Cost of a forum
 

Sorry if this post sounds really stupid (as I'm sure it will to you guys)

But say I hope to have at least 15,000 members, 20,000 threads, & 1,000,000 posts... how much a month do you think a forum like this would cost? What kind of server would I need?

I plan on running a forum this big in the next 3 years.

Thing is...

I honestly don't know how people can pay up to $800 a month for their boards. Maybe because I'm only 18 but it just sames insane. Almost $10,000 a year?

Someone please enlighten me... you all must have really well paying jobs. :surprised:

No is a stupid post is a really question.

For example i pay $220 / month for a Dedicated Dual Dual Xeon 2.8 2 GB Ram 15K RPM 2x 73GB SCSI Disk

I have a forum with 1.500.000 posts 23.000 members and 600-800 constants users.

How you can see is lot less than the $800/month that you mention :)

You need a Dedicated Server for those.

You wont need to start with a dedicated obvisously. Start with a $10 hosting package from a reputable shared hosting company, As your site grows your next step will be a VPS which for good ones run anywhere from $50-100 a month, but at that time, you're site should be generating some revenue to offset that cost.

Once you get to your goal you'll need a dedicated server, Right now i am using a Dual core, Dual processor woodcrest with 6GB ram, 1TB disk, and 2000GB of bandwidth and is a considerable amount under the 800 mark and it powers my site with ease, and creates plenty of room to grow greatly :D

It really depends. You can do it to a certain degree of cost-cutting, but it only goes so far. I know one forum that gets around 90,000 members and even more guests. It's not the storage that is problematic, it's the bandwidth - he only uses around 10gb for the actual forum (which seems big for a forum, but hardware wise it's not very big), but the bandwidth usage is insane. That puts a lot of strain on the server (which you definately need at that size), and parts then need replacing more often etc. That's what i hear, anyway :p

Personally, i wouldn't try and make your forum too big. Be satisfied with what you can get - start small, and if you get bigger, that's just great. While i like the idea of having a big big forum and site, i don't like the idea of paying for a server and replacement parts. Remember, people don't buy a huge house if they've only got 2 chairs and a table :p

na, I agree. Whats the point of paying a fortune for a host in the beggining. read how many threads are posted each week asking "how can I get members". Tons, sick of reading them.

Do like one guy said above, pay little at first and choose a good shared host. You can always pay more when the time comes to expand.