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  1. #1

    Arrow vps hosting: We're not sure what we need.

    Hi, Here's the problem. None of us are familiar with VPS, but we all agree it's time to move off of shared hosting. We've recently discovered our hosting company has a mysql tables limit, which our most active and popular site has topped.

    Now we sat down and figured that for all our sites we're averaging about $35 a month for hosting, domains, etc. Considering this, we think it would be to our advantage to band together and share the costs between us for more of what we apparently need for all our sites.

    As far as what each site holds, this is a breakdown.
    Forums/chats site 1: 43 forums, 25 chats, subdomains, member and forum webpage space. - topped the mysql limit 3 days ago.
    forums/chats site 2: 4 forums, 3 chats - remodeling underway.
    forums/chats site 3: 4 subdomains w/ forums boards & chat, 8 minisites, and we're building a wiki to replace a RPGlossary.
    The free directory site has a webpage and directory.

    This is a list of software we use on our sites for hosting and other things; Beehive <(by Matt Beale) and PHPBB3 for forums, AJAX and X7 for chats, Mediawiki for the wiki we're building, and particle links for the free directory.

    Our hosting accounts all have cpanel, and we like it's ease of use. It gives us all the tools and access we need to make use of the software we use. We need something like cpanel. None of us are web professionals by a long shot.

    I'm supplying all this information because none of us know what we might need in a vps hosting package. We're not even sure if we could host all these on a single vps account. What we do know is that we've apparently outgrown shared hosting for one site, and as the others grow, they may as well. If our hosting company offered a larger package, we might band together and go that route, but they don't.

    All that being said, we need some info for vps newby.

    Are there vps hosts who offer cpanel, or something similar?
    If anyone is familiar with the software programs we've mentioned, do they know of a reliable, affordable vps host that is vps newby friendly and would support them? We also need our members to be able to access their member webspace via ftp access to their member folder, and if they have a subdomain or a forum, it's folder.

    Please feel free to ask questions. We'll answer them as best as we're able.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    7,325
    Based on the data you've given, how many shared accounts are there? 4? Where are they currently hosted at just so we can get a reference point of resource use?

  3. #3
    There are 2 separate hosting accounts. The host is hostmonster. Up until we hit the mysql limit they've been great to us all. I guess we're just outgrowing them.

    It's 4 domains on 2 hosting accounts.

    2 domains each hosting account; 1 small, 1 bigger.

    Does that help?

    I'd give you the domain names that share the accounts, but that might be considered spam, and we don't want to get sent to our rooms. lol
    Last edited by cybatrons; 04-06-2011 at 02:10 AM. Reason: added host

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Online
    Posts
    236
    43 forums, 25 chats - forum softwares use lot of CPU resources because of too many heavy sql queries, I would suggest a dedicated server for your websites instead of a VPS, a good VPS with cPanel may cost you anywhere between $40-70 and that is probably enough to get a you dedicated server.
    Chicago VPS | Gigabit uplink host90.com

    OpenVPN VPS spidervpn.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    27
    Quote Originally Posted by Host90 View Post
    43 forums, 25 chats - forum softwares use lot of CPU resources because of too many heavy sql queries, I would suggest a dedicated server for your websites instead of a VPS, a good VPS with cPanel may cost you anywhere between $40-70 and that is probably enough to get a you dedicated server.
    agreed; dedicated or top-end vps will suit your needs.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    canada
    Posts
    529
    I would like to disagree with the two comments above - the amount of forums and live chat boxes has no impact on the load, only how many users they have at a time.

    The thing I most disagree with is suggesting a dedicated server for someone who has little to no VPS experience and wants cPanel for the ease of use, that suggestion to me in no way meets what the OPs goals are.

    From what the OP describes the limit they hit on shared hosting isn't a CPU or memory issue, but a MySQL table size or table number restriction, which in no way suggests that a VPS cannot handle this.

    Which leads me to suggest that the OP look for a managed VPS with one of the hosts that are more known for actually providing support. I can't name many of them by name, as I've not used them, but I'm sure people who post here and recommend them all the time anyway we'll be by shortly.
    What did you expect was going to happen?
    6sync is where I've made my home ): // @tenkay

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    27
    Quote Originally Posted by dyna! View Post
    I would like to disagree with the two comments above - the amount of forums and live chat boxes has no impact on the load, only how many users they have at a time.
    chatboxes are surprisingly mysql intensive..

    The thing I most disagree with is suggesting a dedicated server for someone who has little to no VPS experience and wants cPanel for the ease of use, that suggestion to me in no way meets what the OPs goals are.
    now i read the topic properly i see he only has 3 sites. not 40+
    a 512mb vps should be enough..
    100mbps node speed recommended.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    New Jersey, USA
    Posts
    4,740
    First off, Welcome to WHT!

    Personally I think if you have been able to host all of those websites/forums on shared hosting, you can get by with a VPS with about 1GB to 1.5GB RAM.

    To me it also looks like you should be looking for a fully managed provider. How much are you looking to spend a month? Which location would you like your VPS in?

    When choosing a hosting company, contact them first and ask them about their money back guarantee, and if they can upgrade you if you outgrow the current plan. So basically choose a host that can scale you up as your forums grow.

    Make a list of a few VPS hosting companies, post them here and we can better assist you in narrowing down your choices.

    Good Luck!

    - Daniel

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Spain
    Posts
    4,251
    A 1GB Cpanel VPS from FutureHosting with full management comes in at just a couple of dollars over the figure you mentioned.

    Well worth looking at.....they're an excellent provider.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,786
    Quote Originally Posted by dyna! View Post
    Which leads me to suggest that the OP look for a managed VPS with one of the hosts that are more known for actually providing support. I can't name many of them by name, as I've not used them, but I'm sure people who post here and recommend them all the time anyway we'll be by shortly.
    This would be my recommendation as well, with a MINIMUM spec of 1GB of RAM on the VPS. I have a VPS from MDDHosting with 1GB of RAM, and it works fine for my accounts (20+ sites, but most are small; I have one busy Wordpress site and one busy forum site, plus several other moderately busy sites.) Having more RAM might be better. I have tweaked my MySQL settings quite a bit, and I'm very happy with the performance of my sites.

    I would open a dialog with someone like Mike from MDDHosting with your specific requirements (you could point them to this thread). Fully managed VPS are "more" than the low cost prices you see advertised for unmanaged boxes, but they often include things you'll need to pay for elsewhere. For instance, MDD includes cPanel/WHM and daily R1Soft off-site backups, options that often cost $25 per month on unmanaged boxes.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Sacramento CA
    Posts
    3,513
    Your exact needs are a bit vague, do you know your resource use? What is the mysql limit exactly? It's not always the case that VPS > SHARED so you need to tread with just a bit of care. IMHO I've found that you need to take the plan specs with a grain of salt. There are plenty of cheap 2GB VPS plans out there that are out performed by 512MB plans on very well managed nodes (I have personal experience with this).

    You sound like you just want your sites up and running, to basically just "work" and allow you to focus on other things. My advice to you is to get the best host your money can buy and go from there. I would highly recommend that you take a look at Knownhost. They have a 768MB and 1GB package (with the special going on right now) in your price range with CPanel. They are truly "host it and forget it". They will work with you to make sure your package meets your needs. They are not the cheapest but then again when you add the value they offer they very cost effective.

    Good luck

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,079
    Quote Originally Posted by fshagan View Post
    I have a VPS from MDDHosting with 1GB of RAM, and it works fine for my accounts (20+ sites, but most are small; I have one busy Wordpress site and one busy forum site, plus several other moderately busy sites.)
    fshagan, I've seen you recommend MDDHosting on here quite a bit for VPS, but the domain in your sig is hosted on Fresco (shared, not VPS). I'm sure you've done it in a post somewhere, but could you possibly post the domain name that has the most active website on your VPS? It'd be good to browse around and see how responsive it is, etc.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indiana, USA
    Posts
    19,196
    Quote Originally Posted by JamesOakley View Post
    fshagan, I've seen you recommend MDDHosting on here quite a bit for VPS, but the domain in your sig is hosted on Fresco (shared, not VPS). I'm sure you've done it in a post somewhere, but could you possibly post the domain name that has the most active website on your VPS? It'd be good to browse around and see how responsive it is, etc.
    It is actually on his VPS, the rDNS is just set incorrectly on that IP which I will rectify right now.

    Edit: Rectified, it will take some time to update.

    Code:
    Mikes-MBP:~ michael$ host 173.248.191.111
    111.191.248.173.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer fresco.supportedns.com.
    Mikes-MBP:~ michael$ host 173.248.191.111
    111.191.248.173.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer beef.hostkabob.com.
    Michael Denney - MDDHosting.com - Proudly hosting more than 37,700 websites since 2007.
    Ultra-Fast Cloud Shared and Pay-By-Use Reseller Hosting Powered by LiteSpeed!
    cPanel • Free SSL • 100% Uptime SLA • 24/7 Support
    Class-leading support that responds in minutes, not days.

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