Need web host disk space advice

[lg19]

Hello. I’m in the testing phase of a new XenForo forum for my organization and need some extremely basic advice. How much disk space would I need, given the following:

• 5k expected users
• 100k page views per day, possibly
• Users can upload & attach images, and upload & download resources, but only embed video & audio

I know it’s not possible to give exact suggestions, but I’m on the cheapest shared-hosting plan available now, due to our limited budget, and I need to know if I should upgrade right away before my refund window closes on the plan.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give!

 

[Nabix]

Hello. I’m in the testing phase of a new XenForo forum for my organization and need some extremely basic advice. How much disk space would I need, given the following:

• 5k expected users
• 100k page views per day, possibly
• Users can upload & attach images, and upload & download resources, but only embed video & audio

I know it’s not possible to give exact suggestions, but I’m on the cheapest shared-hosting plan available now, due to our limited budget, and I need to know if I should upgrade right away before my refund window closes on the plan.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give!

I'm always an advocate for web admins to work on a VPS structure rather than a shared hosting plan. Reason being is that you have much more control and 'wiggle room' with a VPS. These days the pricing on VPS's are closely matched with some shared hosting plans.

Although you will need some knowledge of linux terminal commands but, that's all in the fun of learning more about web administration.

Check our digitalocean.com or hostus.us

Digital Ocean is VERY user friendly and has many tutorials on running/building a web server.

Host Us is great for price. They have great support and I'm been with them for around 3 years now with zero issues.

As for scaling, a VPS can be upgraded instantly, but downgrading requires a re-imaging of the virtual server. So, if you have a VPS and it turns out not to be enough you can simply increase the limits.

 

[LeadCrow]

I’m on the cheapest shared-hosting plan available now

Definitely upgrade first, if you only pay the difference when switching plans. The different tiers of shared hosting include undisclosed limitations like inode total usage limitations and maximum disc read speed (commonly between 1mb/s to 3-5), and youll probably want the breathing room to handle an influx of activity that significant instead of a slow website chasing them away.

Also consider getting more predictable funding for the website, like by asking staff and the most passionate community members to contribute. Funding a better experience made available on a non-discriminatory basis for everyone is often the only feelgood reward motivating donors.

 

[lg19]

Thank you both for your advice Nabix and LeadCrow - I really appreciate it!

 

[DigNap15]

I have 1300 members, 500 active
Lots of memes and video links
Fairly active 1,500 posts per day

I have 3 gigs
In my experience it is the number of page views that is important, inodes (if your forum is going to be busy)

 

[lg19]

500 active sounds like what my team and I should be expecting DigNap15. My team gave me the numbers I cited in my original post, but I'm not so sure they're accurate, although I don't want to underestimate either.

Nabix thanks for your suggestions, but we have to stick with our current host and can afford to upgrade to $15-20/mo shared hosting at the moment but not a VPS. We have discussed getting donations as LeadCrow suggested though, once we go into production. I hope this will work!

 

[Pete]

Linode and DigitalOcean have some pretty neat (unmanaged) VPS options starting at $5/month... pretty sure the $15/month is overpowered for your requirements.

 

[haqzore]

Nabix thanks for your suggestions, but we have to stick with our current host and can afford to upgrade to $15-20/mo shared hosting at the moment but not a VPS.

I have no issues with shared hosting. I use it myself.

But $15-20 USD is really high for shared hosting. That's quite a premium.

 

[Soulwatcher]

I don't see anything wrong with shared hosting if you don't need a lot of resources.