my forum has grown overtly bulky and huge. 2500 uniques a day and a 600 mb mysql database with 6+ years o'stuff. problem is, my web hosts don't like it all that much, and yelled at me to clean up my act. according to them, i use 3% of the shared server's CPU and 1.5% of the mysql database -- all from my heavy-traffic forum.

bigger problem is, i don't really know how to streamline / update / whatever the database or forums.

any general tips?

If youre that large, you should really think about using a Dedicated Server or VPS; its completely understandable that you utilize those resources with a large forum.

If youre getting that much TRAFFIC theres not much you can do besides move to a VPS or a Dedicated Server (if funding permits I recommend the dedicated option).

If it was simply boggy scripts id say to police your webspace, but with that kind of traffic it's likely just standard browsing.

heya gizmo

thats more or less my host's (lunarpages) suggestion, as well. the problem being the current package i'm in is roughly 10 / month, and the next level up (VPS) is 40+.

and, in order to make a smooth transition, i'd have to have them install cpanel, which is another 35 / month, yadda yadda. just seems like a nightmarish kinda scenario.

i have trimmed down some aspects -- cutting a lot of my IIP frontpage and sidebar, making it 10 topics per page instead of 20, last 6 active months instead of all, etc. hopefully that will pull back the dent i'm making in the overall processor for them.

but, the general bit of feedback i'm getting is that, odds are, its just time to move on/up.

cpanel isn't needed, have them install webmin, it's free; granted it's a little more advanced, but if you have webmin/usermin/virtualmin installed you can do just about everything that cpanel can do.

And larger sites need more resources, it's a given, and theres not much to get around that; you should think of doing some advertising to help subsidize costs.

I'd be willing to help you with setup/consulting for a fee; it'd be well cheaper than paying for cpanel indefinately lol, i run a VPS with CentOS for my site, all of the current software (PHP/MySQL) and webmin, no need for any fancy overpriced control panel, webmin lets me add domains, add emails, edit users, etc etc etc; it just takes some getting used to...

the cpanel issue was not so much about my frontend using, but their backend installation. the shared plan i have now uses it, and they said in order to move everything over smoothly and quickly, the new plan would have to have it. if i didn't install it, the transition would be mostly my moving everything over and re-setting up the database n'such ... which is not exactly my specialty

i've tried streamlining what i can on the site, but based on the latest reports i've seen, i'm still too far away to go back. looks like i have to go up to the VPS, so i'll probably take you up on your offer!

if you'd like to talk turkey, give me an email:

robkamphausen@robkamphausen.com

For a large forum there's not much you can do, besides pruning (which I hate to do, I still have stuff from 1999 ). It sounds like it's time to upgrade hosting, and/or move to threads 7 - the caching is bound to make it easier on the server. Keep in mind the mysql(4+)/php(4.3+) requirements for threads 7 if you upgrade, your older server probably doesn't run current software.

whats up, double a!

i've contemplated upgrading, but... i have my current forum customized just so nicely at this point. i'd have to tour around 7 for awhile, first -- make sure it can do everything i want i to do.

this move is a much more immediate thing

They're full of crap and just want you to pay $35/mo indefinately for cpanel; Trust me, it is NOT hard to re-configure things... I moved my 12 sites off of an Ensim server to a webmin server and it would be the exact same thing.

Simply setup your email addresses manually (no big deal) then tar your old website data and dump your sql database; then import the database on the new machine and untar the data on the new machine and you're done...

As i said, I'd be more than willing to assist for a fee; I did allen's server with full configuration and updates of system services and even undercharged myself for the time spent on it ...

I'll ship you off an email in a bit

not hard for you! thats why you're hired!

i honestly don't use cpanel or any admin controls that much. once in a very rare while, when i have to add an email address or ftp account or whatever, and... typically, once that stuff is set, it stays set. so, i have no preference whether its cpanel or anything else.

i'll start making backups of stuff. just shoot me an email and lemme know prices or prep-issues or whatever.

It's also wise for me to point out that most cpanels can also be intensive on your server ...

Simply put, tell them you want a vps (or dedicated server) with CentOS (if it's available, if not Fedora) and that you'll have someone else do your migrations and configuration. Also ask if they'll install Webmin for you, if not I can do it, it's nothing that big...

You should try out a webmin demo, it's fairly easy to use ... Ive been using it for a while; it dumbs down most linux tasks.

this is all the stuff their VPS offers:

http://www.lunarpages.com/virtual-private-server/

seems pretty all-encompassing, and includes that centOS

Heh, that's actually not that bad; pricing is standard, but the space is better than what several others do for the same price... bw is decent as well.

The onlything that bothers me on that is that they don't specify how much guarenteed memory you're allotted, nor do they show how much is burstable...

VPS's get 512mb (i had a vps with them). the machine that they share the VPS's on are 8gig Ram and 25 users (i think). duallie xeons.

worked fine for me, but i decided to go for broke with a dedicated.