Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Best hosting for phpbb

[kk2628]

Hi,

I am looking a hoster that can provide sufficient resources to support about 200 concurrent online users for phpbb.

The current hoster that I m using said 100 phpbb users has pushed to their limit and they have no other plan for me to upgrade.

Currently I only have a members base of about ~600 and at rare occasion the online user will reach 100 but the below problem is really annoying :

User xxxxx_bbs already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections [1203]

which always causing my another application zencart having problem too due to unavailable of MySql.

I need help to recommend a provider that has upgrade plan available and of course provide very fast connections (mainly to asia countries like China/Hong Kong/Taiwan.)

Thanks

[AeonCube]

Could you confirm the current hosting setup such as control panel etc and also what budget you are looking for as I am sure someone will be able to help

Cheers!

[kk2628]

My current hoster is bluehost.

[fshagan]

Originally Posted by kk2628

Hi,
I am looking a hoster that can provide sufficient resources to support about 200 concurrent online users for phpbb.

The current hoster that I m using said 100 phpbb users has pushed to their limit and they have no other plan for me to upgrade.

If you really are at 200 concurrent users, it is probably time for a VPS or dedicated server.

I run some forums, and in general, most hosts have told me that in a typical shared hosting environment, once you start hitting 40 - 50 concurrent users you start to tax the shared resources.

I usually tell people to be careful as the reporting done by forums is often the number of users on-line in the last 15 minutes, and many of those users come and go within a few minutes, so the "users online" numbers are inflated. But, since you are running out of connections and seeing problems, you probably really are hitting higher numbers than shared hosting will handle.

The problem is going to be cost. I do not recommend an unmanaged VPS, as it will be a nightmare for you to manage the server and move the forum, etc. There are at least four options:

1. A fully managed VPS, with a control panel, will run you $35 to $40 a month. I would recommend going with a 768 MB - 1 GB RAM VPS for a busy forum; that gives you plenty of RAM for the control panel, mail services, increasing MySQL cache, etc. Have the host set up the VPS for you, and ask them to harden it. Specifically, as them to move SSH to another port, install ConfigServer's CSF/LFD firewall set to "maximum" security, and install RKHUNTER at a minimum.

2. Some providers offer a "semi-dedicated" hosting plan, that is like a shared hosting account on steroids. MDDHosting.com, where I have a VPS, offers one. Search these out and ask if their plan would support a forum with 200 concurrent users. They are considerably cheaper than a fully managed VPS.

3. Get a west coast un-managed VPS ... a 1 GB RAM VPS from someone like Burst.net will cost around $10 a month ... and pay a server management company to set it up, harden it, and migrate your forum to it. This service will cost from $80 to $125, and some or all of the services are available from places like ConfigServer.com, WebbyCart.com and the independent folks who advertise here in the Offers forums. You should probably have them check the VPS quarterly for updates, etc. This approach does create some risk, as a security breech will have you scrambling.

4. Some smaller resellers offer a "single site VPS" or similar plan where they manage the server for you, and your run your site. They don't give you root access, a control panel, etc. If you need another email address, you submit a ticket rather than going into cPanel and just creating it. But the advantage of this type of plan is that it usually just $5 to $10 more than an unmanaged VPS ... so a 1 GB VPS would be around $15 per month with similar features to a fully managed VPS.

[Slimz]

If you're using many mods I would suggest you a vps server with at least 1024MB of ram,since with the needed updates phpbb is becomming really heavy...

[J Gwynne PC Repair]

are you using memcache?
does your provider have setup memcache?

phpbb (and alot of other php scripts) allows you to use memcache in the config file that will help reduce mysql queries.

joe

[kpmedia]

Bluehost is a slow EIG host.

And then it does sound like you need to move to a VPS -- with 1GB RAM minimum as some have suggested. Since you're likely new to VPS, go with a good managed host. That will cost somewhere in the $40-50/monthly range. The days of $5-10/monthly costs for this site are over. Something on the west coast would work -- Futurehosting, for example.

[gate2vn]

Bluehost sets concurrent connection is 30, I believe. You will need higher number, but definitely not 200. From my experience, 200 members online at the same time is not equal to 200 concurrent connections. It depends on how your members request, how you optimize your forums.

BTW, VPS is not always good in this situation. A shared hosting with cluster technology will be much better than starting VPS with 512MB or even 1GB RAM.

[RyanK]

Originally Posted by gate2vn

BTW, VPS is not always good in this situation. A shared hosting with cluster technology will be much better than starting VPS with 512MB or even 1GB RAM.

Yeah. Based on our tests you get about 5x more performance.

[kk2628]

Originally Posted by fshagan

......
I usually tell people to be careful as the reporting done by forums is often the number of users on-line in the last 15 minutes, and many of those users come and go within a few minutes, so the "users online" numbers are inflated. But, since you are running out of connections and seeing problems, you probably really are hitting higher numbers than shared hosting will handle.

Thank you for your detail reply and precious information for a newbie like me. I only looked at the number the forum reported. Is there something I can configure at phpbb (I m currently using default settings) to minimise the occurrences of this until I can decide and find a good VPS or other technology for the site ?
Is there a setting that will prevent a single user to use the resource until the connection is available again ? This way will piss-off the single customer (or small number of members) rather than the entire site affected.
Or is there a queue system can be used for forum members submitted tasks for mysql connection, this may slow down some responses but can prevent to reach the limit and causing the entire site down?

The problem is going to be cost. I do not recommend an unmanaged VPS, as it will be a nightmare for you to manage the server and move the forum, etc. There are at least four options:

You have rightly point out the main reason. We are no IT expert so manage a VPS or platform that require heavy maintenance will be a nightmare.

I am thinking if there is available technology or service provider that can provide "resource-on-demand" such as cloud computing BUT with good network and performance.

Or I can subscribe to another plan so that I can load balance the resources available or these two accounts ?

[Exerox]

Originally Posted by kk2628

Or is there a queue system can be used for forum members submitted tasks for mysql connection, this may slow down some responses but can prevent to reach the limit and causing the entire site down?

MySql as standard already uses this kind of method, however it's optimization is down to how a config file called my.cnf is configured, with shared hosting I can bet you won't have access to modify this config file though.

[kk2628]

Originally Posted by J Gwynne PC Repair

are you using memcache?
does your provider have setup memcache?

phpbb (and alot of other php scripts) allows you to use memcache in the config file that will help reduce mysql queries.

joe

Any pointer to how to setup memcache ?

Thanks

[kk2628]

Originally Posted by gate2vn

Bluehost sets concurrent connection is 30, I believe. You will need higher number, but definitely not 200. From my experience, 200 members online at the same time is not equal to 200 concurrent connections. It depends on how your members request, how you optimize your forums.

What are the way to optimize in my situation ? I use default settings at the moment. And will shutdown search function to see if the situation improve.

Anyway, I got different info from them, some said 15, some said 20.


Thanks

[JamesOakley]

Originally Posted by mikenew

go with hostgator. it is really good

Based on your personal experience? Which domain do you host with them?

[J Gwynne PC Repair]

Originally Posted by kk2628

Any pointer to how to setup memcache ?

Thanks

you need to make sure your provider has it installed on their servers

then in the config file there is an option for memory caching

the server would normally be localhost and the default memcache port is 11211

again it all depends on if your provider has it setup

thanks

joe