Hi,

I want to be able to host a message board on my site that will at some point (hopefully) support a lot of users (kind of like this one). Problem is that although my host *allows* message boards, they reserve the right to disable it should it eat up too much bandwidth or whatever.
Can anyone recommend a reliable and affordable host who will not pull the plug?

And how much bandwidth should I be looking for in order to have a BB like this?

Thanks for the help!

Which message board will you be using and how busy do you expect it to be?

If you want to run a message board that supports alot of users then your best bet would be to get a dedicated server......Although, that is not a cheap option....If you are just starting out I recommend that you get a virtual account, but have plans ready so that if and when your board gets big enough you can move it to a dedicated...

For a board like this, you will need a lot of bandwidth.....

I'm not exactly sure yet...still in the very beginning stages of the idea. Originally I was looking at this (http://www.kotfs.com/) (kotfs.com) because it looks ok, and is cheap but have been reading some posts here about php boards and may end up going with one of those. Do you have any recommendation's on board systems?

Hoping to have at least a couple hundred active users, maybe more eventually....

Does this help?

thanks.

I think you should use PHPBB2, it is a good board and doesnt tie up resources and its free....or use vbulletin....

this thread has a little info on bandwidth and how much WHT uses:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?&threadid=20120&highlight=webhostingtalk

Well, there is certainly no harm in getting a good virtual account, probably one of the larger ones your host offers if you are expecting lots of traffic (might want to ensure that there are no contracts tied to it though), and planning to move to a dedicated at some point.

Though I would like to point out that you should use a PHP/MySQL forum such as vbb (the WHT one) or yabbSE (seems like a very good option) www.vbulletin.com and www.yabb.info

thanks guys, i really appreciate all the help.

...now to check out the suggestions you've made.....