Am I asking for trouble???

[Lee Wallace]

Hello everyone, I hope this isn't too much of a re-post (worn out question) as I have done several searches but would really appreciate a customized answer for my issue.

1. I'm new to Vb and I'm taking my time to learn all I can before rolling out my new forum. I've also working on all the kinks in my biz plan as I realize when this takes off (crossing my fingers) that I possibly won't, financially, be able to cover this site without "sponsors".

2. With that being said, I installed Vb on the "best" shared hosting plan with GoDaddy. They allow only 50 SQL database connections at one time. Does this translate to - Only 50 board users can be logged in at one time??? Is every user on the board causing a DB connection at all times???

3. Big question: Am I asking for trouble when I make a move up to some kind of dedicated server?? Is the backup/saving process of the WHOLE board database safe?? Will I be able to save everything I've done with my board and move it over to my next host "with ease".

--I've got to get this board up. Being on a shared service might be a weak one but I've got have something to show the potential sponsors. Again, can anyone foresee any major issues here. Can I potentially lose all that I worked for when I make the move?

Thank you all in advance for your help!!!

[Lee Wallace]

Just FYI, I'm reading the Manual on backing up/moving; great read. I'm really looking for opinions and experiences. Not sure if I'm starting this project the wrong way. Thanx!

[john2k]

In regards to the financial aspect of supporting the forum, I think you're on the right track at least in terms of keeping your initial costs low. Stay with a shared host or VPS until it begins looking like you will need to go with a dedicated server.

I'm not sure about the database connection limit correlating to 50 max users on the site.

Backing up your database and moving your website to a new host is generally easy -- but only if you're familiar with how to do it. So I suppose it isn't all that "easy" for someone who is completely new to this stuff. There is the potential to lose everything or destroy the database if it is not done correctly. In my opinion, once you know how to do this it is a fairly simply process and rather difficult to accidentally mess everything up.

There are companies around who will do all of this for you if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. I believe Jelsoft may even provide a service for this as well.

[yogesh]

Don’t waste your time with Godaddy, go with another decent host which preferably uses CPanel, which would make moving a lot more easier.

Each user doesn’t causes a new DB connection at the same time, you can serve plenty of users with 50 db connection limit if they are spread out evenly.

[alemcherry]

Godaddy is not a great shared host. They are just okay.

If you have traffic, monitizing should not be a problem.

50 mysql connections is fairly good. You must be able to have much more users logged in at a time. Something like 200-500.

Moving to a dedi later on should not be a problem. Just backing up the files and database should be enough.

[harrysmith]

As a domain registrar Godaddy is good for domain registration, hosting is their secondary business so better to search for a good reliable host.
You can consider a VPS which is a affordable option for dedicated server where you have enough server resources.

[Lee Wallace]

Guys, sorry for the late reply. I hope I didn't lose you and I do hope to get another response. The thread sat for so long I though it would fade away. Anywho, I'm on RealWeb now. Still doing shared but they're working with me in reference to the simultaneous database connections.

My question(s) is this. How many members do you figure it would take before I need to move over to a VPS? 250-1000?? Not all of them are going to be online at the same time but that is a high number of possible simultaneous database connections right?

I've been told that when I'm ready for a move over to a VPS unit that I should not worry about the board as it can be moved easily on their end. Does this sound right? Are most hosting companies used to moving these VB databases over?

Thank you in advance for your help. I'm about to be bombarded with new members and my sponsor list is growing. We're not getting any smaller and I don't want to let anyone down by having a slow board.

Take care!

-Lee