Hi there.

I'm hoping to open a community site for youths, using a CMS.

Its going to be a; blogging, chatting, and games site.

I'm expecting big hits, and the problem I have, is how to visualise how much MB Space & Bandwidth I'd need.

So here are 2 plans I have my eye on:

MB Space: 5,000
Bandwidth: 250GB

MB SPace: 10,000
Bandwidth: 500 GB

If someone could give me a comparison, like myspace.. what kind of plans do they use? I know my site will never be as popular, but, i could size it down and visualise it.

Thanks a lot,

Andrew.

myspace handles their own servers, and lots of them.

Go for a dedicated or low-priced colo. Well worth it for what you're doing.

Hah. What plans do they use...

Starting out, you will probably not need a dedicated server. To figure out how much space you are going to need, try designing the site and getting all of the necessary files in order, you'll find out.

I would reccomend going for a good vps supplier and sticking with it..

Are you going to host any games? And about how many and how MB is each one?
MB SPace: 10,000
Bandwidth: 500 GB

Would probably be good for the begining and you can upgrade from their.

You should be fine with an upend shared hosting account.

Just use a shared hosting account and upgrade it as your site grows. Then eventually you may need to move onto a dedicated.

Just use a shared hosting account and upgrade it as your site grows. Then eventually you may need to move onto a dedicated.

I second that.

I agree, there's no point in jumping in at the deep end - worst case, if it doesn't work out, you've lost a lot of money. Start small, you can always work your way up.

Do a shared hosting, then upgrade when you need to.

You can't ask "What hosting plan does MySpace.com" use. They are the #7 highest trafficed site on the Internet, based on Alexa.com reports. There is no hosting plan for them. It's TONS of servers, employees, bandwidth, etc. This is not measured by "hosting plans" but by how many $100,000 bills you have.

Use ipowerweb.com, they give you 10000 MB, free domain, a ton of extras, along with 250GB of bandwidth. All for $100 a year, it's what I use. You can add more bandwidth if you wanted.

But are you going to host MySpace.com on your IPowerWeb.com hosting solution? :smash:

On that note, I wouldn't I would probably go for a small VPS solution if not shared. The only downside with some shared hosting providers is there are no True Space and True Bandwidth guarantees. So Watch out for oversellers.

You probably want a scaleable solution where you can scale up to match the requirements of your site. At start I cant imagine any site takeing up too much bandwidth unless it is extremely well advertised and marketed. So 250gb/mo would be fine to start with. As long as your host allows you to read current usage rates you should be well aware of when you need to switch hosting plans to accomidate higher traffic.

Also, consider what you are hosting, if you allow uploading of images or other non-text files you will require more bandwidth.

You can easily start on a shared-hosting account or a vps. When your site becomes popular you can find a managed hosting account or unmanaged (cheaper, but you gotta know your linux/windows). To avoid future hassle you might want to find a company that offers shared hosting and dedicated hosting as well as rack rates (so you can rent out a rack when you need more than one server). And this company shouldnt charge you extra during upgrades or any fees in that nature.

Also Send out test emails to their support email addresses as well as sales and see how responsive their customer support is. Include a few basic questions, and maybe a couple advanced ones to get an idea how knowlegable the support team is.

A response in under 15 mins is extremely good, under an hour good, 3 hours fair more than that is poor response. Better support usually comes at a higher price.

And if their answers are concise and personable then the response is very good, if they start using a form response and linking you to a faq page, reconsider a new host.

I suggest you start off with a shared hosting plan before buying a dedicated server or vps. They cost a lot and it might be a loss in your wallet. When your site gets big you could always move to a dedicated server for your budget. =)

Go VPS. Cheaper than a dedicated, sturdier than a shared hosting plan. Typically $35 and up from various providers.

WHT is always good for a laugh