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Webhost 3.0

Webhost 3.0 provides an updated platform that combines the hosting services onto a single VM.

The service is intended for customers that have technical skills/knowledge in installing/maintaining web software. Customers that have limited technical knowledge/skills may be more comfortable with some of the options listed at: http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/hosting/

Webhost 3.0 provides the following level of support: http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/hosting/support.cfm

Customers that require a higher level of customization and/or have a deep technical background may be more comfortable with a "Managed Server" and installing the web application stack on their own: http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/managed_servers/

What's new

A summary of the updated features:

  • 64-bit RHEL 6 (Coldfusion can allocate more than 2 GB of memory)
    • CF9/LAMP currently using 32-bit RHEL5
  • Coldfusion 10 using Java 1.7
    • CF9 currently using CF9 with Java 1.6
  • PHP 5.4
    • LAMP2 currently uses PHP 5.3
    • PHP-FPM also now available as an alternative to mod_php (uses less memory)
  • Python 2.7
    • No change from LAMP2
  • Ruby 1.9.3
    • LAMP2 currently uses Ruby 1.8.7
  • Perl 5.16
    • No change from LAMP2
  • MySQL 5.5
    • Same version from LAMP2
    • MySQL database located on same VM versus separate
  • Local storage
    • No longer uses NFS (Shared File Service) for storage
    • Customers can opt to continue to use SFS, but will incur additional charges
  • Updated administrative tools
    • Can now modify both ".wdaccess" and ".htaccess" via web inteface
    • Can upload files via PHP Shell
    • Can utilize "pip" for installing Python software
  • Shared Apache instance
    • Provides lower memory footprint for hosting multiple isolated instances

The PHP Shell/virtualenv utilities are no longer an "experimental" utility. There are some new "experimental" features that may be of interest for advanced web developers by special request.

  • Git Repository
    • A git repository that can be used as an alternative to webdav for publishing code
  • Mercurial Repository
    • A mercurial repository that can be used as an alternative to webdav for publishing code

Details

Software Versions

 

Static

LAMP1

CF9

LAMP2

Webhost3

Apache

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.2

Coldfusion

 

 

9.0.1

 

10

mod_php

 

5.2

 

5.3

5.4

php-fpm

 

 

 

 

5.4

Python

 

 

 

2.7

2.7

Ruby

 

 

 

1.8.7

1.9.3

Shared vs. Standalone Apache

In CF9/LAMP2 each "instance" represented a separate apache instance that could be started/stopped independently. This provides a high level of isolation, but can also consume more system resources and complicate server administration. The "shared" apache instance makes it possible to host a larger number of instances on a single apache instance while still providing isolation between the instances.

 

Standalone

Shared

Apache

2.2

2.2

Start/Stop Apache

Yes

Yes*

mod_cgi

Yes

No

Custom virtualhost include

Yes

No

mod_php

Yes

No

PHP-FPM

Yes

Yes

Start/Stop PHP-FPM

Yes

Yes

Coldfusion

Yes

Yes

Start/Stop Coldfusion

Yes

Yes

Python

Yes

Yes*

Ruby

Yes

Yes

* Will start/stop ALL sites that are behind the shared Apache
** Use of Python w/out custom virtualhost include is somewhat limited

How many instances

Using a VM with 2 GB of memory the following are some guidelines on possible deployments. Individual applications may vary (i.e. it's possible to have a single PHP/Python/Ruby/Perl application that consumes 100% of the memory. Increasing the amount of memory may make it possible to run more instances, but it is not a recommended best practice.

Please note that each instance could host anywhere from 1 website to 100 websites depending on how the software is configured (i.e. a single multisite drupal instance serving 100 websites).

Coldfusion

  • 2 instances shared or standalone

PHP

  • 3 standalone
  • 9 shared

Python

  • 3 standalone
  • 9 shared

Ruby

  • 3 standalone
  • 9 shared

Static

  • 3 standalone
  • 100 shared

The estimates below are based on the following observed utilization

 

Memory (MB)

Apache (mod_php)

85

php-fpm

35

coldfusion

350

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