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Where to host my lightweight Custom Forum Software
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Where to host my lightweight Custom Forum Software

edited November 2011 in General

The reason I ask this is because I have created a custom forum
software, similar and lightweight to (fluxbb or punbb) and it
literally only uses like 3 2kb sprite.png images, and the forum is
pure CSS. I want to know how many online active users I can achieve
with the cheapest VPS, before I need upgrading, (Forum us lightweight) but
will probably use alot of queries.

Thanks for your help, will try to host with anyone soon if you guys can
fulfill my questions. I also need to know the max mysql connections also, and how much ram I would need with 20-50active online users? remember it's mostly will be queries, i only use like a 5kb sprites and that's it.

Thanks if anyone can help me

Comments

  • Your idea of 'lightweight' has NOTHING TO DO with lightweight server side.

    Thanked by 1drmike
  • edited November 2011

    justinb

    Hey, sorry I came across wrong, I meant to say my forums are very lightweight and they use barely minimal resources, unlike vbulletin or IPB 3.0. So I am merely just asking what VPS would be the best for me, will run alot of queries, and will a 512MB RAM with burst's up 1gb will be good enough or? Thanks alot. Forum will be 98% CSS, no images or external .js's need to be loaded, it's very fast.

    Currently looking at the 4.95$ special at http://www.urpad.net/budget-vps, for 512mb ram, not sure if enough.

  • KairusKairus Member
    edited November 2011

    It's going to be hard to predict how much resources your forums will use without actually testing it. Assuming that you use nginx + php-fcgi + APC or xCache, you should be able to get away with a 128mb box honestly.

    I've smashed fluxbb with apachebench on a 128mb box, and it had no problem serving about 15 concurrent connections with ~5,000 requests and used under 30% CPU Usage on one core of an E3-1270 (vB, IPB, and xenForo would push it close to 70-80% and took over twice as long to process the requests). A lot of factors will play in here though, such as how loaded the node is, and what processor it's using.

    Scrolling through recent LEB offers, http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/urpad-net-4-87-768mb-openvz-vps-in-kansas-city/ is pretty cheap, I didn't see anything cheaper, considering you get a decent allocation of ram.

  • edited November 2011

    It's going to be hard to predict how much resources your forums will use without actually testing it. Assuming that you use nginx + php-fcgi + APC or xCache, you should be able to get away with a 128mb box honestly.

    I've smashed fluxbb with apachebench on a 128mb box, and it had no problem serving about 15 concurrent connections with ~5,000 requests and used under 30% CPU Usage on one core of an E3-1270 (vB, IPB, and xenForo would push it close to 70-80% and took over twice as long to process the requests). A lot of factors will play in here though, such as how loaded the node is, and what processor it's using.

    Scrolling through recent LEB offers, http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/urpad-net-4-87-768mb-openvz-vps-in-kansas-city/ is pretty cheap, I didn't see anything cheaper, considering you get a decent allocation of ram. <

    Hey, Thanks for your response.

    Wow, okay that helps alot, 15 concurrent with only 30% CPU usage? Mine will be probably the same around fluxxbb, probably a little better optimized or less, not sure I havn't looked at fluxbb's code. But most likely the same. Xenforo and VP,ipb yes 70-80% is just horrible, I hate those forum systems, if you have AIM OR hotmail, I would love to continue to talk to you whenever you have free time.

    Here is the one I was looking at:
    http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/urpad-4-95-512mb-openvz-vps-in-seattle/

    Says seattle, but when I go to order, it shows Kansas City, which I don't want. And there's no selection to change where it is.
    The problem is I havn't got a response from them, I asked them how many concurrent mysql connections I can have. I think it's unlimited until it starts eating resources right?

    Yes you're right I will be using nginx and apc most likely. And obviously caching. Might even use lighttpd if the vps will let me ofcourse. (not really much of a difference of the two) nginx is just more actively developed, but both perform the same in performance I've heard (What's your input on that)

    Thank you again,

    -Nick

  • @monkuar said: The problem is I havn't got a response from them, I asked them how many concurrent mysql connections I can have. I think it's unlimited until it starts eating resources right?

    Yes you're right I will be using nginx and apc most likely. And obviously caching. Might even use lighttpd if the vps will let me ofcourse. (not really much of a difference of the two) nginx is just more actively developed, but both perform the same in performance I've heard (What's your input on that)

    It's a VPS so you set up MySQL and configure it yourself, you can technically have as many MySQL connections as you want, but obviously you'll hit a point where you're using too much CPU Usage (or memory). I personally think nginx is better than lighttpd, I feel like lighttpd crumbles under load, and in most benchmarks that I've seen, nginx performs better than it.

  • edited November 2011

    I was going to get http://buyvm.net/ 3.50$ plan but they are out of stock what a bummer.

    Hey Kairus wanted to say thanks abunch man, I will definately use nginx now and I am very anxious, I just need a web hosting company! I will be refreshing the main page until I find one good! thanks a bunch!

    im looking for 20$/year would be nice (like u said idont need that much ram) or 2-3$/month would be nice also.

  • Kiloserve, Hostigation and SecureDragon are all great.

  • @monkuar said: I was going to get http://buyvm.net/ 3.50$ plan but they are out of stock what a bummer.

    Hey Kairus wanted to say thanks abunch man, I will definately use nginx now and I am very anxious, I just need a web hosting company! I will be refreshing the main page until I find one good! thanks a bunch!

    im looking for 20$/year would be nice (like u said idont need that much ram) or 2-3$/month would be nice also.

    Np, BuyVM is always out of stock, but they're active on these forums, maybe they'll be getting some stock soon.

    There are a few other providers offering similar deals though:
    https://hostigation.com/?page=OpenVZ $20/year 128mb/256 burst
    http://www.yourvz.com/ - $15/year 128mb/256 burst
    http://tinyvz.com/ - $15/year 128mb/256 burst (Kansas City though)

    There's a few more hosts if you search "year" on the search on lowendbox.com, some I wouldn't recommend though...

    Good luck!

  • AdamAdam Member
    edited November 2011

    @monkuar I wouldn't use 128mb for a test server... Reason being, it's a test box. You can only test so much before that ram/cpu is maxed.

    In regard to setting up nginx, I would test it via Apache (as that's what 3/4 of your potential users will be using). And I would also setup cherokee (I prefer it over nginx, but that's just personal preference).
    ^ Set each on a different port, all using the same DB and stress test each individual http server.

  • I think the objective of testing your forum software shouldn't be "how many online users" can it support but rather, "how much memory does it use" and "how fast do my scripts execute".

    Your not testing server configuration, your testing an end-user application.

    It doesn't matter if your testbed runs Apache or nginx. The critical component is PHP (assuming your forum is written in PHP). How much memory do your PHP scripts use, and how efficiently do they execute? These are the things you need to investigate.

    People using your forum might install it on an Apache server or an nginx server. They might have 128MB RAM or 4GB. Doesn't matter.

    Get yourself a 32MB or 64MB VPS from SecureDragon with Debian, add the dotdeb repositories, install PHP-FPM, nginx, mysql, re-configure everything for minimal memory usage, and install your app. Then post a link and we'll have a go :)

  • @Adam said: And I would also setup cherokee (I prefer it over nginx, but that's just personal preference).

    How come? Besides the admin interface, which imo is a waste, I don't see what it has going for it, that nginx/lighttpd can't do. Performance doesn't seem to be great either http://www.whisperdale.net/11-nginx-vs-cherokee-vs-apache-vs-lighttpd.html

    @sleddog said: Get yourself a 32MB or 64MB VPS from SecureDragon with Debian, add the dotdeb repositories, install PHP-FPM, nginx, mysql, re-configure everything for minimal memory usage, and install your app.

    Do you really think that 32MB or 64MB is going to be enough to run a forum with up to 50 active users? A Securedragon 64MB OpenVZ is $15.90/year, I listed two reputable companies above that offer 128MB for $15/year, and there are others. I can't see it being a good testbed.

  • edited November 2011

    @sleddog said: think the objective of testing your forum software shouldn't be "how many online users" can it support but rather, "how much memory does it use" and "how fast do my scripts execute".

    Your not testing server configuration, your testing an end-user application.

    It doesn't matter if your testbed runs Apache or nginx. The critical component is PHP (assuming your forum is written in PHP). How much memory do your PHP scripts use, and how efficiently do they execute? These are the things you need to investigate.

    People using your forum might install it on an Apache server or an nginx server. They might have 128MB RAM or 4GB. Doesn't matter.

    Get yourself a 32MB or 64MB VPS from SecureDragon with Debian, add the dotdeb repositories, install PHP-FPM, nginx, mysql, re-configure everything for minimal memory usage, and install your app. Then post a link and we'll have a go :)

    Hey, Thanks for your advice. But This forum software is not going to be released to the public (Obvious reasons) so sorry for not explaining this well, it's my bad, I take account for not explaining sorry. I honetly can't go wrong with a 5$/month for a 512mb from urpant, the guy replied to my email saying that it should be fine, but to be honest, I would really like a 2-4$/month one instead. (because what if something goes terribly wrong or my forum doesn't work or whatnot or memory leaks or whatnot or w/e) But still, I cant really complain about 5$ though right? I mean he's even bursting it up to 1gb ram also, which is nice. Again sorry for not explaining myself, it's just a private forum software, I might release it for friends or family in the future but not publicly.

    But yeah it's made with php5 and using mostly css3, 3 embedded .js files and 1 external .js file (jquery google api's site) and 2x 3KB Sprite.png images, that is all, rest is cached/etc, and alot of mysql queries though, because of "Users viewing topic" /etc/etc, so I guess we will see.

    Thanks for your comments everyone, really appreciate

  • If you do decide to use nginx and a server with small amounts of ram, give my script a shot (it's in my sig).

  • My advice: since youre not sure how many resources your going to use, start with a small vps (128mb ram) and increase youre vps resources if you need to. Just make sure you choose a provider that will be able to upgrade your plan.

    Hostigation or securedragon are good choices, both have a cheap yearly plan and you can upgrade your resources.

  • I am going to be purchasing: http://billing.urpad.net/cart.php?a=add&pid=58

    Thank you all for your help, will update this post in the future, 4.95$ for this plan is outrageously good.

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