VPS vs Dedicated

[Mayers]

I'm about to start a new remotely host forum service. As far as servers go I'm debating about using a VPS or Dedicated. No matter what I pick I'm going to install VestaCP to manage the server.

Now what I need to know is would I be better off with a VPS or Dedicated server?

My past with dedis has been great, never had any problems. VPS on the other hand, I've used 4 different providers over the years and lucky me I always get put on a node with some clown that does something to bring the whole server down.

Now like any forum (many forums in this case) I'll have to worry about the database and uploads not putting too much stress on the server as the service starts to grow.

What are your suggestions?

 

[drmike]

Depends on if this is a hobby project or a business.

If it is business (read money) then dedicated for the core stuff.  You can still leverage VPS instances for other stuff - like filtering, CDN-like functionality, caches, etc.

If you attempt to go the VPS route and this is business then stick to KVM or Xen as less likely to have mass node abuse (still can happen, but less likely).

 

[TruvisT]

Dedicated. They have worked for you in the past with no issues.

Personally, I would grab a dedicated. You can get a basic dedicated for around the price of a good VPS these days so I would spend a little bit more and have full control.

 

[MannDude]

Welcome to vpsBoard.

Depending on the amount of forums you plan on hosting, I'd certainly go with a dedicated server.... Would I start with one? Likely not, but it really depends on the resources you're using or anticipate on using 6 months to a year from now. (I don't really want a VPS with more than 4GB of RAM, which is my personal cut off limit before I decide a dedicated server is best for me).

I take it the project is already up and running? You mentioned having bad luck with providers in the past, so does that mean you are currently using a VPS? 

 

[Mayers]

Depends on if this is a hobby project or a business.

If it is business (read money) then dedicated for the core stuff.  You can still leverage VPS instances for other stuff - like filtering, CDN-like functionality, caches, etc.

If you attempt to go the VPS route and this is business then stick to KVM or Xen as less likely to have mass node abuse (still can happen, but less likely).

It's going to be a business. It will bring in income from google ads and private advertisers who want to place their links on the forums. Also the forum admins will be able to buy packages that remove ads etc.

Dedicated. They have worked for you in the past with no issues.

Personally, I would grab a dedicated. You can get a basic dedicated for around the price of a good VPS these days so I would spend a little bit more and have full control.

This is what I'm thinking. I've found some really good dedicated offers that blown my mind. I just want to have a server that loads fast and keep downtime to a min. I'm sure we all can understand that

Welcome to vpsBoard.

Depending on the amount of forums you plan on hosting, I'd certainly go with a dedicated server.... Would I start with one? Likely not, but it really depends on the resources you're using or anticipate on using 6 months to a year from now. (I don't really want a VPS with more than 4GB of RAM, which is my personal cut off limit before I decide a dedicated server is best for me).

I take it the project is already up and running? You mentioned having bad luck with providers in the past, so does that mean you are currently using a VPS? 

Thank you for the welcome!

I'm expecting to hit around 100 forums within 2 months. It might even pass that number sooner with the release a major release of the software coming soon. I'll be the first host to offer that version of the forum software to the members, the other two providers will take a while to get their setup upgraded.

The project is running on my VPS with my personal sites atm. Right now the project is in the final beta testing stage, when it's ready for full production use I'm moving it off there. The VPS in question has been subjected to the clowns doing things on the node that they shouldn't be, so yeah that's been my luck lol.

I'm kinda old school when it comes to hosting. When I first started out VPS hosting was still pretty new and needed a lot of work. It's gotten way better since then, but it just doesn't seem to match with dedicated servers. Both have their pros though

Now does anyone have suggestions on any dedicated providers? Doesn't need to be managed, I can do that myself. Not looking to start out on a $200 server, just want a server that I can use to test they water with this project. If it goes well I'll get a newer / better server.

 

[Steven F]

It really depends a lot on what you want to do and the forums you host. Some forums are more resource intensive than others.

Some things that may help you in your mission:

1. Offloaded SQL
2. SSDs on the node (instead of offloaded SQL)
3. Clustering (though more expensive, and probably out of your budget).

Remember to take location into account. While most people won't notice an extra 100 ms latency, most will get annoyed at an additional 300 - 500 ms latency. So, remember to take that into account.

 

[iClickAndHost]

Definately a dedi for that amount of forums. 
However there are some nice cloud-type VPSs and solutions which allow you to scale up / down easily and they feel nice on your wallet when not very busy


Regarding dedi providers, check out Hetzner, they often have server sales for good $. 

 

[datarealm]

Like others have said, start with what you need and scale.  Don't blow your entire budget on future expectations.  Upgrading and scaling is fairly painless (we do it for our clients all the time without them having to lift much of a finger other than testing).

If you don't grow according to your expectations, you can still stay in business.  If you are growing faster than your imagination predicted, well, that falls under that 'good problems to have' category.

 

[Enterprisevpssolutions]

We have seen vps and cloud clients host that amount and more, you can also get a personal cloud which is dedicated hardware with all the resources allocated to your needs.

 

[RLT]

Dedi as a forum owner I can say the less you move things the less pissy the users get. 

I've had a few bad experiences with upgrades and VPS's. Since I went totally dedi things have just ran smooth. Eh I may be paying out a bit more but it's worth it to know I have the room and power if I need it.

Summer hosts host their VPS nodes on weaker systems then my forums are on.

 

[alcino]

Actually Dedicated or Vps server are for those who have slow Inter Connection

I donot see people who have goods network speeds and upper time as they would never considered buying a Server

They could easily build their Dedicated Server with backup

 

[mojeda]

Actually Dedicated or Vps server are for those who have slow Inter Connection

I donot see people who have goods network speeds and upper time as they would never considered buying a Server

They could easily build their Dedicated Server with backup

Um what?

 

[Mun]

Actually Dedicated or Vps server are for those who have slow Inter Connection

I donot see people who have goods network speeds and upper time as they would never considered buying a Server

They could easily build their Dedicated Server with backup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc