Hey guys, First of would like to say hi to everyone.

I have been a member of this for a quite good time, but never really browsed it, just did it today and seems like a really nice community .

Well basically, i am asking you guys for suggestions, i am owner of a forum, the average number of users online on my site is 175, and i am having a lot of problems with my host.

I Have vb shout running, but because my host said that it was casuing issues, i limited vbshout to only 50 members, but still i am getting uses.

At peak time,around 400 Members online, the server where my site is hosted crashes.


Can you guys suggest what i should do ? If you guys suggest me to get a dedicated server, please let me know, where i can get it from or and what specifications. Thanx

Hi d3adly,

Have you considered removing shoutcast and looking into smaller text chat codes to use? Maybe adding an IRC channel or even a chat prgram called chatzy may help. Yo can use it for free but it is no integrated directly into the site. It would be a seperate page. Programs like chatzy may require your users to have a second page open but is free and doesn't put a strain on your own server you are on. You can set it with passwords, channels and more so only your members can join.

Just a suggestion, so that you wouldn't need to put strain on your server and wouldn't have to look into extra costs that you may not wish to have. I know that there are also optimized versions of shoutcast that people havemodded to reduce that stres but I don't have the links to any at the moment.

Good luck...

__________________
Owner of One of the nets top MMOG text based games, Strategy, Disipline and tactics lead the way in this game.

Slopok8225, I have already tried doing that, but the thing with that is that people dont use it as often as they use the shoutbox. I have almost tried every single thing, but it doesnt work out, and now the only possible way out is gettin g a dedicated server, thats why my host suggested me to do too.

you can't host a forum with 400 users online on a shared server, or better you can if they allow you to do it, but you shouldn't.
If you like the host you are with it's probably because the servers aren't overloaded, and having such a resource intensive hosted makes the server crash damaging you and all the others on the same server
some time ago I had a look at several dedicated server providers and one with good prices was servstra but there's plenty of good dedicated servers provider out there, just make some research and get a managed service if you can't manage the server yourself.
Price shouldn't be a problem if you have 400 users online at the same time I'm assuming you are earning something from the forum.

With that many uses online, you definitely need a dedicated or VPS. I'm surprised your host hasn't requested that you upgrade your account if your site is causing the server to crash.

__________________
World of Warcraft Forums - Your #1 place to discuss all things World of Warcraft.

400 users online at the same exact time, and you're still using shared hosting? It's definitely time to switch over to a VPS, or a dedicated server, no doubt about it. You're account must be taking up an incredible amount of the server's CPU power, and as Moelman stated above, I'm surprised that you're host hasn't required you to upgrade to a dedicated plan, or transfer to a new hosting provider.

Time to make the move!

Chris

I have 3 busyish IPB forums that add up to about 400 users online at any one time and we are managing with a dedicated barton 3Ghz 2 mb RAM 80 Gb hard drive at $150 a month from servstra.com. If things go far over 400 users things can get bogged down. I don't know how VB resource usage compares to IPB though. I have also heard that shout boxes when busy can eat resources so if you intend to keep it as it is you should consider this and ramp up your chosen spec accordingly.

__________________
MMORPG List - Probably the best MMORPG list in the world.
mmorpgGuru.com News - Digg for MMORPGs.
MMORPG Database.

Cultzero, thats wht i was thinking, 3 Ghz and 2 MB RAM, Would like to ask others, if it would be able to handle my site ? And vbshout Running for everyone ? :-S

If you're looking for stability, I'd look into a dual-opteron server with 1-2GB's of RAM. If 400 users boggs down a 3GHz processor, it's not going to do you any more good that leaving it as is.

The idea here is to increase the speed and reliability for your users and a dual-processor unit will do just that. That coupled with 1-2GB's of RAM should allow you to hit the 400 users a breeze by to 500-600 if managed and optimized correctly.

With a dedicated server, you have to factor in that you'll need to find someone to optimize PHP, MySQL and Apache for you for optimal conditions. If left stock, you'll be no better off.

Do you know anyone who can optimize it for me ?