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small free hosting to run light php/python cronjobs

Darko

Darko

New Member
hello,

i have a few php/python scripts that i would like to run regularly and i'm looking for a reliable host with a proven history of good uptime. I need 100mb in webspace and 500mb in bandwidth and one mysql database and i'm fine with a subdomain. The scripts i'm running are basically stats monitoring scripts, that checks few indexes n returns stats that get logged in the database, and thats why i need someone with good uptime, because the scripts need to run once every few minutes and downtime means lost stats.

Thank you

edit: Has to have all the major php extensions enabled
 
Nobody is going to let you run cron jobs every few minutes...especially not a free host. Even most of the big paid hosting companies have a limit as to how often you can run a cron job (usually no more than once every 10-15 minutes). And of course, if you're looking for some sort of proven history of uptime, you don't want a free host either.

Your best bet might be getting a small VPS or something. You should be able to get away with a tiny one. Even one of the $15/year jobs should work fine.
 
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Damn, this forum is getting worse n worse because of people like you. It's almost impossible to post any kind of requests here without some smart --- having some comments of why it's an impossible request. The rules are very simple, read the request, check if it matches anything ure willing to offer, if you don't have any match, MOVE ON. I don't care about ur opinion, I'm not asking for it, I know what I asked for and I know what's out there, if I wanted paid I would have posted in the paid section. But I guess every forum has its own gang of members who go around posting cliches responses to rank up on posts count to feel better about themselves.
And why would a host disallow cronjobs??? That's so arbitrary?? Do you even know what a cronjobs is?? Running a php cronjob has exactly the same effect as visiting the php page in a browser. Are you saying that no free host would allow me to visit the same page a few times per hour?? The only bad effect with cronjobs is possible abuses of running some long script in a infinite loop and even that can be easily done with or without a cronjob, u just place the script on the site and keep pinging it.
Can't believe that u've been in the business for 16 years
 
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I'm just trying to give you information so you can actually educate yourself in this industry. Could care less about my post count.

I'm just telling you what the majority of hosts do, and the policies they have in place, so that perhaps you can actually find a solution, instead of making post after post after post with ridiculous requirements, and getting nothing accomplished.

Like I said, take a look around and see for yourself hosts' policies on cron jobs. The reason hosts limit cron jobs is because they normally aren't just like visiting a normal html or php web page, contrary to your belief. There is almost always some intensive script associated with it, in the PHP file, for example, that requires loads of processing. Hosts don't want people running all these intensive scripts on their servers every minute or so.

If you don't believe me, go educate yourself on the issue, and go research hosts' policies on cron jobs.

Good luck in your search! Same with your "unlimited accounts" and SSH reseller request too. ;)
 
Yeah...I'm 16. You're a fool.

You also say you are going to log uptime statistics, which means every single minute, not only is your script going to be running, but you're also going to be making database transactions. That's just like somebody visiting a page every minute huh? You have clearly never managed a real server before, have never run a hosting company, etc., and have no clue what you're talking about.

Like I said, good luck. ;)
 
Darko said:
The only bad effect with cronjobs is possible abuses of running some long script in a infinite loop and even that can be easily done with or without a cronjob, u just place the script on the site and keep pinging it.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why it isn't normally allowed especially not with short intervals. A script on a site is inherently limited by Apache when viewed by a web browser, so even though it may run over and over thousands of times a minute it only requires a handful of process IDs to do so and has a lot of safeguards such as total execution time and memory usage restraints to prevent a server from being locked up by it without a seriously abusive traffic level.

Actual cron jobs spawn one or more processes each time the cron job runs, inviting a very risky situation where if the process doesn't finish before the cron job starts again it will eventually run the server out of PIDs and RAM locking it up.

To do what you are talking about needs at minimum a shell hosting, but preferrably a VPS. Free web hosting is meant for hosting websites, not for running background processes- out of the box CPanel even has tools in it to automatically identify such processes and suspend the accounts responsible for them. That's a standard feature in the most widely used panel on the market, and exists for good reason.

Also, at the frequency you are running it at- wouldn't it be better to use a bash script instead of a cron job like I do for my own uptime poller? Then it is safer- limited to only one process at a time, and if it takes longer than expected to run will inherently wait for itself instead of starting itself over and over.

Something along the lines of:
Code: 
#!/bin/bash
while true; do

#TODO: insert function here, such as the example php command
php poller.php

sleep 15 #delay in seconds

done

Either way, you'd still need a shell host or VPS to provide you this kind of capability for free, not a web host. Although WSWD could have approached it better, that's what he was getting at: most hosts simply do not offer that kind of capability even on a paid service.

There are a number of post2vps services out there that would do what you need for free though. The VPSs you get are tiny, capable of running a couple scripts and maybe a VPN server. But you get what you pay for with those, and I wouldn't count on good uptime because of the extremely high abuse rates such services have to put up with.
 
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wswd said:
Yeah...I'm 16. You're a fool.

You also say you are going to log uptime statistics, which means every single minute
Click to expand...
i said stats, didnt say uptime stats, i didnt specify what kind of stats they were.

wswd said:
not only is your script going to be running, but you're also going to be making database transactions. That's just like somebody visiting a page every minute huh?
Click to expand...

lol, thank you for making my point for me, you have no clue what you're talking about. Unless you're running a static website, every web page visit in a database driven website can generate multiple database queries. i can't believe that i have to explain this to someone claiming to have 16 years in web hosting experience. A simple visit to a wordpress blog with a few widgets running might generate multiple database queries, what are you talking about!!!!!

i know how web search workS btw, i posted here to see if some respectable company would give me a good offer.
 
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Seraphim said:
This is exactly why it isn't normally allowed especially not with short intervals. A script on a site is inherently limited by Apache when viewed by a web browser, so even though it may run over and over thousands of times a minute it only requires a handful of process IDs to do so and has a lot of safeguards such as total execution time and memory usage restraints to prevent a server from being locked up by it without a seriously abusive traffic level.

Actual cron jobs spawn one or more processes each time the cron job runs, inviting a very risky situation where if the process doesn't finish before the cron job starts again it will eventually run the server out of PIDs and RAM locking it up.

To do what you are talking about needs at minimum a shell hosting, but preferrably a VPS. Free web hosting is meant for hosting websites, not for running background processes- out of the box CPanel even has tools in it to automatically identify such processes and suspend the accounts responsible for them. That's a standard feature in the most widely used panel on the market, and exists for good reason.

Also, at the frequency you are running it at- wouldn't it be better to use a bash script instead of a cron job like I do for my own uptime poller? Then it is safer- limited to only one process at a time, and if it takes longer than expected to run will inherently wait for itself instead of starting itself over and over.

Something along the lines of:
Code: 
#!/bin/bash
while true; do

#TODO: insert function here, such as the example php command
php poller.php

sleep 15 #delay in seconds

done

Either way, you'd still need a shell host or VPS to provide you this kind of capability for free, not a web host. Although WSWD could have approached it better, that's what he was getting at: most hosts simply do not offer that kind of capability even on a paid service.

There are a number of post2vps services out there that would do what you need for free though. The VPSs you get are tiny, capable of running a couple scripts and maybe a VPN server. But you get what you pay for with those, and I wouldn't count on good uptime because of the extremely high abuse rates such services have to put up with.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but i'm really not looking to run huge process. My script simply requests two pages, parses out data and inserts it into a database. it takes 10 seconds to run on my core 2 duo laptop and ill run it like 4~5 times/hour max. And i never the script monitors uptime, thats just what wswd wanted to base his ridiculous opinion on
 
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Darko said:
lol, thank you for making my point for me, you have no clue what you're talking about. Unless you're running a static website, every web page visit in a database driven website can generate multiple database queries.
Click to expand...


Like I said, most scripts being run with CRON jobs are quite intensive, and more than just a couple database queries like a WordPress site. That's exactly why the CRON policies that most hosts utilize are in place. I don't know how many times I have to explain that to you, or why you don't understand that, but that's exactly why those policies are in place at the majority of reputable hosting companies.

I'm sorry you can't seem to understand that. Hosts don't create policies just to have policies. They create them in response to abuse. CRON job policies exist because as Seraphim explained, they can bring the servers to a crawl, and even crash them.
 
I would concider making you an offer before I did read WSWD's comment and now I withdraw.
Thanks WSWS for your comment!

*You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to wswd again.
 
sander k said:
I would concider making you an offer before I did read WSWD's comment and now I withdraw.
Thanks WSWS for your comment!

*You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to wswd again.
Click to expand...

lmao, your signature says I AM NO WEBHOST

thank you polieleos7777, i already found a solution, but i applied for an account there anyway, thank you
 
By the way @Darko, since you only need cron running for 4-5 times/hour, why you didn't try out with those webcron services?
 
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