Recommended Hosting for forum?

Discussion in 'Web Hosting' started by submit_articles, Nov 12, 2010.

  1. #1
    Hi,

    I'm thinking of starting a forum with about 10 sign ups a day. But I can't imagine hosting it on a shared server as the site may outgrow shared hosting easily.

    What hosting would you recommend?

    I'm especially keen to hear about the experiences from forum owners. Which hosting company are you using, which plan (vps or dedicated) etc.

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
     
    submit_articles, Nov 12, 2010 IP
  2. XSLTel

    XSLTel Greenhorn

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    #2
    Hello,
    What is your forum software??

    and i will recommended a VPS hosting or reliable Shared Hosting or Semi Dedicated Hosting
     
    XSLTel, Nov 12, 2010 IP
  3. submit_articles

    submit_articles Active Member

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    #3
    I'm think of SMF or Vbulletin.
     
    submit_articles, Nov 12, 2010 IP
  4. mentos

    mentos Prominent Member

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    #4
    So now is the thinking stage and yet to startup your forum?

    If yes then I advise you to startup with shared hosting will do.

     
    mentos, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  5. asking

    asking Peon

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    #5
    try www.1dollarwarez.com its just $1 starting price so good for new... website admins :) not an issue
     
    asking, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  6. benjaminp

    benjaminp Guest

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    #6
    If you're going down the shared route maybe give aquariusstorage.com a go. I've hosted a site with them for a while and server load always seems low and uptime seems excellent. They offer specific forum hosting which I haven't used myself, but judging by their shared hosting it might be worth a shot.

    http://www.aquariusstorage.com/simple_machines_hosting.php
     
    benjaminp, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  7. more_sem

    more_sem Peon

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    #7
    Try cloud hosting, its cool
    RackSpace Cloud Hosting The beauty of cloud hosting is that it grows with you and its very much affordable.
    When you host on cloud server, you get the flexibility of adding more cloud servers without moving files or database. If your forum site is a hit then add an extra server in your cloud, if its not that much hit then do not add. Adding an extra server will cost you more, and the cost is not sky high like dedicated server. These days it makes more and more sense in doing cloud computing.
     
    more_sem, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  8. submit_articles

    submit_articles Active Member

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    #8
    Thanks for all the great input. I have a few sites with traffic, but I've never gone past the stage where I add and manage a forum. all my sites are on shared hosting at the moment. So with traffic, assuming 10 sign ups a day, I'll be getting 300 members in a month, and 3600 members in a year. I just don't trust shared hosting to handle the load because I've heard horror stories that host shut down accounts because the site utilize too much server resources (CPU).

    I'm really interested in hearing from forum owners. In particular, how do you grow your forum? Did you start with shared hosting and then move it to vps or dedicated server later on? Or did you buy dedicated hosting right from the very beginning? Obviously, the prospect of having to move and transfer a huge forum is not very appealing, or is it something that is very easy to do?

    Looking forward to hearing more advice.
     
    submit_articles, Nov 14, 2010 IP
  9. Senix

    Senix Peon

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    #9
    A shared hosting will work just fine with that number.
     
    Senix, Nov 14, 2010 IP
  10. submit_articles

    submit_articles Active Member

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    #10
    Thanks for your input. Which forum script would you recommend based on your experience?

     
    submit_articles, Nov 14, 2010 IP
  11. -Aw-

    -Aw- Active Member

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    #11
    Go with HawkHost. I recently switched from them and my server speeds have at least doubled compared to any Apache server.

    As for forum software, look at phpBB, MyBB, SMF, vBulletin, and IPB (and XenForo), and see what you like. It's (and should be) a "Different Strokes for Different Folks" world. You can get a demo of all of them here.
    http://www.forum-software.org/

    As for which forum software I recommend, I just advise not using vBulletin. Their market share/community is declining, and the complaints are slowly creeping onto the vBulletin forums. Their customer service/support is bullshit, and ticket support is now extra unless you get the Community Suite.
     
    -Aw-, Nov 14, 2010 IP
  12. HostColor

    HostColor Well-Known Member

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    #12
    A VPS is an option if you can manage it, or if you have a budget to use managed service. Alternatively you can search for any high availability hosting service similar to Rackspace CloudSites. There are companies that offer such hosting plans.
     
    HostColor, Nov 16, 2010 IP
  13. ~ServerPoint~

    ~ServerPoint~ Banned

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    #13
    VPS hosting solution will be the most suitable for running forums.. before to make any final decision, be sure that the company you are going to deal with has stable servers and knowledgeable support team.
     
    ~ServerPoint~, Nov 17, 2010 IP
  14. funkywizard

    funkywizard Active Member

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    #14
    start off with a basic shared hosting account, and then move up to a VPS when you need it. It should be easy enough to move up once you get some visitors
     
    funkywizard, Nov 17, 2010 IP
  15. Network Interaction

    Network Interaction Peon

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    #15
    Network Interaction, Nov 18, 2010 IP
  16. submit_articles

    submit_articles Active Member

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    #16
    This seems to be the most practical thing to do. Thanks for all the info and advice.

    @NetworkInteraction - good recommendation. Prices seem fair enough.

     
    submit_articles, Nov 18, 2010 IP
  17. hidden

    hidden Member

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    #17
    I agree with funkywizard. I have a forum with 20-70+ online at the same and I still don't find the need to move it to a VPS just yet. You just have to chose a better hosting provider.
     
    hidden, Nov 22, 2010 IP
  18. hostingbee

    hostingbee Greenhorn

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    #18
    Yes you don't need to move to any vps yet. You just need a powerfull hoster like greenhoster.biz.
     
    hostingbee, Nov 23, 2010 IP
  19. rain21

    rain21 Active Member

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    #19
    I use dream host, and its ok with me still !!!
     
    rain21, Nov 24, 2010 IP
  20. hospitaleracha

    hospitaleracha Active Member

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    #20
    I love Hostgator, best webhost there is! SY
     
    hospitaleracha, Nov 24, 2010 IP