Making the jump to VPS

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Hello folks,

Not sure if this is the right place, but here goes.

I've had a quick search and most of the results are people asking for recommendations for a VPS. Thankfully I am very happy with my current host but am only on a shared package - with increasing numbers I'm starting to feel a bit more grunt/reliability will be needed.

I would like to know people's experiences or even knowledge of making the step from shared hosting to the likes of VPS.

I'm happy enough to put a bit of effort into learning the ropes of a VPS but don't want it to be too overwhelming or too much to swallow - at an important time for the site I don't want it to be completely run like an amateur setup. At the same time, something like managed hosting beyond shared would blow my budget completely out of the water.

I understand I'll be expected to install and update things but is there anything else I should take on board?

Any books or websites where I could get advice on this (if needed) would be great.

Thanks for any help.

 

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Thanks for the responses so far.

I am running both a forum and a website (wordpress) from my hosting now and whilst it's not being particularly strained, I'm keeping an eye out for when it does.

It's a football forum so unlike most other forums it doesn't just tick along with general discussion. Games being on at particular times and things that people want to comment on in those games mean it can see the heightened CPU bursts you speak of.

The addition of the website has seen traffic increase by 300%-1000% and it's vital that it's working when it comes to the crunch. I think the 'promised' resources of a VPS rather than the customization are what I've been leaning towards.

My current hosts are American and would be looking at $50 p/m (about £25-£27 p/m) - I assume that's sort of natural VPS territory in terms of pricing?

 

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allosunshine, cheers for the advice. Had a hunt around and found a good few managed solutions for similar money. I really didn't think it would be possible. Not to mention the solutions were good names I have heard plenty about before.

I'm resistant to switch hosts again (it's a nasty nightmare) but it looks as though it may be the best solution if I'm going to be forking out that much a month. Thankfully I don't need it right at the moment but it's good to be future proofed.

 

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How many concurrent users do you have, and how large is your forum?

Really not that many at the moment. We're talking 20 max - then again it is a quiet time of year.

Besides that, it's 173,145 posts from 327 registered members.

My reason for asking or making the thread is not because I'm over-estimating the popularity or requirements of the site. However, my numbers have increased quite dramatically as of late and I don't want to get to the stage of it falling over (hopefully through popularity) before thinking of an alternative solution.

The host before my current one was my first and a bit of a disaster - so I've had a bit of a warped set of expectations.

The answers have been useful.