Zencart slow on Dreamhost?

I installed Zen Cart for a customer who uses Dreamhost.
Since the beginning the store has been extremely slow.
Right at this moment, the pages are actually loading a little faster. The site was down for a couple of minutes so I am guessing the server restart is helping the page load time.

http://whimsychick.com/store/

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with Dreamhost as well.

I want to recommend to my client to move to a different host but I want to be 100% certain that Dreamhost is the problem. Or I atleast want to be able to contact Dreamhost to make them aware of the problem.

I wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad configuration so I installed 2 additional Zen cart stores on separate hosts. No products in either one.

1. Clean install on dreamhost server. Clien'ts server.
   http://whimsychick.com/catalog/

2. Clean install on Site5 server. My server.
   http://www.polarduality.com/zen/

Pages do seem to be loading quicker with my host, Site5.

Any info/help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes it is a proplem with dreamhost. I am also hosted with them and contacted them regarding this matter, they werent of much help all they did was shift the blame to zencart.

If you are going to contact dreamhost please let them know that there are others with the same problem, Mention https://www.hbwaitches.com (which is me) tell them that I am aslo having issues with the speed on my site ..maybee this will get them to do something about it.

GL !

Your web page on site5 loaded mad quick by me

On Dreamhost server
Parse Time: 4.134 - Number of Queries: 70 - Query Time: 0.33181719744873

On Site5 server
Parse Time: 0.218 - Number of Queries: 67 - Query Time: 0.024674449707031

The numbers speak for themselves!

How easy is it to switch servers ?

hbtrading:

How easy is it to switch servers ?

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_56

I should think that if their newsletter is saying they're promoting Zen Cart, that they would have already taken steps to tune their servers for it.

Tell them to beef up some of the caching in the MySQL settings.

DrByte:

I should think that if their newsletter is saying they're promoting Zen Cart, that they would have already taken steps to tune their servers for it.

Tell them to beef up some of the caching in the MySQL settings.

yes, they have removed 1 click install for OSCommerce from their control panel and have added Zen Cart. I don't know if they've taken any steps to tune their servers yet but hopefully they will start to pay more attention now that they are supporting Zen.

this is also a good place to look
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=infopages&pages_id=10

thanks.

but i'm just looking for more peeps having the same issues with Dreamhost...

:)

hello everyone,

I registered here just to share that I also have Dreamhost and am experiencing very slow service.

Overall, my sites also seem to be on/off irregularly, functioning only about 90% of the time. I've been working with the Zen Cart quite often, and now find that it's almost unbearable at moments.

I shall shoot a letter off to dreamhost. I was planning to upgrade my "Code Monster" account onto a dedicated server a few months back, but now that I'm experiencing these problems more regularly, I'm more doubtful of their capabilities to provide good uptimes and fast load speeds.

This is just pure speculation, but it wouldnt surprise me if this has something to do with the fact that they've been heavily promoting the cheaper price plans. Once that happens, you have a torrent of people signing up and more customers to deal with. Instead of spending time improve quality, you'd need to spend time troubleshooting minor stuff and answering many "noobish" questions. (I used to run a hosting service, i should know :no: )

Anyways, I've been a customer for about 2 years now. I'd hate to pick up and leave, because all my files are there.. now, if there was a hosting service that'd move all my files for me.. I wouldn't mind paying extra for that :thumbsup:

~MMN Maniac

Hi!
This is the message I got from them after writing a long letter explaing everything we have discussed in these forums about their slow servers

"Hello,

I tested both of those sites, and both loaded at about the same rate.
Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot we can to to improve speed, as
everything seems to be working just fine.

Sorry about that. If you need anything else, please let us know.

Thanks!

Brian"
Well good luck to them as I think i will be moving, being that this is the 3rd time I have contacted them regarding this matter and have allways received a similar reply

Might I suggest to you one of our fast, reliable and affordable Certified Hosting sites? :smile:

Might click that nice link for Resources in the menu bar at the top of the screen ...

I will certianly check out zencart affiliates and if I decide to use on of them I will use the link displayed on this site to sign up for my account.

After moving my web site from dreamweaver to a new host I immidiately noticed a increase in speed
Check it out for yourself.

Dreamhost site:
https://www.hbwatches.com
New Host site:
https://www.hbsavings.com

I contacted dreamhost a total of 3 times and was not able to get any help, they where allways blaming it on zencart and telling me I need to contact the makers of zencart.
O well .....so long dreamhost.

hbtrading:

After moving my web site from dreamweaver to a new host I immidiately noticed a increase in speed
Check it out for yourself.

Dreamhost site:
https://www.hbwatches.com
New Host site:
https://www.hbsavings.com

I contacted dreamhost a total of 3 times and was not able to get any help, they where allways blaming it on zencart and telling me I need to contact the makers of zencart.
O well .....so long dreamhost.

hello,

if you don't mind my asking, can you tell me which site you are hosted with?

if its not appropriate to say on the forums, please PM it to me.

Thanks. -- I too have dreamhost, and its slow... i put the default installation on, and it takes 30 seconds on broadband to show even the index page.

Thanks.

HB Trading,

yes, it looks like I'll be moving out of Dreamhost myself. Please PM me or post here, if appropriate, and let us know which host it is. Dreamhost seems to be a joke now, and not intended for professional use.

~MMN Maniac

Digging Dreamhost deeper:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13131294

Wow, what a nightmare!

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I've seen them heavily promote their "777" plan.. If they are good webhosts, you'd never need to lower your price so much just to capture volume. At any rate, web Hosts are a dime a dozen, and it seems to me that this was another one who started out good at the very beginning, but then went the way side.

I need a web host that does Zen Cart and also support reseller plans (i.e. unbranded cPanels, and fantasico). hbtrading made a good suggestion.. anybody else care to PM me a suggestion? Many "review sites" are just biased advertising sites :p

~MMN Maniac

One other thing about dreamhost is their slow Panel...once you leave dreamhost to a quicker server you will see what normal speed is :)

Try thisreview site http://www.webhostingjury.com/ this is where I found my out about my host and then I went to their web site and was able to speak to someone live within 60 seconds which was in stark contrast to dreamhost's 24-48 hour response time
Anyhow good luck searching for a good hoster..one thing you should look out for is good customer service

MMN Maniac:

Digging Dreamhost deeper:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13131294

well isn't that F rating comforting. lol

I tried Dreamhost out a couple of weeks ago and Zen Cart ran slow. :) They have a quick cancel button that automagically refunds your card and their support was quick to reply to tickets.

polarduality:

well isn't that F rating comforting. lol

Well, thanks for the great info everyone... time to drop Dreamhost like a bad habit. i'm within my refund period, so gonna take the money and run.

webhostingjury.com has some pretty good info.

of all the review sites i've seen, i think all of them list bluehost.com at #1.

now, are they really that good? or do they pay $2000 / referral? and thats why everyone lists em?

lol

seriously, if anyone has info for bluehost, please let us know. hostgator seemed good too, but a comparable plan is double the price for bluehost.

thanks.