Dedicated or Semi-Dedicated Server Recommendations?

[RetroDreams]

I've got a vBulletin site with about 2500 members and 150k posts. It has been averaging about 18-24GB bandwidth for the last 12 months and about 100+ concurrent connections, with spikes on Saturdays or special events up over 200+ concurrent.

It has been hosted on BlueHost since February of 2007 and never has had any issues aside from when we max out our account and get the "CPU Exceeded" error messages. With our continued growth, we definitely need to get off of our oversold server and into something that will allow for a year or two of continued growth. Can anyone recommend a good host? I would prefer to have CPanel since that is what I'm familiar with and would like to keep it under $200/month, obviously the lower the better.

[The3rdNipple]

What I would recommend is ASmallOranges personal VPS -

http://asmallorange.com/services/vps/

I'm using them right now, and in my opinion they're great at support and never failed me once. Use the 15% off coupon code to ;)

[gigapros]

would like to keep it under $200/month
With a budget of $200/mo, you can easily afford a low-end fully-managed dedicated server!

[express]

Do you know for sure that your site is the one causing the server issues and not some other sites?

Joey

[RetroDreams]

Do you know for sure that your site is the one causing the server issues and not some other sites?

Joey
Well since Bluehost won't tell you what you're appropriated, and I've asked, probably not. All I know is when a special event is going on and we get a lot of traffic, the rabit wheel quits spinning and we get the "CPU Exceeded" errors.

[gigapros]

As far as I know, Bluehost tracks CPU usage PER ACCOUNT (not just per server). So, it's really easy to flag a specific account for exceeding CPU usage.

[RetroDreams]

As far as I know, Bluehost tracks CPU usage PER ACCOUNT (not just per server). So, it's really easy to flag a specific account for exceeding CPU usage.
Everytime I've asked in the past, they've denied giving me the info. That said, it only happens on special events, but that is the most critical time when you don't want it to happen.

[gigapros]

Everytime I've asked in the past, they've denied giving me the info.
Well...now you know why it happens. :)

[RetroDreams]

Bumping this up again. Tried to hold off but my account was suspended last night for excessive MSQL_SLOW_QUERIES. Anyhow, in looking through the 25 logs in the folder, I'd say 95% of the queries are common vBulletin stuff like this:

# Wed Apr 22 20:00:03 2009
# Query_time: 2 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 0 Rows_examined: 0
use XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX;
SELECT filename, attachment.postid, attachment.userid, attachmentid, attachment.extension,
thumbnail_dateline AS dateline, thumbnail_filesize AS filesize,
attachment.visible, attachmenttype.newwindow, mimetype, thread.forumid, thread.threadid, thread.postuserid,
post.visible AS post_visible, thread.visible AS thread_visible
FROM attachment AS attachment
LEFT JOIN attachmenttype AS attachmenttype ON (attachmenttype.extension = attachment.extension)
LEFT JOIN post AS post ON (post.postid = attachment.postid)
LEFT JOIN thread AS thread ON (post.threadid = thread.threadid)
WHERE attachmentid = 265

In speaking with a BlueHost engineer yesterday (prior to being shut down) he told me it wasn't my site causing the issues. Then 6 hours later, my site shows the suspended message and I get an email claiming I'm hogging up too many resources. I have not added any new plugins or made any significant changes to my site in a couple months and have been running on this account for over 2 years now -- sounds to me like someone has oversold the box.

So in bumping, can anyone recommend hosts that specialize in hosting vBulletin sites? I saw the multiple URLJet suggestions, so I've got them down, but I always like to look at two or three options so I can make an informed decision.

[gigapros]

Looking at your site stats (100-200+ concurrent conn) & based on your $200/mo budget, go for a managed low-end dedicated server, which may cost you between $150-200 (based on config). Your site seems to be in the verge to outgrowing the shared hosting, so it's the best time to make a switch.

[RetroDreams]

Looking at your site stats (100-200+ concurrent conn) & based on your $200/mo budget, go for a managed low-end dedicated server, which may cost you between $150-200 (based on config). Your site seems to be in the verge to outgrowing the shared hosting, so it's the best time to make a switch.

I went back through my stats and I average approx 75 users concurrently. The 100-200 was simply my special event days. Also, I'm backing down off of that budget because I lost my biggest sponsor thanks to the economy tanking when it did.

[Jedito]

If your forum is big enough you can ask to a host to sponsor your site, it doesn't hurt to ask :)

[Floris]

I've got a vBulletin site with about 2500 members and 150k posts. It has been averaging about 18-24GB bandwidth for the last 12 months and about 100+ concurrent connections, with spikes on Saturdays or special events up over 200+ concurrent.

It has been hosted on BlueHost since February of 2007 and never has had any issues aside from when we max out our account and get the "CPU Exceeded" error messages. With our continued growth, we definitely need to get off of our oversold server and into something that will allow for a year or two of continued growth. Can anyone recommend a good host? I would prefer to have CPanel since that is what I'm familiar with and would like to keep it under $200/month, obviously the lower the better.
Theplanet.com or leaseweb.com have proper dedicated for less than 200$/month.

[Floris]

If your forum is big enough you can ask to a host to sponsor your site, it doesn't hurt to ask :)
Jedito, is there a reason (and sorry for going offtopic) why your dedicated solutions still offer CentOS4 instead of 5 or newer?

[Jedito]

Jedito, is there a reason (and sorry for going offtopic) why your dedicated solutions still offer CentOS4 instead of 5 or newer?
Not really, both are available indeed. Just an old text on the site that's going to be renewed soon.

[Floris]

Ah ok. I've bookmarked your site from your signature. For review in January 2010 when we will probably need to look for a new place for http://wetalk.tv/ network and a handful of other sites of mine.