This thread here is regarding our next move with regards to our hosting plan. Although our hosting plan is paid through to early June 2008, we expect to effectively run out of diskspace (or be left with such a small amount of diskspace that it wouldn't be practicable to continue running on our current plan) in 2-3-4 months. It's hard to give a more accurate estimate because we don't really have a lot of info to go on except an 'educated guess' by yours truly.
We are currently using 623Mb of 1Gb. That number is a bit misleading at the moment though, as I've reduced it down from 800Mb today by taking the backup files offline (meaning I'll have to upload 280Mb of files (2) if something goes horribly wrong
). However that change doesn't seem to have trickled through to the stats below, but 623Mb is how much we are using, regardless of how it is made up... 
Here is a rundown of how that diskspace is currently used:
Backup Files on local Repository: 210Mb
[color=#708090]Files sent over standard connection (unencrypted): 196Mb
Files sent over encrypted connection: Negligible (>500Kb)
[/color]Log Files and Statistical Reports: 36Mb
[color=#000000]Total Diskspace used by email accounts: 99Mb
MySQL Database/s: 82Mb
[/color]
Our current plan (shared hosting) allows us 1Gb of Diskspace, Unmetered Bandwidth, Unlimited Email addresses, 20 Subdomains (of which we are using none currently), 2 MySQL Databases, FTP, PHP, Perl, Python, Fast/CGI, SSI, SSL, MIVA, ASP etc etc etc. This costs roughly $180 annually.
We would prefer to stay with our current hoster for two reasons:
- They offer well-priced, competitive plans, and we are happy with the support they've given us when we've needed it.
- It would mean a lot, lot less downtime than if we were to move companies (with Option 1 having no downtime, and Option 2 having a small amount; perhaps a day or two)
We basically have two options here. We can continue with Shared hosting, or we can upgrade to a 'Virtual Private Server' or VPS. Shared hosting is what we are on currently, this is your standard webhosting; as many people will no doubt be familiar with how this works I won't endeavour to explain it in-depth here. What I'll say is that we can upload and run scripts, and run basic web server-side programs.
A Virtual Private server's main advantage over Shared hosting is the control you have over it. What it is simply is a share in a server that is seperated (ergo the 'Virtual' as it is not a dedicated server, and 'Private' because it is ... well private
) from the rest of the server (which is split up into several VPS'). Under this sort of setup we'd be able to do all of the above as well as run tarred and gzipped programs (like Teamspeak, as well as more advanced server-side programs that need root server access). Shared Hosting Plan: Option One
- 2.5 Gb of Diskspace
- I'm not sure what the Bandwidth would be for this one, as it was quoted especially and the regular plans have changed since.
- 6 MySQL Databases
- Other benefits are identical to our current ones, listed above
- Annual Cost = $420; for this plan we'd have no downtime
- An equal share in CPU power
- 768Mb Guaranteed RAM
- 1024Mb Burstible RAM (RAM we can use during peak times, but not guaranteed)
- 10Gb Diskspace
- Annual Cost = $1559 (+ one-off $50 setup fee). I'd allow 1-2 days downtime for this for us to ensure everything is working fine on the new server before we switch everything over.
The Invision Power support guys recommended 512Mb RAM as a starting point for a forum of our size. I've emailed asking for quotes for various other set-ups which I'll post here when I recieve the info. I had personally thought the VPS would have been the logical step for us to take; although when I saw the price of the plan we'd need to have I thought twice (originally I thought an $800 plan would have suited us).
Seeing as we'd have to upgrade soon, and as we're talking about it already, there are a few plans for fundraising a bit of moolah.
We could have advertisements here on NZFF. At the moment I'll say they would take the form of a banner at the bottom of each page. This would be a relatively safe and sure-fire way of getting the money to purchase the upgrades, albeit over a longer period of time.
We could do something similar to last year where we opened up donations through Robin's online store (thanks Robin!), or through another method of anonymous donation.
Or, we could go with something like this plan (suggested by an NZFF member); where we'd contact dedicated forum members individually and ask if they'd like to donate a certain sum, and be recognised as an 'NZFF Sponsor' (or similar) with a few extra benefits etc. To be honest we haven't really considered what we'd do with this one, and although it's definately an option, it will probably change somewhat if we implement it.
Please feel free to post any questions/comments here (as always
).Alex
