I am looking at getting a dedicated server solution which will be running two sites. One site is basicly static HTML at this point but will be converted to a dynamic DB style in the next few months. The other site is mainly a forum running proprietary software at this point. I will be converting the forums to vBulletin and was hoping someone could recommend specs and/or hosting companies. These are the stats I would expect from the two sites:

1.5 - 2 million page views/month
35 - 45 GB Transfer/month

I have been searching around and am not sure what route to go. All my experience is in an NT environment but I am willing to learn to use Linux/FreeBSD if necessary. I would appreciate any input you could all provide.

Thanks,
Mark Jurista

http://www.venturesonline.com/Dedicated_Servers/dedicated_servers.html
Excellent support

If you plan on running VB, you're probably best off with a UNIX-based machine (I don't know about mySQL + PHP in NT/2000...)

Just to give you a point of reference, we have a dedicated machine (Athlon 1000 w/ 512mb RAM) that runs a big VBulletin (~200,000 posts, ~150 users online at any given time). The machine runs FreeBSD and has no problem handling the load. However -- if you are going to be running a big board, make sure you have enough bandwidth as well.

Good luck.

I would personally go with a Unix based OS. I have some experience with NT/2000 and would never ever go back to that. Stability is far superior on Unix.

Also, if you only have two sites, even if they are very dynamic I think you'll only need something like 800 Mgz and 512 MB RAM.

Good luck :)

Thanks for everyone's comments. I am going to go with Linux or FreeBSD now I guess. Now, I just need to find a hosting company who is actually fast...

I would definately goto venturesonline.com

you should get it fast before the prices rise because they are moving into Verio datacenters.... and they have a private suite at one or something... and they are going to have to boost the prices up a little, but current members keept their prices..

Nice. I will probably try to get an account in the next week. Thanks for all the help.

Mark