Need some hosting advice.

[MarkB]

Hi :)

I have a medium-sized forum (by my standards;)) with at the moment top averages of ~30 users at any one time (most online is currently 49 ppl). I don't need a dedicated server yet (or at least my host hasn't told me that I do;)), but I know it's inevitable as our forums grow.

I have already decided that if I get a linux box I will host with Ventures Online, BUT I'm also wondering whether a raq would be more economical for a forum of this size (we're only getting around 260k pages a month), or if I really should just plump for a VO ded box.

If a raq would run ok: any suggestions for a host?

If VO is the go: would plan #1 be sufficient if I up'd the memory to 256mb?

I thank you for your help :)

Mark

[eva2000]

well i have both 1 server at VO and 1 raq4 with rackshack.net

For vB i'd recommend using VO.. i tried importing a backup vB dump size 300+MB into my raq to test how it would handle it and the load went up to 4.5+ and took 16 minutes at least ....

for you right now you won't be needing more than 20GB per month.. hypothetical

choose raq4 at rackshack.net for US$250 setup + 99/mo but including tax charges section 3 http://rackshack.net/aboutus/tos.asp

that's like US$250 + 8.25% + ((0.8 x 99) + 8.25%) + 0.2 x 99 = US$270.625 setup + US$105.534 per month

start with 6 months on raq4 then due to raq4 not handling load having to move to VO plan 1 server for 6 months =

(6 x 105.534) + 270.625 + US$200 + (6 x 200) = US$2303.829 for 12 months

versus start with VO plan 1 for 12 months = US$200 + (12x200) = US$2600

VO's support is much better and well you get a P3 866 versus an AMD K6 450! and raq only has max 512mb ram whereas P3 866 can upgrade up to 4gb ram and considering mysql needs more memory :)

[DigitalCrowd]

Why is it everyone thinks they need some huge server for their board? We run nearly 20 domains and our vBulletin site generated over 1 million page impressions, had as many as 165 on at a given time, and sucked up 19gig of bandwidth (web site alone)... none of that includes all the pages and bandwidth the other sites sucked up or the web server had to serve.

The box is a PIII450-192mb running EIDE drives. The box is bored out of its mind... wants more to do with its time.


DC

[Martin]

I'd love a peak at your my.cnf and php.ini files.

my box is about 5 x yours and it does some sweating every now and again running about 10 sites, 3 with vB's totalling ~500 max users online, 350 avg

[eva2000]

Originally posted by DigitalCrowd
Why is it everyone thinks they need some huge server for their board? We run nearly 20 domains and our vBulletin site generated over 1 million page impressions, had as many as 165 on at a given time, and sucked up 19gig of bandwidth (web site alone)... none of that includes all the pages and bandwidth the other sites sucked up or the web server had to serve.

The box is a PIII450-192mb running EIDE drives. The box is bored out of its mind... wants more to do with its time.


DC well not sure about you but i like to have room to grow on my server for my web sites ~ 81 domains for a dozen or so sites live and in the works.

I'd never recommend to anyone who is serious in running their web site on a server that JUST is enough for their site without any room to grow.

My server would of been considered overkill when i first got it since i only had around 45 - 90 users on and total pageviews would of been only 1.8 million per month.

But now still on the same server i'm averaging 250 - 320 users and peaked at 586 users and this month will be on track for 3.5 - 4 million pageviews..

Still the server is lightly loaded but i know i'll be growing more with what i planned hence i feel secure and comfortable knowing my server can handle the grow in the immediate term.

also i love being able to do stuff as root user, like tweaking my my.cnf files as well :D

[MarkB]

Thanks for the replies :)

I think I may as well go with a VO box.... would their plan 1 with 256mb RAM cope with my forum as described above? Or should I up the memory (I can't afford anything higher than a plan 1 at the moment... hell, I can't afford a plan 1!;) But willing to spring for it for the added performance etc).

Thanks again!
Mark

[Steve Machol]

Mark,

FWIW, I went with their Dedicated #1 plan, except I upped the memory to 612k.

[Martin]

a plan 1 would work for what you have, but I would definitely bump up to 256 Mb to leave a little room for growth.

a nice thing about VO is that if it comes time to upgrade your server, they credit what you've already paid in setup fees to your new server, so if you grow, there's a little less out of pocket.

unless they are properly configured (and they rarely are) raq's have some serious problems with mySQL.

[eva2000]

Originally posted by Martin

a nice thing about VO is that if it comes time to upgrade your server, they credit what you've already paid in setup fees to your new server, so if you grow, there's a little less out of pocket.

wow!..i didn't know that before

probably because i haven't had any upgrades yet

[eva2000]

Originally posted by smachol
Mark,

FWIW, I went with their Dedicated #1 plan, except I upped the memory to 612k. 612k is that kilobytes or bits ;)

[MarkB]

Well, that's me decided :)

Now to find a way of paying for it :p

Thanks again :)

[Steve Machol]

Originally posted by eva2000
612k is that kilobytes or bits ;) What's one small 'b' between friends! :D

Processor Info
Processor #1 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #1 Name: Pentium III (Coppermine)
Processor #1 speed: 868.652 MHz
Processor #1 cache size: 256 KB

Memory Information
Memory: 625876k/638964k available (1365k kernel code, 12704k reserved, 92k data, 236k init, 0k highmem)

[MarkB]

I've had some dedicated server offers from some other hosts, and I was wondering whether the particular one below would cope with vB as detailed in my first post...

(my site is now basically run through the forums, and my other sites are all static html with a little CGI).


CPU: Intel P3 800
Motherboard: Intel D815EFVL
RAM: 256MB (512MB max)
HD: 20GB Western Digital 7200RPM ATA/10

(I'm not a hardware geek, so a lot of those letters are all martian to me!:))

Thanks again for your replies earlier :)

Mark

[Paul L.]

Here is my take on the hardware, I think the system can handle your needs but there are some things you need to know about the hardware offered.

HD: 20GB Western Digital 7200RPM ATA/10---- Are bad news I have had quite a few go out in the last few months we are now going with IBM drives.

Motherboard: Intel D815EFVL---- I have a few of theses I cant give away the big downfall is the max 512 ram limit if you need more as you grow then you will have to upgrade the motherboard.


CPU: Intel P3 800 Well they dont make 800 chips anymore so the good news is I guess you would get a free upgrade if it goes out :)


Hope this helps you out.

[eva2000]

it would do, however note that the max memory is limited to 512mb ram due to the motherboard type and mysql needs more memory as the first point of call for any performance improvements when your site grows larger... it would mean you'd have to move servers again when you need more than 512mb ram.

[eva2000]

lol Paul great minds think alike :D