My site is a forum and has been having issues with overage of Apache connexions and occasional memory overuse. Each time I go to my host and they make a few tweaks and the site goes back up, but this happens a few times a week. Forum's basic stats: Usually 3,000 - 4,200 posts per day 240 - 270 members on daily, most users on at a time usually 80 to 90 daily That's the basic stats. If this was your forum would you think it needed a dedicated server? We are on a good VPS right now. We are preparing for an upgrade and theme change to eliminate a lot of coding problems, but my programmer hasn't gotten back to me yet when I emailed him to let him know it's ready to upgrade. Anyway, what I am wondering is do we also need a server upgrade as well. At what point does a forum just need its own dedicated server. Stats:
Bandwidth usage is ok. Your site is probably using too much disk I/O and CPU/memory. Going by the stats you posted above I would definitely recommend a Dedicated Server. Consider getting a decent Quad-Core Dedicated Server. The price will depend on whether the Dedicated Server is managed or unmanaged.
Based on the traffic I wouldn't be rushing to a dedicated server, but it obviously comes down to CPU and Memory usage if you're having issues. Can't you get your VPS upgraded with more resources rather than go down the dedicated server route?
I will look into an upgrade of the VPS itself before I go dedicated. Thing is I don't know the specs of the one I have, I'm really stupid about this stuff, only know that we've been having problems with too many Apache connexions, CPU and memory, one or the other based on whatever they do to fix one problem then it causes another one. If they fix the Apache problem it causes memory/CPU issues, if they fix the memory or CPU it starts up again with too many Apache connexions and I'm just getting sick of this and so are all my members.
Agreeing with all, no need for a dedicated server. My advice is trying to upgrade your VPS with a bit more of memory and maybe trying also a different web server instead of Apache.
You need a more powerful VPS. I highly recommend you ugprade your VPS and move to a provider who doesn't oversell. Disk I/O limit can bottle mysql and cause performance issues.
Okay. The problems continue even after we upgrade. I got a question: What does this forum, Digital Point, host on, and what is their plan? Because they don't go down and they are good and fast. I want what they got.
You'll need to look at the applications you are using and and add-ons you've installed. There is obviously an issue somewhere if upgraded hardware isn't making things any better. If you've got deep enough pockets I'm sure you will achieve it one day. I doubt they have a "plan" with anyone. They'll have their own servers or even racks of servers with switches, routers, firewalls, UPS, APC switched units, load balancers etc etc. I don't imagine it's a small operation...I could be wrong.
Most probably you'd be running out of memory/IO. Dedicated Server is absolutely not necessary. A VPS on a high end node would be just fine.
Its better to edit the script in such a way that the server consumes the least of resources. Up-scaling should be an option only when you are at 1000 or more consistent users, that is when you add more ram to your server. Digital point is customized forum, a hell lot of chunk of code is altered.
Either your host is really bad at optimizing or your plan is too small. Depending on what you pay today for your VPS and how much the next VPS upgrade step would cost, I would actually start looking for another host, but still go with a VPS. So what you're really looking for is a better host. If your current one can't get things to work properly and can't help you/suggest a proper upgrade or worse, the upgrade didn't even solve the problem, then it's time to pack your bag and shop for a different host. If I were you, I'd look into some big names, reputable and known for their services and be sure to sign up for a managed service. A serious managed host would even move your entire site to their hosting without any charge for you. For example check out a fully managed service and compare with your old host. Shop around, but also know that a large VPS often cost the same or similar as a low end dedicated. So look around, think, ask a few hosts and evaluate for yourself.