Bandwidth problems

[K33nny]

2.5 million hits? My website is nearly there and we've only used 7.4 gigs. Massive size forum you got there.

[mashby]

k33nny,

Shiva said page views, not hits. Those are two different things.

[K33nny]

Slight mistake on my behalf.

Yeap.

People get confused by that. I've forgotten how many server hits I racked up in a month, it was a lot...
That's how many times the server was requested to display a file image etc.
As to saving bandwidth, the one thing I did find that saved the most bandwidth was displaying file attachments as a link to a pop up window, as opposed to it automatically displaying in the posts. Most people are only interested in seeing a image once anyway. This board does that, and when I did that, my bandwidth use dropped big time.
You can also compress your code as well. A HTML compression, removing the unused spaces etc can save about 10 to 15% everytime a page is loaded in, though you have to be careful you don't break the code somewhere. There's some good programs for that, HTML shrinker comes to mind. Most people never compress their code, but if you get a lot of people browsing your boards, it does add up.
Also, check your image sizes, and also see if your members are caching your site as well. People who don't have caching set in their Tools/Internet Options/ Temp internet files/Settings may be reloading your page and calling your server with a page refresh with every page they browse. That translates to a lot of server hits, as your server is reloading in everything fresh. Most people have it on the default setting, but I do sometimes have it set to reload a site fresh when I check a new design, and some people set it if they browse a forum/site a lot, or just don't know what the settings actually do.
Just post to your members, and ask them to check their settings, most will be happy to check if it's causing you bandwidth problems.

Please contact me at tim[at]paradise-designs.net I'm sure I can work out a great deal for you .