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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82

    Please Recommend Shared Hosting for Forum Websites

    Unfortunately, my current shared hosting service which I have been with for less than a couple months is just proving too erratic for my needs.

    I'd like to find an affordable shared hosting provider that has been proven to handle forum style websites well. Specifically, the constant database querying required for such a site. Other parameters I'd look for are:

    * affordability - approx $60 to $80 per year

    * disk space - minimum 3,000 MB

    Everything else including bandwidth is very flexible.

    Currently, my sites are not huge however one of them just gained the benefit of a competitor closure so it has and continues to experience a significant influx of new users. Currently, I'm using 368 MB of disk space (including databases) and 5,434 MB of bandwidth - for all of my sites. Small for now but I would expect to this grow substantially over the next two years. But I just don't believe can justify VPN or higher level hosting at this point.

    Frankly, I just need a host that can run forum websites at a decent speed. If this is unrealistic given my price range, please don't hesitate to level set my expectations.

    [edit] I should clarify that when I say a "good host for forum websites," I don't mean a host with pre-fab forum software I can install. I do not use any of that. In fact pre-installed anything is very low to non-existent on my list of priorities.
    Last edited by theronin48; 03-28-2013 at 01:33 PM. Reason: clarification added

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Seminole, Oklahoma
    Posts
    1,665
    $60 is $5 a month and if you paid yearly I'm sure you would find a discount. On that note you should easily be able to find a host that can offer that. I can't really suggest any host for shared hosting as I haven't use anybodies shared hosting in a very long time and companies have changed.

    I would suggest find a host with a 30-45 money back guarantee and do a little trial and error. You can find a great host this way as well as a bad host.

    Also check the advertisement section on Web Hosting Talk and you'll find alot of great offers.


    Wish you the best

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    2,613
    The lowest package with powermonster.net is 50 a year. It has 5gb of space, at least the last time I checked it did.
    I would give them a try. My site is actually using them right now and I run a forum. Also the company that owns powermonsters also owns cloudweb.com, birdhosting.com and another one that I can not think of the name right now. Plans are different for each one so check out which ones fits your needs.
    Also downtownhost.com might fit your needs as well.
    Last edited by Amy-T; 03-28-2013 at 01:59 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    Thank you both for the feedback.

    Amy-T, is your Otaku Play Ground site hosted on powermonster? If so, indeed that runs at a decent clip. I am using a different forum software than you but I suspect the query loads can't be much different. And your memberbase and usage is multiple factors greater than what I have. (Also, very nice and clean design.)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    2,613
    Thanks and ya that site is hosted with powermonster.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    453
    Your budget is fine as long as your website does not get too large. Most correctly configured hosts can run forum software very well.
    miscis.com - Providing domains and premium hosting solutions at an affordable price
    cPanel+Softaculous | 99.9% Uptime SLA | CloudLinux | Daily Backups
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    Quote Originally Posted by Miscis View Post
    Most correctly configured hosts can run forum software very well.
    Can you elaborate on this Miscis? Do you find that you need to tell your host that you are running forums or do you give them specific configs?

    My current host is aware that I run forums but I never gave specific config specs - but I'm not sure I know what to even give.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    453
    Quote Originally Posted by theronin48 View Post
    Can you elaborate on this Miscis? Do you find that you need to tell your host that you are running forums or do you give them specific configs?

    My current host is aware that I run forums but I never gave specific config specs - but I'm not sure I know what to even give.
    In most cases, no. However, to provide an example, we had a client recently who ran a forum software that required custom limits to be set in the PHP configuration for optimal performance.
    miscis.com - Providing domains and premium hosting solutions at an affordable price
    cPanel+Softaculous | 99.9% Uptime SLA | CloudLinux | Daily Backups
    █ Accepting PayPal, Credit/Debit Cards, Liberty Reserve
    Currently in Netherlands, EU & Arizona, USA

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    2,613
    My forum does not require any thing special from the host. I was planning to switch to vbulletin back in December but the conversion went very wrong so I reverted back to ipb.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by theronin48 View Post
    Currently, my sites are not huge however one of them just gained the benefit of a competitor closure so it has and continues to experience a significant influx of new users. Currently, I'm using 368 MB of disk space (including databases) and 5,434 MB of bandwidth - for all of my sites. Small for now but I would expect to this grow substantially over the next two years. But I just don't believe can justify VPN or higher level hosting at this point.
    VPS not VPN.

    Your budget seems fine.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,786
    Quote Originally Posted by Amy-T View Post
    My forum does not require any thing special from the host. I was planning to switch to vbulletin back in December but the conversion went very wrong so I reverted back to ipb.
    I ran an IPB board on a MDDHosting.com reseller account. Performance was fine. MDD runs IPB for his support forums. My opinion is that it would run fine on an MDD shared hosting account as well.

    My forum has 72,938 posts and 2,883 members, averaging about 26 to 35 people on line at any one time (the IPB stats are actually for unique hits within the last 15 minutes so I think it overstates the actual numbers). The "rule of thumb" I have heard is that when you get to about 30 concurrent users you are getting close to not being able to use shared hosting any longer.

    I would put MDDHosting.com on your short list of hosts to check out.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Ferenginar
    Posts
    4,157
    Quote Originally Posted by fshagan View Post
    I would put MDDHosting.com on your short list of hosts to check out.
    MDDHosting.com would also be at the top of my list but aren't they out of the OP's budget?

    Unless Mike has some super coupon offer that I'm not aware of.
    What's your budget?

    Seriously, what's your budget?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Kepler 62f
    Posts
    16,703
    Yeah, MDD is one. Stablehost and Hawkhost are two more.
    Those are 3 popular good hosts at WHT.
    || Need a good host?
    || See my Suggested Hosts List || Editorial: EIG/Site5/Arvixe/Hostgator Alternatives
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  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,786
    Quote Originally Posted by RossMAN View Post
    MDDHosting.com would also be at the top of my list but aren't they out of the OP's budget?

    Unless Mike has some super coupon offer that I'm not aware of.
    He's within the $60 to $80 range if paying annually. His basic shared plan is at $6.38 per month paying annually ($77), $7.50 a month monthly ($90), which I think is pretty close to the budget number.

    I always recommend that people start off with monthly payments and then convert to annual after three months or so ... giving time for any issues to pop up. The extra $3 or $4 is worth it.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,786
    Quote Originally Posted by Amy-T View Post
    My forum does not require any thing special from the host. I was planning to switch to vbulletin back in December but the conversion went very wrong so I reverted back to ipb.
    I just added the CDN service to my IPB forum at Admin CP > Applications and Modules > Community Enhancements. They give you a GB to test with initially; I went ahead and bought 100GB for $9 after running it for a day. Seems to help with page loading speed, especially for my members in the EU, Australia and New Zealand (the forum is in California.)

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    WWW
    Posts
    751
    What about uniq visitors on your site? How many members? Users online?
    ADELINAhost (Established 2012)
    Shared Hosting - VPS - Dedicated Servers in more than 10 locations
    https://www.adelinahost.com

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,786
    Quote Originally Posted by AdelinaHost View Post
    What about uniq visitors on your site? How many members? Users online?
    Its small; AWStats reports just over 9,000 uniques each month with about 6GB of bandwidth.

    Code:
    Month /Unique / Total Visits / Pages / Hits / Bandwidth
    Jan 2013	10,195	21,528	136,637	734,279	5.78 GB
    Feb 2013	9,256	19,515	131,081	664,045	5.67 GB
    Mar 2013	9,287	19,176	127,244	627,620	6.34 GB


    72,964 Total Posts
    2,887 Total Members
    142 Most Online

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    40
    URLjet.com has some big names it hosts and does hourly backups. They have a good reputation. The monthly price is $24.95, so it's higher than your budget, but they specialize in forum hosting. They host the San Diego Chargers forum.

    Note: I know the owner. I've worked with the owner. I'm confident recommending them. Do your own due diligence for the company you choose.

    Best,
    Rob

  19. #19
    if you go with hostgator, then you need backup form them, they charge $15.

    ---
    my blog that has 1000-3000 UV, running smooth on hawkhost CA server.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    Quote Originally Posted by Amy-T View Post
    Thanks and ya that site is hosted with powermonster.
    Amy-T thanks again for your recommendation. I've just set up shop with powerMonster and I've migrated smoothly. I am impressed with the speed but particularly like the layered addons.

    I do notice that they cache aggressively. Did you have to request certain settings be optimized for a forum site?

  21. #21
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    2,613
    Quote Originally Posted by theronin48 View Post
    I do notice that they cache aggressively. Did you have to request certain settings be optimized for a forum site?
    Not that I remember. I have been a customer for several years now so maybe I did and forgot. Oh wait I did have to have them turn off the varnish for a while but it was turned back on as ipb came out with a fix.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    Quote Originally Posted by Amy-T View Post
    Not that I remember. I have been a customer for several years now so maybe I did and forgot. Oh wait I did have to have them turn off the varnish for a while but it was turned back on as ipb came out with a fix.
    Thanks Amy and again thank you for this recommendation. Maybe it was a fluke, but my less-than-two-month experience with a prior host left MUCH to be desired.

    I especially like powerMonster's layered service pricing where I can add incremental space and bandwidth at $5-$10 increments rather than moving up a package and doubling or tripling my fees.

    I will be contacting them about the caching. It's too aggressive especially since phpBB already has caching mechanisms.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    As an update to anyone interested that might be using powerMonster, as I suspected they do use their own caching process server side. They have set it to bypass my sites and things so far are running better. No noticeably dramatic change in speed.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    82
    Just wanted to check in again and also again thank Amy-T for her recommendation. PowerMonster continues to be an outstanding host. I've had maybe 2 downtimes worth remembering since the last post and each was addressed very quickly. My sites run fast, all my members across all my forums are happy, I'm happy. Thank you PowerMonster and Amy-T!!!

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