Practical limit on number/levels of forums??

[Rich_Z]

I am considering greatly expanding my message board system, and it would be in such a way that there would be a tremendous increase in the number of forums added. I don't have any exact figure in mind, because it will be a hierarchical arrangement and I haven't settled on a design yet.

But first I figured I had better see if I would hit a limit half way through adding the categories and forums.

So is there a number limit where although it might still run, there will be performance penalties? I can see where the forum jump dropdown might be a problem if it had to digest say 200 or more discreet forums.

Anyone tried to push this to the limit?

Thanks.

[filburt1]

Originally posted by Rich_Z
I am considering greatly expanding my message board system, and it would be in such a way that there would be a tremendous increase in the number of forums added. I don't have any exact figure in mind, because it will be a hierarchical arrangement and I haven't settled on a design yet.

But first I figured I had better see if I would hit a limit half way through adding the categories and forums.

So is there a number limit where although it might still run, there will be performance penalties? I can see where the forum jump dropdown might be a problem if it had to digest say 200 or more discreet forums.

Anyone tried to push this to the limit?

Thanks.

There is no storage or performance limit other than what your server can handle. You will stress the server if you set the forum depth too high (two queries are added for each depth you add) but otherwise it's fine.

[rnmcd]

I'm not sure if I understand the question or the reply. Is the original poster asking how many forums can be created? If he isn't, I am.

I thought I read somewhere that there was a limitation (due to what I can't recall either) to the number of forums that could be created.

Is filburt1 still correct about forum depth stressing out a server?

Thanks.

[Zachery]

This thread is over 2 years old and about vB2

[rnmcd]

This thread is over 2 years old and about vB2

I realize that but I am trying to find the limit. Somewhere I read that the limit is around 65,000, which I will be approaching. That's why I have requested a method to link multiple vB boards with one user log-in.

I'll post this over in the vB3 forum.

[Steve Machol]

vB is not designed to handle that many forums. It can handle a lot of posts and memners, but not thousands of forums. For more specific info, one of the Developers will need to respond.

[rnmcd]

I look forward to hearing from a developer. Thanks Steve M.

[Rich_Z]

I think I went to close to 500 forums on my site before I decided to tone it down a bit. I didn't have any technical problems, but the user based seemed befuddled by the complexity. I think it was as much as 5 levels deep, but may have been more. The structure seemed logical to me, but not everyone is used to thinking in a top down tree structure, I guess. Everyone wants everything right at their fingertips these days.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a method to tie multiple vBulletin sites together sharing the same user database. The capability is already in vb3 to link together sites, so maybe one further step would be interesting to implement. Especially if you were using a remote server for the MySQL engine. I can see where I may need to do that sometime in the future.

[Floris]

500 is possible. I have seen sites running a lot more, even with 100+ users online and nearing 500.000 posts. But it might be nearing the limit.

[rnmcd]

500 is possible. I have seen sites running a lot more, even with 100+ users online and nearing 500.000 posts. But it might be nearing the limit.

If you happen to recall any of those, please post a link

Thanks.

[Floris]

If I remember correctly, they preferred to keep the URL quiet until 2005, so I am not sure if I am allowed to post it.

[rnmcd]

I think I went to close to 500 forums on my site before I decided to tone it down a bit. I didn't have any technical problems, but the user based seemed befuddled by the complexity. I think it was as much as 5 levels deep, but may have been more. The structure seemed logical to me, but not everyone is used to thinking in a top down tree structure, I guess. Everyone wants everything right at their fingertips these days.

Hello Rich.Thanks for the input.

When you say you had 500 forums, did you have the forums only at the bottom of the tree structure or were there forums at different depths too?

I, too, am most comfortable with the "tree" ('Windows Explorer 'like) navigation but maybe other folks aren't.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a method to tie multiple vBulletin sites together sharing the same user database. The capability is already in vb3 to link together sites, so maybe one further step would be interesting to implement. Especially if you were using a remote server for the MySQL engine. I can see where I may need to do that sometime in the future.

Is this what you are talking about?:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112783

I wonder if there is a way to utilize a flat file system with vB...it might be less taxing on the server.


Thank you.

[rnmcd]

If I remember correctly, they preferred to keep the URL quiet until 2005, so I am not sure if I am allowed to post it.

I understand.

Do you know if they did any type of mods to the code to enable the large number of forums and users without stressing out the servers?

[Floris]

Nope, they didn't - they are limited by what datastore can cache or forumcache or whatever actually caches it.

[rnmcd]

Nope, they didn't - they are limited by what datastore can cache or forumcache or whatever actually caches it.

then what? Their forums quits growing? I wonder if they have thought of a Plan B....that's what I'm trying to develop.