Come together with the global Drupal community in Rotterdam, 28 Sept – 1 Oct 2026. Sessions, contribution, connection, and Early Bird savings until 8 June.
By lfhubcom on
Ok...so I'm building this community...it will have tons of stuff so once it gets popular I know...from reading the forums...my shared hosting plan with bluehost will not cut it. Besides part of my community is a video section and bluehost does nt suport ffmpeg...now to my question....i'm down to deciding whether to go vps...dedicated...or my own local machine......i know the first two will be easier but as far as cost which is the best route to go? I'm not afraid of hard work but my budget needs to stay as low as possible.
If the cost will be lower with dedicated can you please recommend one.
Thank you in advance
Comments
I was once in the same
I was once in the same situation. I first went with a shared hosting account. In few weeks I saw the numbers rising. With an exhausted server showing peaks here and there It was time to migrate. I chose a vds(virtual dedicated server). The transfer was very easy and quick(depends on your internet speed and operating system understanding). By the time I transferred to the vds my database had grown to a little less than a gigabyte. I made a sql dump and imported the file into my mysql server at vds. It was pretty speedy and took not more than 2-3 hours. During this import , I uploaded the drupal files to the vds location,changing the database location and password in the settings.php. That was pretty much it.
This procedure didn't require the website to be shutdown. However,my website was offline for few minutes when the dns was changed(this can vary on host).
I would suggest you to start with a shared hosting account. Normally, the shared hosting providers charge you on monthly basis, opt for a 2,3,4 or even 5 months registration. If you do get a real gain in the numbers of visitors visiting your site then switch to vds. Good shared hosting is around 6-10 $ a month whereas vds is around 25-300+ $. This method will save you quite a lot of bucks.
Hosting on local machine gives you a million+ options and a lot of power but then again it is a risky business. What if the website goes down and you are not at home or the router malfunctions and requires a manual restart? You would of course know that It is a strategic nightmare to use an everyday machine for hosting. Think of a crash! Loss of data in the web world means loss in reputation,visitors and trust. I wouldn't install anything on a local machine unless and untill I was usually at home and I was very good with servers and the networking hardware involved. This all depends on the seriousness of your website and your commitment to it.
Ali Hammad Raza
WordsValley
Wow, thank you so much for
Wow, thank you so much for the reply. I now feel confident with moving forward. I believe I will start with cirtex. They will do the transfer for free. That's a little scary but it would save me lots of time and headaches. Plus the price is right. And you're right if my numers start flying I can always just upgrade or transfer somewhere else. :) Thanks again.
Went to your website and
Went to your website and read something really nice in the terms and conditions. Not my favorite place to read but was touching. Made me check Robert Fulghum.
This is so nice.
Nevertheless, I wish you success with your website though I still don't know what it is about! Tried clicking faq and recent posts but it kinda disallowed. Memebership was invitation only,terms and conditions made me smile!
You might wanna change them once you go into production stage. Will be necessary for legal purposes.
Ali Hammad Raza
WordsValley
Thank you for checking out
Thank you for checking out my site! I saw that poem on a poster in elementry school and never forgot it. It still makes me smile. My site is for hair enthusiasts. I am a part of a few online communities and there has been problems with vendors stealing peoples pics and so forth so the privacy addresses that need and also the invitation only. It will keep the spammers out. Also protect the members from bad vendors since the vendors must be invited and are rated by the community. There's no faq's yet...it's a open source type thing where it will kinda make it self. recent posts are just tests I haven't invited anyone just yet. I will be transfering to cirtex today! I plan on keeping my account at bluehost for some other online projects I have in mind. Thank you for the heads up about the legal issues I plan on doing something about it...eventually:) Thank you once again for your kindness.
well this sucks. i
well this sucks. i transered my files to cirtex and when it cam to redirecting the name servers i realize my domain came free with my bluehost account...i have no idea where it's registered yet...but i didn't factor in that that i know have a domain i have to pay for....apthost offers a free domain maybe i should cancell with cirtex and move there and they also provide free website transfer...I am keeping my account at bluehost so i need to keep cost as low as possible....I also considered just using cirtex as a subdomain since my whole site is up and running at bluehost minus the video sharing...I could always find a programer to devlop a bridge later on down the line. I really like bluehost I wish they would change their views on ffmpeg...I think i am going the subdomain route both host are paid for 24 months.
Any suggetions...Anyone have experience with apthost?
ok so i have the sub domain
ok so i have the sub domain set up with cirtex....I will have to download another drupal to use flashvideo with...this split is only temporary...eventually I will move to a dedicated server...In the long run it will cost me more to things this way since I will need a programmer to tie things together in the future. But in the short term I will be saving enough just to get the site built and so it can go live. My profits will go towards the dedicated server and programmer. I will be posting the job for the programmers so I can get quotes so I can put it in my budget for later this year. I am still open to suggestions. I have considered moving everything to apthost or a host similar because i am still in the time frame to get a refund. But I am working against time here and can't wait for the money to be refunded and then starting over going through the same troubles I had with cirtex and/or other hurdles. If time wasn't an issue I would switch the whole site to apthost because they provide a free domain..If money wasn't an issue i'd move the whole site to cirtex as planned but I would have to buy the domain from bluehost...and then pay yearly I think 14.95 for something I have for free. Then again I would have to probably buy the domain anyway once I go vps and/or dedicated anyway...are there any vps or dedicated that rpovide free domain? *goes to google*
ok I'm back and yes there's lots of dedicated servers that have free domains...some with 2! so that's good...now I'll just need an excellent programmer...maybe I can learn by then. not holding my breathe, though. whew so I think I made the best decision for me. however ridiculous it seems from the outside.
This way will also save me time from having to upgrade since less ram will be used and bandwith etc.
Update: Not so sure about this...I can't figure out where I should put my drupal file....should I upload it to the public_html file in cpanel like I normally would or instead have the drupal file uploaded to the sub domain instead since bluehost would be pointing to my subdomain in cirtex...only time will tell which is the right way because I can not administer and preview my site until it is resolved...it may take up to two days...hmmm I am rethinking my plans. It's starting to sound even more ridiculous and a total waste of time..but that could be the frustration talking...I am off to find a new host but I already have bluehost doing th whole pointing thing...good greif..
Update: Amazon S3 Support is this my answer?
I continued this
I continued this here:
http://drupal.org/node/281427