Without question, some hosting companies are slower than others. This is particularly noticeable when a site uses a Content Management System (CMS). By taking a closer look at server packing at four of the most popular shared hosting providers. They included GoDaddy, Network Solutions, BlueHost and HostGator.
Researchers decided to investigate by implementing a way to actually measure how many websites are being “packed” into each server. They used a reverse IP lookup tool to help them make determinations. By using this tool they could determine how many domains share the same IP address. What they found out may not surprise you, but it is certainly interesting. This is what they found:
GoDaddy – 4171 sites packed
Network Solutions – 1730 sites packed
Bluehost – 1390 sites packed
HostGator – 92 sites packed
Based on their independent research, GoDaddy appeared to be by far, the worst offender when it came to packing sites on individual servers. As you can see they were followed by Network Solutions. While Bluehost had previously been one of our top choices, they have recently seemed to be incurring slowdowns and uptime issues. HostGator has long been a solid choice of ours, but now we wonder if it will only be a matter of time before they begin to pack their shared hosting along with the others.
With 4,171 sites attached to the sample IP address, we’ve found GoDaddy to be consistently slow. This was especially true during business hours. This is probably not surprising considering this number is almost two and a half times the amount being packed by the next highest, Network Solutions.
Right now, it appears that Network Solutions and Bluehost are roughly about the same when it comes to packing servers. With only 92 sites packed per server, HostGator however, is clearly doing something different. To date, this validates our experience that HostGator provides hosting that is fast, reliable, and consistent.
You should keep in mind that we used only a single sample from each hosting provider. Each of these hosting providers will certainly use different hardware, network setups, etc. While we are not hosting providers, or even system administrators, we have noticed a correlation between number of sites per IP and the level of performance experienced from that particular hosting provider.
Based on these results and for today, at least, HostGator still is our top choice as the way to go. Calling your host provider may not be much help, as they are skilled at confusing the issue with a variety of excuses and explanations. If they start in about “rebuilding your database” and other tasks that they want to place on your doorstep, get ready to run!