Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : unmetered?

[JLevine]

I am not sure if I need am unmetered server. I am planning on hosting a huge website that runs around 6000GB-10000GB of bandwidth per month and has quite a large database on it (50,000 users). What server recommendations/bandwidth options should I use?

[rghf]

By the sounds of it I would suggest at least a Dual Xeon 2Gb RAM ideally with SCSI disks with 20-30mbit of traffic. You might even have to think about two servers. One for the database and the other for the website. I would budget at least $1200/mo for it

Rus

[layer0]

Personally, I would like into an enterprise server solution.

http://www.layeredtech.com/order.php?packageId=68

The above link leads to a Quad Xeon server which should be great for this site. Though it says 10mbits, you may be able to work out a deal with LT.

Cheers

[SMachiz]

I would also advise a two server solution - a fast database server (SCSI RAID5 or 10) and then a Dual Xeon web head. This gives you the added ability of being able to cluster your webheads as your traffic grows while maintaining the database load on the SCSI backend.

As for unmetered, 50Mbit would realistically allow you about 13-14TB of transfer which I would think would be a good ceiling. The other option would be committing to say 30Mbit on a burstable port and paying overages if you incur any. This would work fine for awhile, but as your traffic grows you'll obviously want to increase your commitment level, but the burstability will help you avoid bottlenecks.

Sam

[appliedops]

Originally posted by v3|dark
I am planning on hosting a huge website that runs around 6000GB-10000GB of bandwidth per month and has quite a large database on it (50,000 users). What server recommendations/bandwidth options should I use?

I would reccomend getting 3 servers actually.
Two for Web serving, and one for database.
The Web servers should have at least 1GB of ram, and the DB server would probably be well off with 2GB+2CPU but it really depends on the DB usage.

The DB server can be low-transfer, and if you buy from a good dedicated provider you can just get one port with them and not pay for the back end DB server bandwidth.
I would say commit to around 30-35Mbps.

I think you could get that for around $900-1000 if you went to the right place.

[Josh Stein]

I don't understand why you guys are suggesting a specific number of servers. You do not even know the resource usage and load of the current box. He could push a lot of transfer but just store a DB with information that is hardly utilized. It is also a possibility that he has a very active resource intensive DB and needs a 10 server cluster.

[SMachiz]

Originally posted by Josh Stein
I don't understand why you guys are suggesting a specific number of servers. You do not even know the resource usage and load of the current box. He could push a lot of transfer but just store a DB with information that is hardly utilized. It is also a possibility that he has a very active resource intensive DB and needs a 10 server cluster.

After you're in the industry for awhile, you can predict with decent accuracy the needs of potential clients. If he's got a database of 50k users, anyway you cut it you'll want to separate the front end and back end operations. Even more so if you have any intention of being prepared for future growth.

Sam

[Josh Stein]

Originally posted by SMachiz
After you're in the industry for awhile, you can predict with decent accuracy the needs of potential clients. If he's got a database of 50k users, anyway you cut it you'll want to separate the front end and back end operations. Even more so if you have any intention of being prepared for future growth.

Sam

I've been in the industry for awhile and that is not always the case. What I have learned is that you cannot jump to recommending a solution until you have all of the proper information. For example, I have a customer that has a large database of all their customers and potential customers but the database hardly uses any server resources other than disk space. This customer would not need a separate DB server. In addition, what if the OP really requires a 10-server cluster? There is no way of knowing without obtaining more information!

[SMachiz]

Originally posted by Josh Stein
I've been in the industry for awhile and that is not always the case. What I have learned is that you cannot jump to recommending a solution until you have all of the proper information. For example, I have a customer that has a large database of all their customers and potential customers but the database hardly uses any server resources other than disk space. This customer would not need a separate DB server. In addition, what if the OP really requires a 10-server cluster? There is no way of knowing without obtaining more information!

How much bandwidth is your current customer using? Next to nothing, or 6-10TB?

Sam

[Josh Stein]

Originally posted by SMachiz
How much bandwidth is your current customer using? Next to nothing, or 6-10TB?

Sam

There is a chance that the BW usage has nothing to do directly with the database. There could be a large database that is hardly utilized, but files that are being hosted on the same server that are. All I am saying is that you cannot jump to conlusions and offer a solution without certain details.

You don't go to the dentist and because you have a tooth ache he says right off the bat you need a tooth pulled. Instead he most likely does an xray to look and see exactly what the problem is and then offers a solution.

[JLevine]

its all the database, the whole site revolves around there forum

[BaselineAce]

You're users upload a lot of files, eh?