being executed during the normal PHP test, 10 PHPs are being executed simultaneously during the stress test. This test is successful if the server where the site is located has many CPU cores and has the ability to carry a bigger load upon demand (although it is clear that it cannot last very long on a shared hosting account). But it also means that the host does not use 100% of its resources and can provide its clients with the available resources for a short time upon demand. This test can bring the host some positive points.
6. BIG PHP stress test – here I test the limit of the host with 20 simultaneous PHPs (mind you that such PHPs are being executed in 0.5-1.5 sec). Both stress tests show the amount of the available resources.
8. MySQL stress test – while 1 request is being made during the usual MySQL test, 5 simultaneous requests are being made during this test. The maximum time is once again 15 seconds per a request. Since this test is quite heavy, it is not mandatory for the hosts. But those who complete it, and have at least 60% completed requests, will receive extra points. This test, like the above-described PHP stress test, shows the extent to which a given host has available resources. The more resources a given host has – the better. This way the host will have the opportunity to enjoy maximum uptime and experience much less timeouts and problems in general.