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AmpleHarvest.org outgrows old hosting provider

Learn how Liquid Web helped move AmpleHarvest.org to scalable cloud VPS while providing real-time security reports to better fight against hackers and code injections

a farmer woman in a straw hat and flannel shirt harvests potatoes from her ample garden

AmpleHarvest.org reaps the rewards of Liquid Web hosting

“The best migration I’ve ever been a part of”

4.8 billion

impressions scaled

4,000%

faster support response than previous host

Security reports

prevented code injection during peak traffic

Technology for good

a hand holding a cell phone shows ampleharvest.org donation website

As AmpleHarvest.org’s reputation as a food waste / hunger organization grew, so did their mentions in national news outlets along with other high-profile accolades. However, these periods of high recognition were also causing traffic spikes on their site that were taxing their hosting provider, who was ill-equipped to handle the heavier loads. The situation became even more tenuous as an already large volume of traffic from a major Google advertising grant was compounded by a big push of AmpleHarvest.org PSA traffic from AppNexus’s “Technology for Good” program.

While this was a tremendous boon for AmpleHarverst.org. The response was overwhelming on an enterprise level: site impressions reached 4.8 billion in 2016. But their hosting provider frequently shut down the site at peak times because they were unaware that these were legitimate hits, not malicious traffic.

The unacceptable result was that after receiving these unprecedented levels of recognition, the site would be down for 24-48 hours with average wait times of 20 to 40 minutes for support. It also meant an untold number of prospective food donors continually left the site due to the long stretches of downtime.

How Liquid Web helped

AmpleHarvest.org’s founder Gary Oppenheimer was getting great feedback about Liquid Web, and he was highly motivated to move on from his currently unfavorable situation. Once Oppenheimer began working with Liquid Web, he was quickly impressed with how fast Liquid Web found and fixed items in the testing, and how expertly and efficiently he was able to migrate his old site in spite of his concerns surrounding the often-complicated process. 

Another superior service aspect that attracted him is Liquid Web’s ability to scale traffic intelligently without having to shut the site down: a problem that had already cost him visitors and credibility. The performance of Liquid Web’s VPS servers combined with load balancing features handled the site flawlessly: sudden traffic spikes were no longer a problem. They could now be treated with eager anticipation.

“As far as migrations go, this was the best I’ve ever been a part of. The success of our work towards ending hunger and improving the environment require a hosting service that is up to the task, and we found it with Liquid Web.”

Gary Oppenheimer

Founder

Seeds for positive change

With AmpleHarvest.org having experienced some malicious traffic in the past, Liquid Web’s ability to mitigate several different types of attacks without going offline was highly appreciated. “Customer service and responsiveness have been phenomenal thus far, ” Oppenheimer said.

“With our high traffic, we’ve at times been a target for hackers attempting to inject code. I was previously oblivious to how much of this was going on, so Liquid Web’s real-time reports have been enlightening. The success of our work towards ending hunger and improving the environment requires a hosting service that is up to the task, and we found it with Liquid Web.” 

Fresh lettuce sits in a basket held by a woman in a flannel shirt as she chats with another farmer

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