Hosting for forum site. How to choose?

Started by carldweb, Jul 09, 2022, 04:35 AM

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carldwebTopic starter

My plan is to create a forum that receives no more than 1000 visitors per day. I am inexperienced with forums and wondering if there are any specific hosting provider features I should be paying attention to.

I have noticed issues with hosting on some of the forums where I regularly participate, including frequent downtime and unavailability. Rather than moving the forum from one hosting provider to another, I would like to choose the right hosting provider from the beginning. Additionally, I am seeking recommendations for a free forum engine. While I currently favor SMF, it appears to be less prone to breaking than PHPBB.
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Kik84

To run the forum, you only require php and mysql. If you're looking for a free engine, SMF is the top choice. For hosting guidance, please refer to the thread provided:
http://dnray.com/vps-hosting/vps-with-8-cores-4gb-ram-40gb-ssd-1gbit-unmetered-bw-preferably-us-based/
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arthyk

When choosing a 'forum hosting', the following facts should be considered:

1) Required PHP and MySQL and a lot of hard disk space. Ideally not limited.

2) Be sure to expand. That is, the allocation of additional processor resources for the increased load.

3) Regular database backups.

4) Reputation and reliability of the host. Reviews, uptime, term of activity.

5) Price.

Uptime and functionality are harder to test. To do this, hosters offer a test period. Take a trial period wherever possible.
The price criterion is determined after sifting out providers according to technical (speed, volume, convenience, etc.) parameters.
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TDSko

If you're choosing hosting for your forum, there are a few important factors to consider. One of those is the email limit, as forums tend to send a lot of automatic messages that could exceed the daily limit if it's too low. Hosting options are also important, specifically the CPU power and RAM available. You should aim for at least 1 CPU core, 1GB of RAM, and 512 MB per process.

 The server software is another consideration, with Apache, Nginx, and LiteSpeed being the most popular options. LiteSpeed performs best and is recommended. SSD or NVMe SSD is preferred over HDD storage. You'll also want to ensure that the hosting provider offers the latest PHP version, as well as support for HTTP/2 or even HTTP/3. Check for free trial periods or refund options, review the user agreement, and make sure the package will meet your forum's requirements.
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