Whats it cost?
 

What does it cost to run a "big board" in a ideal world people who run "small boards" (like me!) will make it into "big board" land.

Currently my only cost is vb license, and shared hosting costs (£88 for the license and i think its £30 for the yearly charge so i can get the updates, and £9 a month)

Obviously license costs will remain the same, but have you had to spend any more on other software?

As to hosting, I just know costs will spiral as the board gets busier, how much am i looking at having to find a month as things grow?

Hi Jon!

I'm currently running a small board as well, but we're bandwidth intensive. Right now I'm eating a good 100gb a month (and that's with sharing loads with other affiliates :D) and we're an extremely young podcast (5 episodes). Anyhow, we'll be transitioning to a dedicated server this summer and that is where your best bet lies.

As boards grow so will your demands. Eventually, a shared hosting plan won't provide enought. You'll need to make the move to a dedi.

Currently I use Surpass Hosting and they're doing a dang good job. When I make the "big move" it will be to one of their managed dedicated servers.

At a good deal too. Expect a good $100ish dollards for a lowish-end dedicated :D. Obviously that price rises with what exactly you get.

My website has over 50,000 registered members, 2 million posts, and we average 186gb of bandwidth a month. I pay $209 hosting fees through www.servermatrix.com (bleh server) and $60 to my server manager to keep me secure and updated.

Currently Active Users: 381
Threads: 200,101, Posts: 3,275,705, Members: 33,314

$569US/m for 2 servers. one for web and email, other for db.

additional costs .. maybe costs involved in

1. buying license for app beyond compare for comparing changes to hacked files/templates to vB forum updates
2. license costs for secureCRT, secureFTP from vandyke.com for ssh telnet, secure ftp transfer
3. other admin software tools/apps you might need to make admin duties easier

etc etc

those kinds of things i needed to fork out for along with domain renewal costs, server upgrade/moving costs i.e. new setup fees etc

Basically m costs for my larger forums like sprintusers.com, zeldauniverse.net, or smashboards.com come down to hosting and promotional items I use for contests and giveaways. My two largest forums on 2 servers a piece, which costs aroun $600 a month at The Planet.

....bribes for eva2000 to get the perfect Server configuration.

I will chip in on this bribe deal...:D

ah forgot compulsory fees like that :D

Let's not forget to mention that as your userbase builds so does your ad revenue options. With some well placed ads there is really no reason that your community will make you money rather than cost you money.