I'm very new to this and have been hosting my chat app on a shared hosting thus far, and now that it's finally grown to a bigger user-base, it's time for me to move... I'm seeing all this stuff about Operating Systems, and RAM, and I'm really not sure what to pick or where to go. The app is similar to omegle, and I'm also going to build a community around it with buddypress. Any suggestions on a good server, or VPS specs that would be appropriate for this? Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Do you need cPanel? If you can manage the install yourself maybe a 256MB VPS will already do. Any Linux operating system should work, but usually CentOS or Debian/Ubuntu is preferred.
What are the resources you are using currently? It all depends on no. of concurrent users your website will have. My suggestion would be to opt for a VPS plan that offers easy upgrades.
Try VPS.net, they provides elastic feature!!! You can find discount coupons also to get it at discounted price
i recommend you to continue with a vps at the moment . if you got more traffic then you move to dedicated server. you can find lot of vps offers at https://forums.digitalpoint.com/forums/web-hosting.98/
The advantages of VPS basically allowed you to upgrade your server spec when you need more capacity. I'd suggest VPS as well.
My recommendation is Kvchosting VPS solutions. They are reputable company which plans will meet any webmasters need, just give them a try.
You should continue with a vps actually then if your traffic increased you can upgrade to a dedicated server. I recommend you to get a vps low cost from Axelaris-hosting with unlimited features.There's a great coupon now.
You could use Knownhost (http://www.knownhost.com/) they are very reliable. Also use a knownhost coupon when you sign up. ( http://www.couponswift.com/stores/knownhost/ )
First, you'd start with independent review websites, as many posters here can recommend lot's of good vps solutions, but which would be really good for you , that might be a subject of question..
I know colorhost.de provides stable and reliable VPS deals with discounts (XEN: xenwhl10% and OpenVZ: ovzspar5%). Prices are competitive and support is active for 24 hours.
I think the best thing to start of with would be asking your current host how much resources you are using right now if you are not able to tell on your own. Afterwards I highly recommend you start looking into Linux as running a VPS will definitely require knowledge you seem to not have right now. The next step should be to find a provider and set up a server you can use to practice, at this point I would not risk hosting my site on this server but after you get used to maintaining a server you can switch to doing so. The other possible options is you get a managed VPS so the hosting company will take care of running the server while you will only use the same options you had with your shared hosting, which is obviously more expensive but from my experience definitely worth the money if you choose the provider wisely.
i Think DigitalOcean is the best as its offer many feature as you can pay as you grow also you can benefit from a trial period to test their product.