So as CulT and CulTNET, and sites like S2B continue to grow it becomes apparent that this server isn't quite enough to contain us (Deja vu!), so it's that time again to ask/beg for donations in order to start making payments on a new, more powerful, and hopefully more permanent, server. The Paypal email is [email protected] , so please donate whatever you can to help out your favorite Sonic site. It's not like we can't completely function on this server though, I'd just like to be able to host future projects and allow already hosted sites to grow without worrying about low disk space, not to mention we're starting to peak in bandwidth usage and I'd like to avoid paying for overages.
Can I ask you some details about the hosting service we're using, like bandwidth and prices? Because, Italian hosts are usually way cheaper than American ones. I don't like to advertise stuff, but let me recommend you to take a look at this: http://hosting.aruba.it/hosting_con_spazio...N&offerta=1. Emphasis on the unlimited bandwidth for 20.66?/year. Sure, there are some optional services that need to be enabled in order to use the php stuff, but they would hardly raise the fee over 40?.
20€ a year, unlimited disk space and bandwidth? No offense dude, but that sounds like a scam. There's no way hosting could be that cheap.
Why did you say you could take Google eating your bandwidth, only to turn around and say you need more? I'm only curious—seems like somebody might have been a little cocky when they said that earlier... :P
If you're concerned about Google and other search engine sites eating your bandwidth, you could just block them all with a simple robots.txt file on the server root. I have one of those on my server; it's saved me some bandwidth because Googlebot, Yahoo and Altavista don't crawl through every single page and image any more It also might be a good idea to purge some very old topics from S2B, CulT and other message boards on the server, especially those in the trash - to save some space in the database and server HDD. Do we even NEED a trash forum? I'd donate, but I have hardly any money as it is!
The databases are all kept on a seperate partition, SQL usage doesn't really effect data uasage all that much. Regarding bandwidth, Googebot and other crawlers aren't the problem, it's the high volume of legit file downloaders that I really feel the blow from.
They have a decent network, but they don't specify if their services are shared or dedicated, plus their pipe is only 7.5Mbit, whereas here we get a 100Mbit connection, which I've tested to be so.
Is it shared hosting or dedicated hosting. It looks shared to me. I'm currently looking at upgrading my current package with 1and1. They have a good deal on an Athlon 64 3500+ server form $99/mo. The main reason I want to stay with 1and1 is because they offer that 100mbps pipe, and it's for real unlike other companies claim.
ftl. I'll never deal with any shared server ever again, because you never know how many clients they actually try to shove on the server, and you almost never get a fast pipe.
I think http://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ is the only good shared hosting service. That's probably because they concentrate on selling shared accounts, and they spread the traffic on many physical servers, not just one. That's my .02.
They also have dedicated servers. But as I said earlier, I'm not advertising anyone, so if you feel comfortable with your current hosting, go ahead
Really slow on the draw here - but the problem with those kinds of superlow prices for hosting isn't that it's impossible to provide hosting at that level, but rather that it's completely possible to throw up a computer with an ethernet connection for that price and impossible to support it when you start using up resources or something goes wrong. "Unlimited" bandwidth/space is really just *unmetered*, with no artificial limits; you might as well say that a $300 celeron desktop gives you "unlimited" CPU/RAM, because it's just as silly and meaningless. In the end, you're gambling with unknowns. Sure, most of the time you may not get burned, but in the long run you get burned enough to make it not worth it. To say it's "real" within 24 hours of signing up on their service is lolworthy.
