How to estimate cpu/memory needs for my server/vps?

How do I go about estimating what kind of CPU power and memory I will need for some blogs?

In total, the wordpress blogs get around 15000 uniques per day.
There is a forum that gets around 10000 uniques a day.

In total, there are 12 blogs and one forum - all php powered.

How much memory, and what kind of CPU will I need?
I am leaning towards a VPS - would a dedicated server be better?

Please advise

 

I've never found VPSes to scale well.

Suggest dedicated.

 

dedicated would be great but much more expensive.

 

So for a dedicated server, how much memory and what kind of cpu should I get for the mentioned stats?

Is there a tool/guide to help me estimate this?

 

How are you hosting them now? Use those stats to see what you should get.

 

They are all over the place - with dreamhost, 1and1 and the like... so with the stats I have provided, what do you think will fit?

 

Of course the plunge to a dedicated server would be the best option but if you want to go with the VPS path, you could select a provider which allows you to upgrade plans as and when needed.

Since all your sites are all over the place, you can slowly move sites from one web host and then monitor the resources on the VPS, if it needs more resources then you can upgrade the VPS plan.

It is actually easier to move from a VPS to a dedicated server.

If you are still looking for a VPS or a dedicated server, make sure you have at least Guaranteed 512mb RAM.

 

You can find affordable dedi boxes that suit your needs like Celeron 2GHz with 512MB/1GB RAM for under $50 a month.
Check WHT forums.

 

Would a celeron hold up against the kind of traffic I described - how would I find out?

 

If a Celeron cannot handle your traffic then it is less likely a VPS will do the job.

From what I see, if you get a VPS, chances are you will have another 31 other VPS sharing the physical resources of that one server.

 

Right...a dedi box on celeron packs enough punch to power most people's needs.

Considering your estimated traffic and nature of websites, I think its better to go for a AMD Athlon64 dedi box with 1GB RAM. That kind of traffic should generate enough revenue to pay for the server.

BTW, what's your budget (vps/dedi)?

 

Also keep in mind, it sounds like you will need a managed server. Someone to patch, upgrade and maintain uptime.

Ask around WHT. That $50 celeron sounds too good to be true.

 

The budget could be upto $100.
Yes,managed would be good.

 

Oh yeah? I've seen them in the offers section of WHT forums.
Also, I've seen a company which offers Celeron servers @ $25/mo and still in business for years.

$100 should find you a decent P4 HT or AMD64 server easily...just hunt for the right deal.

 

BTW, I just found a good deal for you : http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=604076

$79 (server) + $15 (management) + DirectAdmin (control panel) - $9.95/mo = $104/mo

Note: just an indication, I'm not recommending them.

Some sub $50 boxes :
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=562632
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=603560
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=604054
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=600565

etc...

 

Wow! Thanks for the links, dude. +1 Rep Added!

 

A Deuce VPS at ServInt would do the job, been there with a similar setup. Have 4 boxes with them.

 

I would recommend a Single P4 2.4+ GHz with 512 MB RAM would be enough but 1 GB RAM will increase your site's performance.

 

Thanks inworx.
The deuce setup @ servint cost $150 or something!

 

The'd only be 2 people on the server, each guaranteed half the resources and can burst to all of it if the deuce partner isn't using it at the time. It'll likely perform much better than a 2.4g 512 ram dedicated server. It'll definately handle your load efficiently with a php accelerator and mysql query caching. As you can tell I'm a ServInt fan. Their support is top-notch too.