I have something I think is interesting that I'd like to float by you all.
I've been approached by a client to assist with his Drupal installation on Network Solutions. In short, it's slow and producing errors.
In the Network Solutions control panel, you can install a default copy of Drupal. It has a basic installer and a module adding interface. Knowing that NetSol wouldn't even talk to me for a custom install, I installed their default copy. I then used their tool to enable Devel.
Devel showed me that the execution time on the SQL calls were ridiculously slow and the checking for available updates would time out.
After several laborious communications (email and phone), I got this gem:
I am sorry for any issues you had with latency or other issues with Drupal. I changed your /cgi-bin/php.ini to speed up Drupal. However, Drupal is a very resource-intense application. We do not guarantee the performance of Drupal on our hosting as it is very bulky software.
If your Drupal is not connecting to the Drupal update server, please contact Drupal support. We only support making changes or updates to Drupal through the "Upgrade" link in Account Manager. If there is no "Upgrade" link for Drupal in your Open Source Library we cannot support updating it. This is third-party software we provide for free as a customer convenience.
At this time, moving to another host is not an option I've been given. If anyone has any tips to deal with NetSol, I'm all ears.
Otherwise, I at least wanted to share that NetSol has taken to blaming their awful performance on "very bulky software" that they "provide for free as a customer convenience".