Hello!

I've spent several days perusing WHT's postings and found over a
dozen possibilities for getting my first ded. But I still have some
general questions, before I start asking each individual company

Here's what I want to do:

* Host about 50 to 100 websites. (I am not a WH business; these are
my own personal/business/friend's domains.) At first, they will be
static HTML. If this was all I wanted, a low-end DS would do, yes?

* I want to move to using PHP-generated pages off MySQL.

* I will be prototyping a membership dB with many registrants
and fields.

* I want to run a mail listserver (such as Lyris, but could consider
others.)

* Cost is a big factor for now.


Given this, what should I do:

- Raq or generic Linux box?

- Lease or colocate?

- Will processor speed be an issue? How many PHP pages and MySQL calls
can I do/second before a base model will slow in performance?

- Do I need a second box to run the listserver?

- Do I need a second box to run the db? and serve the webpages off the
other?

- How many IP's do I need - one for each domain?


Thanks for your help! Service providers are welcome to contact me directly.

- Bert :o)

.

I'll try to answer a few of your questions.

1st. MySQL is a resource hog and is not shy about eating at it. If I was getting the server I would go with 128ram. This should keep your server up and running fast.

2nd. You can have as many ips as you want. You can assighn multiple domains to the same ip. People prefer both ip based and named based, and they will argue that there way is better to the death. I personally like both depending on what the website requires.

3rd. One server should be enough from what I think. Maybe someone else can answer that better for you.

4th. RaQ or normal server? Depends. I personally like just normal servers. They are not limited as much as RaQ's IMO. RaQ's have an extremly easy admin panel. It is good *nix newbies.

Hopefully someone else can answer these better if I missed something or said something wrong.

1. Intel Linux box. People with RAQs report they don't do well with resource intensive applications.

2. Lease. You have to be an experienced server administrator to colocate as you are responsible for everything but the connection.

3. Amount of RAM will be of greater importance than processor speed.

4. No, 1 box will do.

5. You can have all domains sharing 1 IP address unless there is a particular need for any of them to ahve a dedicated IP.

RAQ's aren't that bad overall. For 100 or so sites I wouldn't see a problem. The advantage you have with a RAQ is that it's easy to admin if you've never had an *nix experience before.

The downside to RAQ's is that it can be a little bit more difficult to recompile software. IE apache on RAQ's is patched with some cobalt code for the admin, so it isn't that easy to upgrade.
The other downside to the RAQ's is the lack of backup options. Very few dedicated companies offer any type of backup solution.

MySQl does require more ram, as mentioned by Duster don't even both getting a server with less than 128mb ram (preferably get 256mb), it's suicidal...processor speed is a BIG second to ram.

You could have a server running 50 sparc processors, but if you don't have enough ram the machine will run like a dog.

Spend some time looking around for the right host too, it's easy to get swayed on price...and believe me for the sake of a few $$$ a month extra, having your server in a good NOC will pay for itself time and time again. Getting sleep at night instead of worry whether your server is going to stay up does tend to add years to your life, and keep you from going gray for a little longer :-)

One machine will be fine for you. A single box can handle a pretty impressive load and php + mysql are a very good combination for serving pages quickly.

regards,

Simon