Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Please recommend me a good shared hosting for my forum

[ItBroker]

My forum is a phpbb with mysql; it's very simple; an average layout without add ons like arcade games, file uploaders, etc.

I expect a traffic boom from the next month, so I would like to transfer it to a hosting that can handle it until it gets around 150 concurrent users logged at the same time at peak hours (so it will have lots of mysql queries, etc).

I'm new to webhostingtalk.com, and I find it difficult how to select the right shared plan, because very ofter companies just specify "xxx gb of bandwith monthly, yyy gb of hard disk space", and this is not the information I am looking for (because a forum take small amounts of bandwith and space, but lots of CPU and RAM).

My budget is 130$/monthly.

Some companies that gave me a good impression are HostGator.com, LunarPages.com, BlueWho.com, HttpMe.com, FluidHosting.com, Servage.com, Mosso.com, Pair.com.. but feel free to suggest me anyone else!

(I know that with that amount I could find a nice dedicated server, but I don't know how manage one and haven't time to learn.. I know that some companies give management.. but it's quite difficult to find one that can completely and proactively manage a server for me for 130 bucks a month.. and I want a hassle free solution so it must be a shared hosting)

[LiquidWebPatrick]

You know one trick you may want to consider is using a hosting service that has opposite peaks times as you do. Do you know what your peak times are? This may be a way to save on a lower end dedicated server.

[sgarbus]

Unfortunately, 150 concurrent mySQL connections will most likely require a dedicated server. Where are you currently hosted? Do you know what the load on their servers is like?

Do you have a link to your forums that you could share? It's possible that they're not as resource intensive as you might think.

[ItBroker]

Patrick, I don't know what time traffic peaks will happen but thank you for your advice.

Steve, I would prefere to not post the url of my forum here.
It is small at the moment, but from next month I expect big amounts of traffic and new users, and I must be prepared.

[LiquidWebPatrick]

ItBroker,

Your current host should be able to provide you with some idea about peak times. The nature of your forums will usually shed some light on this as well; whether people visit their sites when they get home from work or if this is a weekend e-commerce site, etc ...

I'd like to hear how things go.

[layer0]

Originally Posted by PE-Steve

Unfortunately, 150 concurrent mySQL connections will most likely require a dedicated server. Where are you currently hosted? Do you know what the load on their servers is like?

If the OP was referring to MySQL concurrent connections, then yes, I'd say the OP would require a dedicated solution. However, the post states that there 150 users online at the forum, most of which would not be loading a page from the server at the same time therefore it is not possible to make a direct correlation to MySQL concurrent connections. Just recently, we were curious to determine just how many 'actual' MySQL concurrent connections a site with ~ 100-150 users online would make to the server -- we were very surprised to find that at most there would be 40 actual concurrent connections going to MySQL. Many users are in the process of posting [typing up their reply], reading, etc - hardly anyone is actually going to be performing an action.

Noting that you do not have any custom modifications on your forum at the moment a hosting company with undersold servers geared towards application hosting <<<_>>> would be suitable towards your needs. Such hosts are not common and will take a bit of digging to find, but formulate a list of hosts and contact each individually and let them know what you are looking to host. Select the host that you are most comfortable with and make sure you do not go with a host that obviously oversells; e.g. 1000GB transfer for $10/mo is simply not feasible in a shared environment geared towards hosting sites like that of your own.

Best of luck in searching for a hosting solution and do update this thread with your experience.

Regards,

[Webmaster7]

Hello! I would go with your second suggestion: LunarPages. As for the 150 concurrent users, I can ask them which plan they advise. You have a nice budget, and I'm sure they can give you a special deal.

[layer0]

Originally Posted by Affiliate7

Hello! I would go with your second suggestion: LunarPages. As for the 150 concurrent users, I can ask them which plan they advise.

On what basis did you decide that LunarPages would be the appropriate host for the OP? It is common knowledge on these forums that LunarPages is one of the many [unfortunately] hosts that have chosen to go with an overselling model -- a model that is thus not suitable to hosts sites like the OP's. Should you contact LunarPages and inquire as to what solution they suggest for hosting such a site, I would not be surprised if they suggest a dedicated solution -- which would unfortunately exceed the OP's budget.

Regards,

[utropicmedia-karl]

Originally Posted by PE-Steve

Unfortunately, 150 concurrent mySQL connections will most likely require a dedicated server. Where are you currently hosted? Do you know what the load on their servers is like?

Do you have a link to your forums that you could share? It's possible that they're not as resource intensive as you might think.

Why would you need a 1:1 SQL connection-to-user ratio? That would be a horrible piece of software. I would expect modern software to use resource pools to help manage more efficently.

150 concurent users should be easily handled by a shared hosting account.

[layer0]

Originally Posted by utropicmedia-karl

Why would you need a 1:1 SQL connection-to-user ratio? That would be a horrible piece of software. I would expect modern software to use resource pools to help manage more efficently.

150 concurent users should be easily handled by a shared hosting account.

Agreed. In fact, we have the data to back this up.

[ItBroker]

Originally Posted by utropicmedia-karl

Why would you need a 1:1 SQL connection-to-user ratio? That would be a horrible piece of software. I would expect modern software to use resource pools to help manage more efficently.

150 concurent users should be easily handled by a shared hosting account.

That's great to hear, Karl

[Webmaster7]

With a $130 a month budget there are alternatives to a dedicated solution, even if it is not advertised in the homepage. I know lots of companies that have non-advertised semi-dedicated alternatives (for ex. only 4 accounts per server) or custom plans and that could work for ItBroker.
I suggested LunarPages because they are a great team, and something could be worked out.

[utropicmedia-karl]

Originally Posted by ItBroker

That's great to hear, Karl

Let us know how your search goes.

Also, please keep in mind that the performance of your forum depends greatly on how you configure it. We recently had a client(ex) host a forum with us that would perform great for several hours then suddenly crap out. The core dumps showed massive memory and resource leaks, however, it was totally out of our hands as we did not write the software and felt it was not our responsability to administer his forum. We had to refund the client's money becuase his forum, with a handful of users, kept bringing down the entire server. I am sure other hosts have similar stories of mismanaged software running amuck.

The moral of the story is that a shared solution can be great becuase you don't have to manage it and you have access to all those server resources, but it is still up to you to ensure your software in configured appropriately for optimal performance.



Kind Regards,

[layer0]

Originally Posted by utropicmedia-karl

Let us know how your search goes.

Also, please keep in mind that the performance of your forum depends greatly on how you configure it. We recently had a client(ex) host a forum with us that would perform great for several hours then suddenly crap out. The core dumps showed massive memory and resource leaks, however, it was totally out of our hands as we did not write the software and felt it was not our responsability to administer his forum. We had to refund the client's money becuase his forum, with a handful of users, kept bringing down the entire server. I am sure other hosts have similar stories of mismanaged software running amuck.

The moral of the story is that a shared solution can be great becuase you don't have to manage it and you have access to all those server resources, but it is still up to you to ensure your software in configured appropriately for optimal performance.



Kind Regards,

I agree with you there as well. However, do note that the OP is just using a pretty standard phpBB installation without any custom mods -- thus, there should not be any problem at all. A standalone phpBB instance is not very resource intensive.

[Webmaster7]

With lots of users even a non modded phpbb installation can be very usage heavy! And from the first post we must presume that. Without more information it's difficult to say exactly.
I've seen a phpbb board with more than 5 million members (that's right) that requires several dedicated servers.

ItBroker's community is smaller, but nonetheless most shared hosting providers won't allow 150 concurrent users.