Some Guidance - New Server & Hosting
 

Morning !

I'm looking to start up a new site/forum - and am looking for some advice for you experts !

The site expects to have about 500-1000 users online at busy periods (most active).

Can someone advise on the best hosting company (in their opinion) as well, minimum specs for a server setup etc...I know about the php and mysql, so it's everything ancillary to that - memory, disk size, OS etc...

There's a raft of companies out there all varying in price - is there one out there, who is better at forum hosting than the others ?

Cheers in advance

I think initially you can go for a VPS as you expect 500-1000 users online at busy periods. You can upgrade the server as per your requirements when your site grows well.

I'm using Netfirms Enterprise One service and I'm very happy with it so far. I was using GoDaddy, DO NOT USE GODADDY! they're terribly unreliable, and large database transactions are a nightmare.

Thanks guys - Jack - will catch you on msn :)

Since I made designs for websites, I have stomp on many kind of hosting services, but I'm very happy with hostmonster.com, even I have 3 contracts, costumer service? very fast!

Everyone always says DON'T USE GODADDY.. but why..?

Is the dedicated better then the shared, or Visa Versa.?

I use them, & i have a problem logging into their site sometimes, but never has my site gone down.

1) their main customer base is for domains. Godaddy is made for domains, not hosting, so they don't know what the heck they are doing.
2) If you need a backup installed, they charge you about 150USD per database.
3) They overstuff their servers MORE than BlueHost (can you imagine that?!)
4) Just don't use them

Now their VPS and Dedicated plans may be better, but (again) they are not a webhosting company. They focus on domain names and just put the hosting in there at the last second to attempt to get MORE money fast. If you are going to use godaddy, use it for just their domain names. End of story.

You have to ask yourself. How much will your site grow and how fast. If you expect to get high growth and want to be able to handle spikes of traffic then Id go with a dedicated server. If your site already has that kind of traffic its obviously to much for a shared account, and on the verge of being to much for a VPS. I recommend starting right with a dedicated, to save yourself the hassle of moving everything over when you upgrade. Start with a basic Dedicated perhaps a simple dualcore xeon maybe 1-2 gb of ram. This will take your site well into the future, and when it comes time to upgrade you can start with adding ram, to handle the MySQL loads, and when your cpu load gets to big, Your site is doing really well!! and time to go quadcore/dual processor.

Let me know if their is anything I can help you with.