TheWebHostingBlog.NET

CUSTOMIZED HOST NAMES
When modifying your code in the future, please be sure to use yourusername.powwebmysql.com as your hostname.

We are in the process of updating the code of all customers to use this customized configuration. (Rest assured, this hostname cannot be accessed from an outside source; it’s only routable from inside our network — even a DNS lookup won’t find it.)

You may recall that we began customizing MySQL hostnames last year to include your username instead of the server name:
yourusername.powwebmysql.com

Configuring hostnames in this way provides a degree of flexibility if the resources of certain MySQL servers exceed capacity, translating into better performance for your databases.

MySQL QUERIES: 50,000 PER HOUR
To ensure optimum MySQL performance for all our customers, we are limiting the number of queries per login to 50,000 per hour and the duration of individual queries to 60 seconds.

This should not be an issue for the vast majority of customers — in fact, most customers will experience improved performance as a result of this measure. However, if you do suspect that you’re exceeding the query limit, log into your MySQL Management Tool, and if you’re over the limit, you’ll see a notice with more info.

We apologize for any inconvenience; however, on a shared hosting platform, there are practical limits to the amount of resources we can dedicate to individual customers. If this becomes an issue for you, you may be able to reduce the number of queries you are running by using application-level caching, combining queries or taking advantage of nested queries wherever you can.

CHECK YOUR APPLICATIONS: DON’T GET SPAMMED OR ABUSED
Be sure to closely monitor your applications — don’t let them get spammed or abused! These tips will help keep you protected, as well as keep our MySQL servers running at peak performance:

* Check your bulletin boards, forums, blogs, etc., for spammers. Fake posts and comments compromise the integrity of your site and slow down database performance.

* Turn off Guest or Anonymous posting to these applications.

* Require registration, and registration confirmation. Spammers can use programs to automatically sign up accounts on your site and start posting bad content; requiring registration confirmation can reduce this risk.

* Keep your code up to date. New releases of applications often include built-in spam protection and can greatly reduce the number of queries and amount of bandwidth you use.