Had it with UBB's erros and stuff

[pw1981]

Well I have oficially had it with UBB abd all the errors. My site has officially crashed again thanks to UBB and it's irritating. I have paidf my hosting company close to $300 this year in 'reload from backup' fees due to errors in UBB corrupting files and stuff.

SO, I am looking for the better mouse trap. vBulletin looks much better and certainly seems more feature rich. (and is cheaper too).

I do have some questions.

1) User names. I notice that when i tried to register here, it required 3 characters. Is this adjustable? My user name at my forum is only 2 characters as are quite a few others.

2) Importing. I am aware that vBulletin can import from UBB but can it do so if all I have are the files? My config files are fried... again. I am mainly concerned with the threads and members which are still intact to my knowledge.

3) This is the biggest... how much MySQL space do I need to run a site on? My current hosting company includes "10MB limit hosted on didicated database server" in my hosting plan. Is this enough to rn a site with or do I need more? I have over 3,000 members and 16 forums. I need to know if I need to shop for a new hosting company as well.

Thanks!

Phil Woodruff

[Steve Machol]

Which version of UBB are you running?

1. Yes, you can set the user name length in the Admin CP.

2. Yes, depending on the version.

3. 10Mb?!? That's an awfully small hosting plan. And what do they mean by 'dedicated server'. Dedicated servers offer GBs of storage - not Mbs.

With vBulletin there are 2 different types of disk space usage:
(1) Web space - For the PHP scripts and images of vBulletin.
(2) MySQL database space - Which is separate from Web space, and you need to make sure your host gives you enough space in that department.

When you use vBulletin, you have to take into account both web space and MySQL database space. vBulletin 2.2.x consists of:

1. PHP scripts and image files in the zip file you download = 1.65mb in size once zip file is extracted and uploaded to your Web site account.

2. MySQL database space which holds the actual vBulletin data:
- On initial install the MySQL database space used is approximately 2mb, and that is mainly the database table structure and initial data in the database tables.
- Once you start posting, adding threads, members, polls, private messages, attachments, avatars etc, your MySQL database space is the one that grows and should be your main concern - MySQL disk space.

How much MySQL disk space is used is highly dependent on the type of forum you run, and factors such as:
- Your average allowed attachment and avatar size
- How many attachments and avatars you have stored in your vBulletin database
- How many private messages you have stored in your vBulletin database from members
- How many posts and threads you have and the size and variables you have set for your searchindex
- How many members you have
- How many forums you have
And so on and so forth.
For example, one installation we have seen had 5,800+ members, 40,000 threads, 662,000 posts, 70,000 private messages and 8,000 attachments. The total MySQL database size was 940MB - which comes to around 140MB per 100,000 posts. Please note that it does vary from forum to forum, so your mileage may vary.

[ManagerJosh]

Hi Phil

I would recommend also switching to another host...a host that charges you $300.00 to restore from backup seems excessive since most hosts (at least mine) does it for free for you without any charge (technically you can do it yourself since in my CP I have this nifty feature that all i do is click and it restores =D)