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10smom

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2008
200
6
USA
I would like to run at least three Forum data base sites similar to this site layout (vbulletin and Ipb 3 community suites) that have potential to grow very large, on the mac mini server. I will also want to include live video and audio chat and possibly streaming video. Will this work?

If so my questions:

  • should I use DSL or cable for ISP
  • what is the minium download/upload speed I should have with my ISP?
  • Do all ISP allow this or will they try to charge me extra?
  • which ISP would be best option in the state of utah
  • Where can I find a competendent Mac person who is skilled in transfering files for a web host to my home server that we set up? :D
  • What are the pitfalls??

Is anyone already doing this and can share their experience. ON what type of server is this website run?? Thanks
 
It's hard to make good suggestions without knowing your budget.

Well to boot you'd need a plan from your ISP that allows webhosting; usually that's the business plan. Next you'd need to obtain a static IP; again usually only available on a business plan. Now you need to look at bandwidth: depending on how many users you plan to host, and the quality of the video chat, you're looking at from a lot of bandwidth to more than most people can afford.

I'm not familiar with the state of Utah, but generally DSL isn't suitable because your upload wouldn't be very fast. Cable would be better, but again it would pricey; you'd want at least 5Mbps upload. Please let me make this clear: download speed does not matter as long as it's as fast as upload. Here in PA, a plan like that commands about $150 a month. That's not including installation and contracts. XMission is one host I know of. I hear they are pretty good, but in no way will they be cheap. An idea solution would be at least a DS3 line—maybe a $1000 a month?

A vBulletin license is $180 for a perpetual license. IPBoard is quite some added cost. That's nothing of course compared the monthly bandwidth. Really that's the killer.

Most other software is free. PHP, Apache, for your hosting. I don't really think it's a viable solution for most people; I'd just get a hold of a shared hosting for $100 a year and run it off that. If you insist on hosting it yourself, OS X isn't the ideal server. Something like Linux is better. And you can build a lot better server for the same price.

I hope you have evaluated your business plan. Running a forum yourself won't be cheap. Unless you are willing to shell out big bucks, I'm afraid there aren't many competent people who will do it pro bono.

Oh if you want to run 3 of these sites, just take your expect cost and multiply it by 3 or more. I hope this is just an idea you decided on today; if you have a long term plan, and enough support it can work.

Good luck.
 
I agree that you should start with third-party shared hosting to save the $ until your sites outgrow it. If and when they do, move to a VPS and then a third-party dedicated server or a colocation facility -- that way you're on a commercial-grade network and there's someone else to maintain your systems 24/7. Even if your ISP allows you to host your own site (and most don't), your network will be less reliable and your upload bandwidth (and therefore your users' download speeds) will be severely limited.
 
I already have been on a shared server and I have owned vb licesnse for 2 years already. I am concerned about putting another forum site on the same shared server. The upside potential for the 2nd forum is much greater then the 1st, which is doing well statistically . I will have to go the dedicated server route eventually and thought this maybe a good time to weigh my options when making upgrades and adding new sites.

Does any one know of individual or groups that share dedicated server to defray the cost of going it alone with a dedicated server on a hosting provider??

I was looking at the at home option as I thought it may be cheaper than having dedicated server with hosting provider

BTW: note to ADmin, I am not receiving notification by email and it show in my Usercp that I am not subscribe to any thread even though default is instant email notification. Thanks
 
Audio/Video is very resource intensive. What are the specs of your current hosted server? Are they more or less than the mini? What is the bandwidth of your current hosted server? Is it more or less than the residential service available to your home? You really haven't provided enough information for anyone to provide a meaningful answer....

More often than not, you're going to be better off using a hosting service.
 
Does any one know of individual or groups that share dedicated server to defray the cost of going it alone with a dedicated server on a hosting provider??

Look up VPS options ("Virtual private server") -- you get a big chunk of a dedicated server, with full control over it.
 
Just curious what topic of forums these are going to be.

one site already exist and It is a community web site for a major college institution, It has right at 1500 members with 500 of those active and about 500 visitors or guest a day. It will always continue to grow as new parents and student come in especially in summer. It has been in existence for a little over a year

and the other will be very similar but will be for a town. I already have a great deal of access to my target audience for this site as I did for the College site. Makes it a no brainer for the potential to get it up and running if I just had a clue what I was doing :confused:
 
Don't host yourself. There are loads of decent hosting companies who will not cost much and you can easily scale-up your plan if your visitor numbers go up.

If you host things yourself then downtime is much more likely and if you do happen to get spikes in visitors your setup won't be able to handle it.

The only reason to host yourself is if you are very large or you want to experiment with learning servers.

***edit*** I just want to moderate what I said. I firmly believe the above but I am by no means a hosting expert so just take my thoughts as one man's opinions, I'm no authority.
 
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