A few questions about webhosting

#1

I started a website about a month ago along with forums. Right now we are growing really fast, and I'd say we're pretty close to outgrowing what we have in the way of hosting and forums.

I'm using 100freewebspace right now, and that works okay. I can give them more money, get more bandwidth, storage etc. I'm just not sure if they are the best option out there.

What hosting companies are reliable?

What kind of storage and bandwidth do I need if I'm going to have my forums hosted on there too? (We have 125+ members posting about 300-500 posts a day)

I'm looking at different forum software, and I'm not sure which is the best. Well, VB is the best as I see it, but it costs 160 bucks. The main thing I'm looking for is software that has a soft delete option like VB has, that way I can keep my mods accountable as my board is growing really fast. I'm currently using invisionfree forums, but I'm less than happy with them right now.

I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer.

#2

Well, AF servers are hosted in house, and I'm pretty sure we can swing whatever accomodations you may need...As for forums, obviously I prefer phpBB, but I have worked extensively for a long time with it, and am comfortable...Obviously, the goal would be that as your forum gets larger, to get vB or IPB...But by then, you should have a bit of revenue to warrant such purchases...

Tell me more about the plan you have now, in terms of space and bandwidth, and I'll be more than happy to honestly tell you opinions about price ranges and what you should, or should hope to have whenever you do change servers to something more robust...

#3

Question about revenue, what are some ways I can generate it? The site isn't super busy yet, but it's getting more busy. The forums however are really busy of late(and the season is over).

I'm really not sure what I need as far as bandwidth and such goes, I'm pretty new to this. I'm looking for something where I can easily add more and such.

#4

We offer a hosting plan that starts off at about $5 a month...If you do not offer many downloads with your site, then that would be a good place to start...AF uses on average, about 13 GB of bandwidth per month...Each plan can be custom tailored, so if you need more than that, you can always expand your package...For $5 a month, you will get this:

Each plan is payable by the month...It includes cPanel, which is probably the most robust of all hosting account management systems...I have learned hosting on it, and prefer it exclusively...It has automated install scripts for forums and things like that, is easy to navigate, and easy to manage...I...We...Will personally support you, and help you do things that you may need help with...

Who is your current host, and what kind of plan are you on..? Or, are you pretty much just using IPB Free..?

#5

I'm currently using IPB for free, and I'm on a minimal plan with 100webspace. The forum is not hosted on my server so it consumes no bandwidth.

#6

I am sure it has some sort of management panel, does it say how much bandwidth you use..? And while we are on the topic of site revenue, you should look into getting Google ads, which should help should your site get busy and people want to advertise there...

And donations are never a bad thing, ask, but don't demand...If you had a way to feature something, of course, access to it would be a great ViP, or exclusive section, maybe an insider track to the team..? Chats, etc..? A struggling franchise may respond to a well written letter that is aimed at informing more fans, they could probably use the PR...

#7

For the forum, I'm not really sure. But I imagine it's in the ballpark of what you use here, maybe a bit more. At any given time I have 5-20 posters active, except in the early morning times. Where do I go to look through what packages your hosting offers? Link?

#8

http://www.web-tiger.net/

Check it out...I'd recommed, if you do go w/us, to grab that smaller package and change it if need be...5-20 people on isn't much of a server load, and yesterday we just ugraded our server to a dual xeon, so its really swift these days...If you can find any other hosting packages, I'd be glad to compare them with you...

#9

I tried to sign up, but it gave me a not found message. Where do I sign up?