Need advice on hosting (forum with 50 - 70 online users average)

[LaPiba]

Hi all,

Our site is running a vb board with more than 51,000 posts, and almost 4,900 registered users since April 2002. Usually we have 50 - 70 users online (registered + visitors) although this number increases at certain hours (60 - 90). The timeout for cookie is set to 900 sec, and the .sql file of our database *excluding*: attachments, searchindex and word tables, is about 90 Mb.

We are hosted at Site5 on a shared account, we had bandwith overage last month, and our site is growing. We need to move to another host (virtual private server or reseller account?), so i ask you for advice.

I have already posted at WHT, and received a lot of offers, but now I am really confused, specially because most companies seem to be vey new on business and because of the variety of the offers. I have read good comments about some companies at WHT and one of the possibilites we are handling is to sign up with a reseller account on unitedhosting.co.uk , but we are still seeking.

Could you please post your recommendations?
Thank you very much in advance.

[tgillespie]

I have PMed you with some options.

[bahawolf]

RSMHost is what I use... and its a great host. I wouldn't ever leave.. :) Good luck with your host!

[walter]

www.venturesonline.com (http://www.venturesonline.com) is good example for a premium host with a stable network and good support.

[SaintDog]

I don't personally have anything against WHT, though I would not personally make a hosting request there as most hosts that repond (again, I said most) are new hosts that are going to offer you the world for nothing, or next to it; those type of hosts give others a bad name and are quite frequently the ones that receive the most complaints.

Coming here was probably the best move you could have made to be honest as the hosts around here seem to be very curtious and so forth and I have not seen any of them attempt a shot at ripping anyone off.

------

Now that I have stated the above, I will give you my opinion, from a hosts perspective :).

Personally, your site is growing and it is evident, though, with a growing number of online users, your website is going to bog down regardless in a shared hosting environment. You are not to the point to where you need a dedicated server, but I do think you are beyond virtual/shared hosting.

As mentioned above, I would surely check out VO (VenturesOnline.com) and check their private servers or semi-dedicated line (not sure which they run, could be both). Both of the above would be more suited for your website that another shared hosting environment; they both have other sites on the server, though instead of 100+ it may be around 10-25 (of course, you would have to contact them for a definate answer).

VO will treat you right, a few of the vBulletin developers have their sites there and I know they can vouch for VO.

[Tuan Le]

Thanks for the honest feedback. I will check out VenturesOnline.com :cool: