I see alot of postings for special offers etc. and dedicated server plans. I was wondering how much of it is necessity and how much of it is overkill. It would make sense that there are basic hardware requirments that you need to run a decent site that is PHP or CGI intensive. But how many sites really need a dual processor scsi machine. I would think you could handle quite a bit of traffic and cgi's with a plain old 500 mhz AMD or better. Sounds a bit like High School Muscle car madness. I would guess that price and Bandwidth would be the biggest factor. Is that true ? In other words my toyota will go just as fast as your corvette if we are stuck in rush hour traffic. So what makes a really killer plan ? What do you guys think ?

Good question. Basically it shouldn't make too much difference, but would you rather have 100+ simultaneous visitors to your site on an AMD or a Dual Gig machine? For smaller sites, of course a smaller machine is just as good, but for a site that a lot of people are hitting, especially if it is an ecommerce site intended to make you money, you want your 'clients' to be able to buy as fast as possible.

Originally posted by nickLWN
But how many sites really need a dual processor scsi machine. I would think you could handle quite a bit of traffic and cgi's with a plain old 500 mhz AMD or better.

This is true although many here want to host other sites on the server as well (to help pay for the server), or use it for hosting. Even though we are both stopped in rush hour traffic on the freeway, I'd like to be in the Corvette, and of course there are times where there is no traffic on the 405 (11 p.m. - 4 a.m. heh), where you'll be able to let it out a bit :D