So many different opinions - Newb Needs Help Please!

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  • Coldbore
    New Member
    • Nov 2012
    • 2

    So many different opinions - Newb Needs Help Please!

    Hi folks, I have been lurking for about 3 weeks now, reading all sorts of threads, trying to decipher some of the tech speak and acronyms and I have finally decided that I don't know enough to know I don't know.

    So I decided to join up, bear the embarrassment of being this much of a newb and ask some probably very, very basic questions. I do apologize in advance. I know someone will probably say to use the search feature. I have been, but I have read so many opinions pointed in different directions I am officially convinced I am not qualified to formulate an opinion without feedback for my contingent.

    I have been a Mod on a good sized (in excess of 10,000 members worldwide) VBulletin forum for several years, so I have the bare basic understanding of how VBulletin works, the basic features, etc.

    Currently I, and a small group, am in the process of setting up our own forum. This is an area that we do not know much about, hence the hours and hours of research. I would expect the forum to start out with 25 to 75 regular members that will be online throughout the workday and into the evenings. As the content will be of interest (and some controversy) all over, the membership will be on at different times from around the country and a few foreign to US members from time to time.

    In doing a bunch of reading, and consulting with my small team (none of whom are technical in this arena), we THINK the best option for us is to go with managed hosting. We have already priced several options from companies that are well represented here on this forum and most are in our price range.

    Where some of the confusion sets in is all the threads where people are recommended one option over another based on size or expected visits to the site.

    Some say VPS is the way to go.

    Some say Shared Hosting is the way to go.

    We don't know what direction to concentrate because why we know we will start small, we already have a lot of content developed (text/pictures/article based) that will draw site views. Site views will hopefully translate to people joining to post their opinions, counter arguments or experiences.

    We don’t want to choose something that is “just right” to start out, but then quickly outgrow it. We also don’t want to sink a ton of cash into a Ferrari when a ’94 Mustang can handle our needs for a year or so while we grow the name.

    Budget: Open to reasonable expenditure. Ideally we would like to purchase a year block with a well-known, reputable, responsible, reliable host that will take care of us as we grow and has the ability to be scalable based on growth. Wiredtree and URLJet are on the top of our list currently.

    Goal
    : We’d like to be big enough to handle an influx of traffic, and content, without paying for way more server than we really need.

    Needed: A recommendation on VPS vs. Shared, along with some stats or server specs based on real world experience would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

    Many thanks in advance for reading!

    Cb
  • Davy Jones
    New Member
    • Nov 2012
    • 18
    • 4.2.X

    #2
    Originally posted by Coldbore
    Hi folks, I have been lurking for about 3 weeks now, reading all sorts of threads, trying to decipher some of the tech speak and acronyms and I have finally decided that I don't know enough to know I don't know.

    So I decided to join up, bear the embarrassment of being this much of a newb and ask some probably very, very basic questions. I do apologize in advance. I know someone will probably say to use the search feature. I have been, but I have read so many opinions pointed in different directions I am officially convinced I am not qualified to formulate an opinion without feedback for my contingent.

    I have been a Mod on a good sized (in excess of 10,000 members worldwide) VBulletin forum for several years, so I have the bare basic understanding of how VBulletin works, the basic features, etc.

    Currently I, and a small group, am in the process of setting up our own forum. This is an area that we do not know much about, hence the hours and hours of research. I would expect the forum to start out with 25 to 75 regular members that will be online throughout the workday and into the evenings. As the content will be of interest (and some controversy) all over, the membership will be on at different times from around the country and a few foreign to US members from time to time.

    In doing a bunch of reading, and consulting with my small team (none of whom are technical in this arena), we THINK the best option for us is to go with managed hosting. We have already priced several options from companies that are well represented here on this forum and most are in our price range.

    Where some of the confusion sets in is all the threads where people are recommended one option over another based on size or expected visits to the site.

    Some say VPS is the way to go.

    Some say Shared Hosting is the way to go.

    We don't know what direction to concentrate because why we know we will start small, we already have a lot of content developed (text/pictures/article based) that will draw site views. Site views will hopefully translate to people joining to post their opinions, counter arguments or experiences.

    We don’t want to choose something that is “just right” to start out, but then quickly outgrow it. We also don’t want to sink a ton of cash into a Ferrari when a ’94 Mustang can handle our needs for a year or so while we grow the name.

    Budget: Open to reasonable expenditure. Ideally we would like to purchase a year block with a well-known, reputable, responsible, reliable host that will take care of us as we grow and has the ability to be scalable based on growth. Wiredtree and URLJet are on the top of our list currently.

    Goal
    : We’d like to be big enough to handle an influx of traffic, and content, without paying for way more server than we really need.

    Needed: A recommendation on VPS vs. Shared, along with some stats or server specs based on real world experience would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

    Many thanks in advance for reading!

    Cb
    this post needs a "thumbs up"

    Comment

    • wii
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2000
      • 1036
      • 3.8.x

      #3
      Please contact Tim at http://www.nimbushosting.co.uk/ - perfect for your needs, I've been with them since the beginning and it's perfect, good price, excellent speed, reliability and support.

      It just works

      Comment

      • Terry2424
        Senior Member
        • Aug 2008
        • 227
        • 3.8.x

        #4
        Originally posted by Coldbore
        Hi folks, I have been lurking for about 3 weeks now, reading all sorts of threads, trying to decipher some of the tech speak and acronyms and I have finally decided that I don't know enough to know I don't know.

        So I decided to join up, bear the embarrassment of being this much of a newb and ask some probably very, very basic questions. I do apologize in advance. I know someone will probably say to use the search feature. I have been, but I have read so many opinions pointed in different directions I am officially convinced I am not qualified to formulate an opinion without feedback for my contingent.

        I have been a Mod on a good sized (in excess of 10,000 members worldwide) VBulletin forum for several years, so I have the bare basic understanding of how VBulletin works, the basic features, etc.

        Currently I, and a small group, am in the process of setting up our own forum. This is an area that we do not know much about, hence the hours and hours of research. I would expect the forum to start out with 25 to 75 regular members that will be online throughout the workday and into the evenings. As the content will be of interest (and some controversy) all over, the membership will be on at different times from around the country and a few foreign to US members from time to time.

        In doing a bunch of reading, and consulting with my small team (none of whom are technical in this arena), we THINK the best option for us is to go with managed hosting. We have already priced several options from companies that are well represented here on this forum and most are in our price range.

        Where some of the confusion sets in is all the threads where people are recommended one option over another based on size or expected visits to the site.

        Some say VPS is the way to go.

        Some say Shared Hosting is the way to go.

        We don't know what direction to concentrate because why we know we will start small, we already have a lot of content developed (text/pictures/article based) that will draw site views. Site views will hopefully translate to people joining to post their opinions, counter arguments or experiences.

        We don’t want to choose something that is “just right” to start out, but then quickly outgrow it. We also don’t want to sink a ton of cash into a Ferrari when a ’94 Mustang can handle our needs for a year or so while we grow the name.

        Budget: Open to reasonable expenditure. Ideally we would like to purchase a year block with a well-known, reputable, responsible, reliable host that will take care of us as we grow and has the ability to be scalable based on growth. Wiredtree and URLJet are on the top of our list currently.

        Goal
        : We’d like to be big enough to handle an influx of traffic, and content, without paying for way more server than we really need.

        Needed: A recommendation on VPS vs. Shared, along with some stats or server specs based on real world experience would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

        Many thanks in advance for reading!

        Cb


        i was in the same boat. Searching for a host and not knowing the terminologies. After a lot of searching I found a great host in the UK. The price is reasonable but most important of all... Customer service can't be beat. This is extremely important for me, a noob as well. Tim has answered all my questions before I purchased the hosting plan and even after I had questions he answered very quickly. Tim does more than answer questions, for example I inquired about using ImageMagik, his reply was " it's set up for you ready to go, here is the link". I am happy with this host and so are many other big and small board owners.

        Originally posted by wii
        Please contact Tim at http://www.nimbushosting.co.uk/ - perfect for your needs, I've been with them since the beginning and it's perfect, good price, excellent speed, reliability and support.

        It just works



        yes... It does just work but... With A+ Customer Service.

        Comment

        • Poppet25
          Member
          • May 2007
          • 52
          • 4.2.X

          #5
          Originally posted by wii
          Please contact Tim at http://www.nimbushosting.co.uk/ - perfect for your needs, I've been with them since the beginning and it's perfect, good price, excellent speed, reliability and support.

          It just works
          Same here, switched from a dedi to vps about 13 months ago now. Tim and his team did the migration and everything just works. No downtime whatsoever apart from maintenance which has been minimal. Would highly recommend Nimbus as a vBulletin host.

          Comment

          • Terry2424
            Senior Member
            • Aug 2008
            • 227
            • 3.8.x

            #6
            I just want to add that there is no referral program. Customers suggest Tim because we are very happy customers. The technology and customer service is the best.

            Comment

            • Mark.B
              vBulletin Support
              • Feb 2004
              • 24287
              • 6.0.X

              #7
              That's very true....Tim's the only host I recommend, (in a personal capacity, as vBulletin itself does not recommend hosts). He hosts my site and lots of other vBulletin sites, you will find many recommendations for Tim on here.
              MARK.B
              vBulletin Support
              ------------
              My Unofficial vBulletin 6.0.0 Demo: https://www.talknewsuk.com
              My Unofficial vBulletin Cloud Demo: https://www.adminammo.com

              Comment

              • alemcherry
                Senior Member
                • Jun 2006
                • 415

                #8
                Tim seems to have a lot of fans here!

                To answer your first question, I think a shared hosting is more than enough. VPS is advised only if you need complete control of the server, with root access etc. In many cases, VPS doesn't even offer much resources than a normal shared server, thanks to the competition and overselling in shared hosting. You don't need the headache to manage the server etc and overpay, shared hosting is good enough for a new forum.

                Moving from one host to another isn't as difficult as you imagine. It will help the move if you use a specialist registrar (Godaddy, Namecheap) for domain names ( dont accept the free domain offered by host) and if you select a cPanel based hosting. In such cases, changing to same / another host for a VPS / dedi would be few clicks and most probably done by the host itself. So better don't pay today for the future usage you might need. Also, I would not recommend anything more than a monthly contract, initially.

                You may also consider Liquidweb in addition to the 3 discussed above. WiredTree and good for VPS and URLJet is a good specialist VB host. You can't go wrong with either.
                Hosting Coupons: Hostmonster @ $3.95 and 20% off Mediatemple

                Comment

                • Trevor Hannant
                  vBulletin Support
                  • Aug 2002
                  • 24358
                  • 5.7.X

                  #9
                  Originally posted by alemcherry
                  Tim seems to have a lot of fans here!
                  Because people have had good experiences with him and his team, myself included.
                  Vote for:

                  - Admin Settable Paid Subscription Reminder Timeframe (vB6)
                  - Add Admin ability to auto-subscribe users to specific channel(s) (vB6)

                  Comment

                  • Coldbore
                    New Member
                    • Nov 2012
                    • 2

                    #10
                    Thanks for all the replies. I will add Tim to the list and open a line of communication with him to see if he further help with our plans.

                    It would appear that most folks think that a VPS will be fine. Is there any downside to going this route? Does it restrict us in the future for growth or upgrade ability?

                    Thanks,

                    Cb

                    Comment

                    • syrus.xl
                      Senior Member
                      • Jun 2005
                      • 546

                      #11
                      I am UK based, but only ever used 2 UK hosts which I will not mention, but both were terrible - the longest I lasted was about a year.

                      One thing you do not want to do is keep moving around, because your amount of data continues to grow and mailboxes will probably grow if you leave mail on the server. This varies on the number of mailboxes you setup.

                      I tried a few others in the US, definitely cheaper than the UK. From previous problems I have had with shared hosting I always go for VPS or better, and of course you are not restricted by so many limitations. Eventually, I ended up at URLJet on a custom VPS plan, that was a few years ago now and I have never looked back. They gave me everything I needed and have not had any issues really over the years, I run a few forums on it. All servers are on LiteSpeed which you notice straight away, the speed of your forum runs very quick compared to most other hosts. Of course you also got the benefit of managed vBulletin hosting, which is another plus if your not sure on running vbulletin on your own.

                      Comment

                      • Wayne Luke
                        vBulletin Technical Support Lead
                        • Aug 2000
                        • 74115

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Coldbore
                        We don’t want to choose something that is “just right” to start out, but then quickly outgrow it. We also don’t want to sink a ton of cash into a Ferrari when a ’94 Mustang can handle our needs for a year or so while we grow the name.
                        You want to choose a company that will grow with you. You'll start with either shared hosting or VPS and then as your site grows, your hosting will grow. You want to communicate with your hosting provider so you're both aware of your needs and the ability to grow. You don't want them to shut you off because you overused some resource. You want to develop a relationship with them so when you hit a limit they say "Let's talk about this and see what we can do to help you grow your business."

                        This may be Nimbus Hosting as others have recommended. If you're in the UK, that is probably a great company. In reality you want a company near you. Most people will choose a company based on their initial offering and price. You want to really discuss your options first. My hosting company is Knownhost and they have always been helpful. They fit my needs, provide a growth path and their prices aren't outrageous. My servers are in Texas but I could have chosen California or New Jersey. I chose Texas because they are less likely to suffer catastrophic natural disasters. Not perfect but better.

                        Ultimately, you need to evaluate these options. We can ask specific questions but can't choose.
                        Translations provided by Google.

                        Wayne Luke
                        The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
                        vBulletin 5 API

                        Comment

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