Yearly Archives: 2016

Blogging, Hosting

Best Web Hosting Performance and Feature Comparison; IONOS vs BlueHost vs DreamHost vs HostGator

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Performance Server
There are thousands of options when choosing a web hosting provider.  Among the web hosts I’ve seen most often publicized are HostGator, BlueHost, DreamHost, and IONOS Hosting.  Although I am currently using IONOS Hosting and have very been happy with it I am strongly considering switching to DreamHost or BlueHost after comparing the features offered, the performance of each host, and writing this post.  Below I compare the features publicly advertised by each of these web hosting providers and I summarize the testing I performed to evaluate the non-publicized web hosting performance, namely network latency & download speed.
 

Comparing Unpublicized Web Hosting Performance

Although many of the hosting plan features are publicized, their performance is typically not.  Cheap hosting may be feature rich at the sacrifice of performance (server latency and download speed).

Server latency is the time required for a server to respond to a request.  Server latency is affected by different server architectures, processor type / speed, 32bit vs 64 bit CPU architecture, RAM type & size, solid state drives, network switches, load, cabling (length & type), and geographic location (how far away the server is).  Every object on a web page is requested from the server individually. Your main HTML file may load prior to calling for multiple graphics from the server, running scripts, etc.  Per online sources the average number of objects loaded with a typical web page now exceeds 100.  If each of those objects were loaded sequentially, the latency impacts would slow web page load times.  Luckily many of the objects on a web page load in parallel, but there are several that load sequentially.

Download speed is the rate at which data is transferred from the server.  Downloading larger files is not resource intensive with regard to the server architecture, however it is largely dependent on the hosts network architecture, the bandwidth available, and the utilization. Web pages will load faster with a faster download speed.

I set out to explore the performance of the different web hosts.

The Experiment

To test the web host’s server latency i would ping each of the web hosts 100 times, gather the response times, and compare the results.  I would issue the following commands on a Linux computer and gather the response times in text files for further processing.

ping -c 100 www.hostgator.com >> hostgatorping.txt
ping -c 100 www.bluehost.com >> bluehostping.txt
ping -c 100 www.IONOS.com >> IONOSping.txt
ping -c 100 www.dreamhost.com >> dreamhostping.txt

To test the web host’s download speed I would download large files 10 times from each host, capture the download speed, and compare the results.  I decided to only perform this test 10 times as I didn’t want to waste the web hosting providers bandwidth.  DreamHost and HostGator have made a 16MB file and 20MB file available respectively for such a download speed test.  I uploaded the 20MB file from HostGator to my IONOS Hosting to provided comparable results. I also found a 3 MB PDF file on the Smart Passive Income website (known for hosting on BlueHost) for use in the download speed test.  I had initially planned to use this file only to test the methodology prior to signing up for BlueHost. Typically, download speeds tend to increase as the download progresses through larger files as the server and client get into sync, but the results were so favorable for this relatively small file that I used them. I would issue the following commands on a Linux computer and gather the download speeds for further processing.  Please note that I did not include the commands to perform the download from my site or from Smart Passive Income‘s site as I didn’t want to run the risk of having thousands of internet users (or more) hammering our sites.

wget http://marketing.hostgator.com/20MB.zip
wget http://www.hosting.dreamhosters.com/speed/16384.rnd

Experiment Results

Below are the results of my download speed and server latency ping test. The average download speed from BlueHost was the best followed closely by DreamHost and HostGator. The download speed from IONOS Hosting is significantly slower.  The average ping response time from DreamHost was significantly better than the other three. BlueHost came in second with IONOS Hosting and HostGator trailing.

Host Average Download
Speed (MB/s)		 Average Ping
Response Time (ms)
HostGator 1.752 84.18
BlueHost 2.076 54.06
IONOS Hosting 0.739 73.38
DreamHost 1.869 16.74

Below is a graphic showing the distribution of the download rates from each of the web hosting providers.  As stated previously, the average download speed from BlueHost was the best followed closely by DreamHost and HostGator. The download speed from IONOS Hosting is significantly slower. The higher the download speed, the faster web pages will load.

Web Host Performance DownloadRate

Below is a graphic showing the distribution of the ping test responses from each of the web hosting providers.  As stated previously, the average ping response time from DreamHost was significantly better than the other three. BlueHost came in second with IONOS Hosting and HostGator trailing.  The shorter the ping response time, the lower the server latency, and the faster web pages will load.

Web Host Performance Response Time

Comparison of Publicized Web Hosting Features

Each of the web hosts evaluated offer several different packages such that your hosting provider can grow along with you.  These hosts offer shared hosting, hosting on a virtual private server, dedicated servers, and managed WordPress hosting.  Shared hosting provides you (and others) with the access to a physical server that is capable of serving pages for multiple websites, each having its own Internet domain name.  This is the least expensive option as the server costs are shared by several individuals.  A virtual private server package provides you (and others) with your own instance of an operating system hosted on a physical server.  You have full access to the operating system;  however, the server’s resources (CPU, RAM, HD, etc) are shared between your virtual operating system instance and others that are hosted on the same physical server.  This is the mid grade option as the server costs are still shared by several individuals; however, the physical server resources can only be divided fewer ways due to the increased overhead of each operating system hosted on the physical server.    The most expensive option is the dedicated server as you are the only one who can access that physical server.  As your website or application demand increases you might progress from shared hosting to a virtual private server to a dedicated server (or servers).  The managed WordPress hosting package is something relatively new being marketed by web hosting providers.  This seems to be marketed towards an audience that wants to have a WordPress blog or website, but are intimidated by the process of installing it within web hosting packages.  The managed WorPress hosting packages are more expensive than the shared hosting packages.

Host Shared Hosting Virtual Private Server Dedicated Server Managed WordPress Hosting
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes
DreamHost Yes Yes Yes Yes

If you’ve made it this far in my post, then you are likely relatively new to web hosting but are savvy enough to manage your own hosting.  The remainder of this article focuses on the shared hosting packages available from HostGator, BlueHost, DreamHost, and IONOS Hosting.  The shared hosting packages are versatile enough for most users needs.

The table below shows the cost of several packages from the web host providers.  The package pricing tiers available from the web hosting providers is fairly comparable between them an range between $6.99 to $23.99 per month.  The only exception is DreamHost that only offers one shared hosting package.  All web hosting providers included a free domain registration in their hosting package with the exception of HostGator.  At the time this article was posted each provider had several introductory offers available ranging from $0.99 to $14.95 per month.  I currently use the IONOS Hosting unlimited package that currently has an introductory offer of $0.99 per month for the first year and have been very happy with it.  If your interested in beginning a blog or website, but are unsure whether you will enjoy it or stick with it this is the package I recommend.  The IONOS Hosting unlimited package introductory offer gives you a year of hosting and your own domain name for $12 for the first year!

Host Package Name Cost ($ / mo) Intro Offer ($ / mo for 1 yr) Free Domain Included
IONOS Hosting Unlimited $6.99 $0.99 Yes
Unlimited Plus $9.99 $4.99 Yes
unlimited Pro $14.99 $9.99 Yes
Basic $7.99 $3.95 Yes
Plus $10.99 $6.95 Yes
Business $23.99 $14.95 Yes
Hatchling $7.96 $3.48 No
Baby $9.94 $4.97 No
Business $14.94 $7.47 No
DreamHost   $10.95 NA Yes

NOTE:  The prices provided within this article are subject to change by the web hosting providers are no guarantee of availability.

Many of the web hosting providers offer unlimited webspace, websites, and bandwidth within their packages.  Of course there is no such thing as unlimited hard drive space or bandwidth as each of the providers has hardware limitations and are governed by the laws of physics. Hosting providers are marketing the fact that they do not restrict your use of the hard drive space or bandwidth available and you may host as many websites as you’d like within your shared hosting plan.

Each of these hosting providers offers 24/7 support and some offer an option of operating system.  You likely recognize the Windows operating system, but you may not recognize Linux. Well whether you know it or not you have probably used a version of Linux (or Unix) and not known it.  The Linux operating system core is utilized in many things you may use very day from your Android cell phone, Chromebook, Tivo / DVR, to your Google searches.  Each of the web hosts provide dashboards for administering your shared hosting package, so it’s likely that you won’t even be aware that you’re using it.

Host Package Name Webspace Websites Bandwidth Support OS
IONOS Hosting Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
Unlimited Plus Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
unlimited Pro Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
Basic 50GB 1 Unlimited 24/7 Linux
Plus 150GB 10 Unlimited 24/7 Linux
Business Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Linux
Hatchling Unlimited 1 Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
Baby Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
Business Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Windows or Linux
DreamHost   Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 24/7 Linux

Hosting would be of little use if you couldn’t get files to and from the server, manage the server, and send and receive emails.  Files can be uploaded via the Secure Shell (SSH) or through the control panel dashboards provided by the web hosting providers;  however, the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the most convenient ways to upload / download files to / from the server in bulk.  I recommend the Filezilla FTP client for uploading / downloading files in bulk. The SSH can be used to manage the server;  however the control panel dashboards are so versatile and feature rich that it’s unlikely that you will use the SSH. The dashboard offered by the various web hosting providers are either the open source cPanel or a proprietary solutions.  Both solutions are very robust and easy to use.  They have to be otherwise there would be a lot of unhappy calls to tech support and a lot of cancelled services.  Several of the packages offered limit the number of FTP & email accounts and email storage (per account).  It’s unlikely that you will need more than a few email or FTP accounts unless you are operating multiple sites or have multiple people supporting it. Email storage may be limited in some of the web hosting packages;  however it’s unlikely that you will be using it as your primary account.  If you do intent to use it as your primary email account, I recommend managing it through a Gmail account that has a bit more storage.

Host Package Name FTP Accounts Email Accounts Email Storage SSH Accounts Dashboard
IONOS Hosting Unlimited 20 100 2GB (per account) Yes Proprietary
Unlimited Plus Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes Proprietary
unlimited Pro Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes Proprietary
Basic  Unlimited 5 100MB (per account) Yes cPanel
Plus  Unlimited 100 500MB (per account) Yes cPanel
Business Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes cPanel
Hatchling Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes cPanel
Baby Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes cPanel
Business Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes cPanel
DreamHost   Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Yes Proprietary

Summary

The web hosts provide a variety of packages that will allow your hosting to grow with you.  Each of the web hosting providers discussed are feature rich with some variation between them. IONOS Hosting is a low cost provider that is good for entry level hosting.  I’ve been using IONOS Hosting for some time now for this site.  I’ve been happy with it, but I’m highly considering moving to DreamHost or BlueHost due to the better performance.  However, I have not yet explored how difficult it might be to transitioning between web hosts.
 

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Automation, Blogging

Increase Words Per Minute Using Android’s Speech to Text

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Alex and Emma Movie Image

The other day I was watching “Alex & Emma“, a movie about an author who hires a stenographer to help him write a book in 30 days so that he can pay off his gambling debts and avoid bodily harm.  As I’ve been writing more, I began to wonder what similar tactics I might use to increase my productivity.  In the past I’ve used Android’s Speech to Text feature to quickly compose texts and I began to wonder whether I could exploit this feature to compose longer blog posts, at what rate, and at what accuracy.

The Experiment

As I consider myself a reasonable typist, I decided to perform an experiment to determine whether Android’s Speech to Text feature would be a viable alternative to typing.

I would take an online typing test to measure my typing speed and accuracy.  The online test calculates the words per minute (WPM), characters per minute (CPM), and one can determine the accuracy based on the number of words typed and mistakes made.

I would read a page from The 4-Hour Workweek, one of my favorite books, aloud and have Android’s Speech to Text feature transcribe it.  I would record the time using a stopwatch and derive the WPM, CPM, and accuracy from the results.

I would repeat both tests 3 times and average the results for comparison.

Experiment Results

Below are the results of my online typing test. The average of the three trials showed 63 WPM, 344 CPM, and a 91% accuracy.  According to the web site my average CPM is faster than 88% of the 21 million people that have taken the online typing test. So, I suppose I’m pretty fast.

Typing Test Results

WPM CPM Accuracy
Trial 1 66 360 90%
Trial 2 63 342 92%
Trial 3  60  330 90%
AVERAGE  63  344 91%

Note:  It’s unclear whether the CPM from the typing test includes or excludes spaces.

Below are the results from my reading The 4-Hour Workweek and having Android’s Speech to Text feature transcribe the information. The average of the three trials showed 166 WPM, 798 CPM, and a 91% accuracy!  This is more than double my typing speed and the Speech to Text feature achieved the same accuracy.  The CPM is literally off the chart and is faster than 100% of the 21 million people that have taken the online typing test.

Speech to Text Results

WPM CPM (Spaces Excluded) CPM (Spaces Included) Accuracy
Trial 1 137 664 801 93%
Trial 2 187 882 1,068 90%
Trial 3 174 846 1,019 89%
AVERAGE 166 798 963 91%

Note: Punctuation and returns have been excluded from the accuracy numbers such that the online typing test and the Speech to Text comparison would be valid.  There are voice commands in Android’s Speech to Text feature, but I didn’t have time to get proficient with them.  Plus there are no punctuation or returns in the online typing test.

Summary

Using Android’s Speech to Text feature to generate content quickly is a viable alternative to typing.  In fact, even a non-typist should be able to generate high WPM and CPM rates using Speech to Text transcription.  If you are a decent typist, then you can use Android’s Speech to Text feature to give your hands a break.  Heck, you could even do it laying down and give your back a break.

Knowing what to say and how to say it greatly enhances the speed at which content is created. The rates achieved during this experiment were while typing or reading existing materials. For a descent typist, it’s likely that the productivity gain due to the faster Speech to Text transcription rate is marginal compared to the time spent thinking about an idea, researching it, and constructing the information. However, there’s definitely a novelty in composing the written word through transcription.

Based on the test results, I’m able to screw up 9% of what ends up in the first draft, whether I’ve typed the information or had it transcribed. It’s highly unlikely that the Speech to Text transcription or anything typed will be publishable without further revision.

I’ve been considering using the speech recognition software at work, but I suspect that may be too distracting…  especially if everyone started doing it.

Additional Information

Android punctuation and line spacing voice commands are as follows:

  • Period (.)
  • comma (,)
  • question mark (?)
  • exclamation point (!)
  • Enter
  • new line
  • new paragraph

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VBA

Save and Retrieve VBA Variables in the Windows Registry

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There will come a time in Visual Basic for Application (VBA) programming when you will want to save a variable that you are able to modify whose value remains persists between sessions. Such a variable is particularly useful when saving users specific settings in your application, maintaining software license keys, or storing anything else you may wish.

One way of doing this is to save the variable within a hidden (or very hidden) worksheet and hope the user doesn’t corrupt the data. Another way of doing this is to save the variable to a file and retrieve it later as needed, but this is a fairly involved process. The cleanest and simplest method I’ve found to preserve these variables is to write them to the Windows registry using readily available VBA functions.

There are 3 VBA functions that are of interest to this approach:

  • SaveSetting
  • GetSetting
  • DeleteSetting

SaveSetting() Function

Public Function SaveSetting(AppName As String, Section As String, Key As String, Setting As String)

GetSetting() Function

Public Function GetSetting(AppName As String, Section As String, Key As String, Optional Default As String) As String

DeleteSetting() Function

Public Function DeleteSetting(AppName As String, Optional Section As String, Optional Key As String) As String

Function Parameters

AppName - String expression containing the name of the application or project to which the setting applies.

Section - String expression containing the name of the section in which the key setting is being saved.

Key - String expression containing the name of the key setting being saved.

Setting - String expression containing the value to which Key is being set.

Default - String expression containing the value to return if no value is set in the Key setting. If omitted, assumed to be a zero-length string ("").

Registry Location Manipulated

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings\AppName\Section\Key\Setting

Example

The following VBA code may be used as an example of how to read, write, and delete these registry settings.
Sub Test_Registry_Functions()

‘Save Setting to Registry
SaveSetting "MyApp", "Startup", "Top", "75"

‘Retrieve and Display Setting in Message Box
MsgBox GetSetting ("MyApp", "Startup", "Top")

‘Delete Registry settings
DeleteSetting ("MyApp")

End Sub

References

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Book Recommendations

Professional Excel DevelopmentProduct Details

The best resource I’ve found to take you’re VBA development skills to the next level, including:

  • Application development best practices
  • Protect your source code within a .dll file
  • Create an installer for your application
  • Code execution optimization
  • …and much more.

Product DetailsExcel 2013 Power Programming with VBA

An excellent introduction and ongoing reference for VBA development, including:

  • Developing VBA functions and procedure
  • Data types (string, integer, variant, etc.)
  • Common programming structures (If-Then-Else logic, For loops, Do loops, etc.)
  • …and much more.




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Gambling, Probability

You’re a Sucker for Chasing New Powerball Jackpots

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… and so am I.

While news of the astronomical Powerball jackpots are showing up everywhere, little is mentioned of the Powerball game changes on October 7, 2015 that are driving them up.  At that time the game was modified from a pick 5 of 59 white balls & 1 of 35 power balls (59/35) to a pick 5 of 69 white balls & 1 of 26 power balls (69/26) an the odds of winning went from 1 in 175,223,510 to 1 in 292,201,338 respectively.  The $2 ticket you purchase today has less chance of winning than one purchased prior to October 7, 2015.  The changes to the game have also ensured higher jackpots given that the odds of winning were cut almost 60%.

Following a similar process described by Bill Butler here, I set out to determine what other impacts the new game rules had on the Powerball jackpot probabilities.  I plotted the probability of no one winning the jackpot, one ticket winning the jackpot, and two or more tickets winning the jackpot while varying the number of tickets purchased.  The solid lines represent the current 69/26 game and the dotted lines represent the old 59/35 game prior to the October 7, 2015 game changes.

PowerBall Probability Of Winning

This graphic shows that the October 7, 2015 Powerball game changes have increased the probability that there will be no jackpot winner within a particular drawing, decreased the probability that multiple players will win and share the jackpot, and increased the probability that a single player will take home the jackpot in games with higher participation (and likely higher jackpots).

Following the October 7, 2015 Powerball game changes, there will be larger jackpots and the occurrence of single jackpot winners will be more frequent.

In addition to us all being suckers for chasing these larger jackpots, I should also add that I’m a sucker that’s seeding those jackpots. Well, sort of.  I have a yearly Mega Millions subscription that plays my numbers every drawing.  Although I don’t have a subscription to Powerball (yet), I can imagine that many other people do.  Between those of us with automatic subscriptions and those that routinely purchase tickets while at gas stations, liquor stores, etc. we are regularly contributing to the growing jackpot while now purchasing fewer equivalent chances of winning. Once the jackpot increases significantly over the course of several games (due to those of us that regularly contribute and the decreased chance of winning) the jackpot begins to respond exponentially as those that do not purchase regularly begin buying tickets in mass.  The jackpot then increases to the point of being obscene.  The October 7, 2015 game changes appear to have targeted those that do not purchase tickets regularly in the hopes of converting them into regular subscribers.  If this tactic is successful, this conversion will in turn raise the initial and subsequent jackpots more quickly.

We are poised for some record setting single winner jackpots in upcoming years.

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Blogging

Social Media Profile Links Boost Google Search Ranking

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Social Media Post Pic

You may (or may not) know that Google uses inbound links to your site to gauge it’s popularity and relevance.  The most popular and relevant content shows up on page one of Google search results, while less popular content is pushed down in the ranks.  The other day I was to pondering the possible effect on Google Search rankings of inbound links from social media profiles and I inadvertently set up an experiment when I set up social media profiles for my site and experienced some impressive results.

Background

In February 2014, I set up a simple site as a means of gauging interest in a product I was strongly considering building.  The site consisted of a custom URL containing keywords I was targeting, a home page, a download now page, and a contact form.  Since it took me until November 2015 to install WordPress on my Web host, it was a very basic site as I was coding all the HTML & PHP by hand.  Between February 2014 and December 2015, the site remained somewhat stagnant, but I was routinely listed on pages 3 to 5 of Google search results (#21 – #60) for the keywords I was targeting. I also gathered ~200 emails addresses during that time frame through the contact form for future promotion.

Setting Up the Experiment

As of 12/29/2015, I ranked #24 (Page 3) in Google search results for the keywords I was targeting.

On 12/29/2015, I set up social media profiles on the following 5 sites with links to my the main site in each of the profiles:

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

In addition to putting links to my main site within each of the social media profiles I also included as many links between the social media profiles as I could. Each of the 5 social media sites is linked to the other 4 social media sites and my product site and my product site is linked to each of the 5 social media sites.  I theorized that the 30 interconnecting links between the social media profiles and my product site would boost its apparent popularity and relevance resulting in a better ranking within Google search results.

The Experiment Results

On 1/4/2016 I revisited the Google search results and I was shocked by my findings.  The product site went from being ranked #24 on page 3 to being ranked #6 on page 1 of Google for same key words!  It would appear that interconnecting links between the social media profiles and a product site boosts Google search ranking.

However, in the interest of full disclosure I should note that I added 8 additional pages to the product site on 1/2/2016.  This may have aided in the increased ranking of the site and I somewhat regret their addition due to the possible impact on this experiment’s relevance.

It will be interesting to see what the impact of my product site’s new ranking will have on my traffic and email address list.

Your Next Steps

First, don’t hesitate to sign up for web hosting and reserve your domain name (i.e. MikeStrejcek.com). I’m currently using IONOS Web Hosting and am very happy with it, but I’m strongly considering switching to Bluehost Web Hosting.  At the time of this post, shared hosting from both providers is $7 – $8 per month for the basic package, $10 – $11 per month for the intermediate package, and I’ve seen specials as low as $0.99 / month for the first year.  The shared hosting service from both providers even includes the registration of your first domain name.

Second, don’t wait 2 years (like I did) to install WordPress through the Web Host’s Control Panel. WordPress is free, installs in a few button clicks, and offers many powerful plugins (most are also free).  Let WordPress handle the technical details while you focus on the content and its promotion.

 

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