Best practice advice is to avoid too many modules but how do you count modules and what are the constraints? I assume modules only need to be disabled and not uninstalled. Will simply adding RAM alleviate the constraints?
I am using a shared hosting site with 1 site up, a small very static site for my CPA practice, and now I'm installing a crowdsourcing project using the OpenIdeal distribution.
For my small professional site I have the Responsive theme installed and added popular modules for editing plus Honeypot for spam control. It is still a work in progress but I can remove the users module and anything related (comments, etc) since it is static and NOBODY wants to register on a CPA site except foreign spammers.
The crowdsourcing project is another thing though. Because I am new to Drupal I am electing to avoid the time and trouble of a multi-site installation and simply put the OpenIdeal distribution on my shared hosting service. BTW, I already tried a free Pantheon account but it seems awfully slow; granted I am using the development code.
My host charges $ 7 for an additional 256 RAM. Will I be able to simply add RAM if I start to spot trouble?
Comments
Will simply adding RAM
Yes and no. Unless you are with one of the hosts who focus mainly on on Drupal it is probably worth spending the extra on that. First, you may pay for extra memory but you may never know whether you are getting in reliably. Even on an OpenVZ VPS you may get the advertised memory outputted from 'free' command but you do not always have full immediate access to it. Second, database IO can be a problem on Drupal. Extra modules may increase database traffic. Third, of course the amount of memory you need depends on various factors, including the amount of traffic, and the amount of logged in-traffic, as well as the number of modules.
How many modules? Some are light, some are demanding.
My attitude tends to be that if you want a low-budget site it is better to use a more lightweight CMS. If you need to make the step up to Drupal, probably so much labour will go into making and maintaining the site that it makes no sense to cut corners, it is worth a few hundred dollars a year to host it properly.
If you want to go into more detail about which modules are using up RAM, you can put your site on a server or local PC you control and run Devel module with xhprof enabled. http://groups.drupal.org/node/82889, http://drupal.org/node/1032194 may be useful,
Digit Professionals specialising in Drupal, WordPress & CiviCRM support for publishers in non-profit and related sectors
Thank you
I expect the budget to increase. Your comment was very helpful.