Thought a little intro would be an advantages towards help.

I'm an old fart that recently started a vB forum. I am a rookie but seem to stumble my way through the processes.

We only have about 20 regular members that post but I hope it will grow. My current server GD (no more needed to be said I understand) has been far from reliable, lots of downtime, 2 days this week alone, and speeds are often slow when reloading pages, it times out.

My dilemma,
I know I need to change sever but uncertain as to what to do, simply move to another shared host and hope they preform better, or go to VPS. If I go to VPS I guess with my limited IT skills I need one with windows OS, would that be a fair call?

I live in Australia but most of the forum members live in the US.

Some advice and direction would be truly appreciated!

Thought a little intro would be an advantages towards help.

I'm an old fart that recently started a vB forum. I am a rookie but seem to stumble my way through the processes.

We only have about 20 regular members that post but I hope it will grow. My current server GD (no more needed to be said I understand) has been far from reliable, lots of downtime, 2 days this week alone, and speeds are often slow when reloading pages, it times out.

My dilemma,
I know I need to change sever but uncertain as to what to do, simply move to another shared host and hope they preform better, or go to VPS. If I go to VPS I guess with my limited IT skills I need one with windows OS, would that be a fair call?

I live in Australia but most of the forum members live in the US.

Some advice and direction would be truly appreciated!

Not sure if GD is your first attempt at shared hosting, but you might want to try another shared host first (most hosts offer a 30 day money back guarantee). I say that because your issues might be with your current host instead of the type of hosting (shared vs. VPS) you are using.

If you still have issues, then you should try VPS.

I agree with Doug, it seems like what you are doing a shared account should be sufficient. You may want to try another shared host before moving on to something bigger.

You should search for linux hosting to host vbulletin forum.
Linux hosting is cheaper and support php better.

I am a little concerned about going to a linux system as my skills are lacking a just a little to say the least.

I have been seriously thinking of going to 1&1 hosting with a windows vps plan. Does anyone have any opinions on doing that?



You should search for linux hosting to host vbulletin forum.
Linux hosting is cheaper and support php better.

I am a little concerned about going to a linux system as my skills are lacking a just a little to say the least.

I have been seriously thinking of going to 1&1 hosting with a windows vps plan. Does anyone have any opinions on doing that?

Well, I don't think you need to go for VPS plan. As suggested by doug, I second to his opinion. You try out another shared host for your vbulletin forum. Linux shared hosting account would be ideal for vbulletin forum and CPanel is one of the top user friendly control panel. Even a fresher can manage his account easily using CPanel.

If you wanted to save even more money, shared linux hosting without a control panel would work fine. You would just want to ask your host how much it would cost to have them move the bulletin over. It's a fairly common practice.

I am a little concerned about going to a linux system as my skills are lacking a just a little to say the least.

I have been seriously thinking of going to 1&1 hosting with a windows vps plan. Does anyone have any opinions on doing that?

you don't need to worry as there are very good control panels [even free ones] and you can manage a Linux box without the need to type a single command [if everything works fine...].

Cpanel would be another option, but it costs money and a lot of system resources [as compared to webmin etc.] of a VPS.

with only 20 users there is no real need to go to a VPS as the only thing you need to do is to find a reliable shared hosting company. You should take alook into the offers section [here at WHT] and try to contact a few companies with your needs and I think there are some which would just fit your bill perfectly.

1and1 VPS...I don't know as they tend to have bad reputation here at WHT.

When running a vB forum, you're much better off with Linux hosting. It's stable, cheap and reliable and you need zero management skills or Linux knowledge to run and operate the forum. you can easily manage your hosting account through a control panel like cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin.