[chetcarson]

Originally Posted by Ntfu2

Its sad to say, but most forums dont ever have the need to leave the shared hosting environment.

In your guestimated opinion would a $10-$20 shared server handle 30-40 online users comfortably or do I need to budget for a low end dedicated package?

There is no need to start with some insanely large hosting package it'll just sit and go to waste.

Roger that. My situation is such that I have inherited an existing community. I already have a prototype board up where we are designing and testing our layout and mods. The previous community had a 30-40 user load and I expect once I drive traffic to the new board using a similar formula it will quickly return to that level of activity. If we could operate efficiently at this level in a shared configuration I would be very happy but my gut is telling me otherwise. In my mind, properly planning this venture requires that I have some idea what my expenses will run as monetary resource limits will dictate its feasablilty. I can make blind bets with my own time and money but a community project involves a number of people whose time and effort and financial support are something one should not gamble with.

Any additional words of knowledge and wisdom are immensely apprecated.