Well, I'm the administrator of a forum and our current server pretty much sucks. Between the random crashes, slow down, DNS issues which end up blocking users for weeks at a time, and over all lameness( It's a shared server, so we don't even have much control over anything.) After a few months of this, the other admins and I have gotten tired and decided it was time for us to just buy our own server and forget having to deal with other hosting problems. I've managed to find some servers, and have found a nearby data center for me to host it at. I'll be able to handle all of the server administration stuff and such. My problem here is making sure I don't go below what we actually need. I've attached a zip with a PDF of the server's specs(the PDF was too large alone) to see if anyone here could tell me if they believe it would be able to handle the traffic. The plan at the data center 1mbps for $50 a month per U. I also need to know if that would be enough to handle the traffic without problems. The forum has about 500 members, with about 30-50 active daily. Yes, I know that's pretty small, but with under our current conditions it probably wouldn't be a good idea to see how far we can push the server. Once we actually get the server we will also try to expand. And before I forget, it's a SMF forum, if that makes any difference. So, my questions are: 1)How viable is the server of the attached specs for use as a web server, and how many users do you believe it would be able to handle? 2)Is a 1mpbs connection enough to support our current traffic, and any future increases(upper limits maybe?) Thanks in advance, --JMV
You might be able to get a dedicated server (P4 2.4GHz+, 512MB+) with around 2-3000GB/mo bandwidth in the budget of $80/mo, most likely managed for you. Unless you are really interested in coloing your own box.
which forum software ? do you host any images your users upload ? is the 1mpbs percentile based or capped at 1mb ? if you don't host user uploaded content you may be able to get away with a 1mb connection, however if you allow attachment's 1mb might not be enough. the server it's self is a bit of overkill for that kind of traffic a low end core2duo or athlon would be more then enough with plenty of room to spare.
We use SMF. The user avatars can be uploaded. I believe there is an option for either. http://servercity.com/sharedcolocation.php speaking of which, it apears as if I misread it. The $50 per month looks like it is for the 256kbps line, and not the 1mbps, so I may end up chosing another data center since I'd be able to get the 1MBPS cheaper than Server City offer's @ Jexxie: CPU Type: 2x Intel Xeon, 2400 MHz (24 x 100) 2GB RAM (Not much of a problem, easily upgradable if I ever need more)
I would suggest that a dedicated server is a better choice for you. The terminology can be a little confusing. Dedicated server means a server that is owned by the hosting company on which you are the sole user. You seem to be talking about colocation, which means a server that you own for which the hosting company provides space and bandwidth. With respect to bandwidth, you will find that the dedicated server route offers you a better deal on bandwidth because of the pricing structure.
Yes, I know the difference. At first it looked like actually owning the server would be cheaper since once the server itself was paid off we would only have to worry about paying for the colocation as opposed to a dedicated server where we'd be paying quite a bit and never actually owning the server. I still think that having it colocated would be a cheaper option in the long run. If cost becomes an issue I could simply set up a second server(or divide the first one into 2 separate VPS since it does have some pretty nice specs) and use the income generated from that to pay for the colocation. I'm sure that I could have the server colocated and provide it with a connection for 100 dollars or less, while renting a dedicated server with the same specs would cost more money. Another option that would seem simpler would be to host the server in my attic--something I would only want to do as a last option as I have no air conditioning and different issues such as power outages could have adverse effects. Do ISPs themselves offer colocation services for cheaper than a company dedicated to colocation?
256kbs is not enough for that many members online at once, you will need at least 1megabit to give your users dialup speed, 2megabit however will get your site loading reasonably fast provided theres not to many images. 5megabit is what you should aim for. like the above poster said you can get dedicated servers from around $50 with 10-100 megabit links with a good deal of bandwidth, which will have no problem handling the forum with 30 users online at once and beyond.