We need a new server home for the Safehouse, and have to move quickly (December 19th the present account is deleted).
We were thinking of Dreamhost mainly due to the cost (though I also have experience with them as they host my websites). Our current hosting for The Safehouse is free so for our new one we'll need to cover costs somehow which is why we are looking for a cheap option and hope to make The Safehouse self sustaining.
If anyone has suggestions on a good cheap host that offers databases etc, please let us know!
Edit: By the way our bandwidth usage has been around 30 gigs a month, in November we had a spike of around 50 gigs.
Edit (added info from answers in the thread below):
Storage size: 7.33 GB
TheSafehouse.org is currently using 3 mysql databases, the largest is 1,197 MB
Bandwidth per month: 20.4 GB/Month (though of the past 6 months we were closer to 30 gigs a month, and last month was 56 GB)
Our present hosting is free because we were piggy backing on Woody's GU site (we used to host him for free) but he can't afford to pay for the server anymore, he's found a server willing to host just GU but not us (or his other websites).
We can stick with the same company but we'd still have to move The Safehouse (something about us currently being on a legacy server) and we'd have to pay around $150 a month.
Presently Wotan is helping out with getting stuff off of our present server, but if anyone has tips on moving a vBulletin board, post them up too.
Fricka
Safehouse Forums Administrator - Wielder of the Whip of Administration (TM) Fricka curtsies elegantly...while picking your pocket! My gaming store, now with iPhone & iPad cases!
I can definitely throw in some donation money at some point.
In regards to hosting, I know that my girlfriend is a big fan of http://www.hostgator.com/ and I know that the few times we had to contact their support for something they were very helpful and easy to deal with.
Questions, how much bandwidth do you guys use?
What platform does the site run on?
I ask because I have a couple spare IP addresses and could probably squeeze some traffic through the fiber we have.
You know you're bored when you run the original Zork on an Apple ][ emulator in SuSe running as a virtual machine on Vista64.
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If you let me know the storage size, technologies required, and bandwidth cost per month, I can see what options there are out there (or through my hosting provider)
Questions, how much bandwidth do you guys use?
What platform does the site run on?
I ask because I have a couple spare IP addresses and could probably squeeze some traffic through the fiber we have.
30 gigs to 56 gigs (a spike in November.. but we had a spike last Nov too but we tracked that down to an outside site linking to the Geek Gals thread).
Thanks for that link! Luckily Dreamhost does offer VPS, it's more than their shared service but it sounds like we'd have to go for that option (and it's still cheaper than the host we're presently on would charge if we stayed with them -- which we'd have to move servers from anyway as I mentioned earlier).
After reading Hardolin's thread it looks like even with Dreamhost we'd need a minimum of $15 a month, EDIT: $300 a year for a VPS account [EDIT: corrected the price, we'd have to pay monthly for a mySQL database]. We'd have to do a yearly fund raiser, maybe we could also do ads and affiliate links.
Velvetrose said:
Well in the mean time...can't you set up a paypal donation tab dealie so people can start the fund?
I just briefly looked up PayPal's donation policies. You need to be a bonafide nonprofit (papers, tax exempt status etc) to set up a real donation button. I have a PayPal account though so am looking at an alternative (not official option), will post soon.
If you let me know the storage size, technologies required, and bandwidth cost per month, I can see what options there are out there (or through my hosting provider)
Storage size: 7.33 GB
TheSafehouse.org is currently using 3 mysql databases, the largest is 1,197 MB
Bandwidth per month: 20.4 GB/Month (though of the past 6 months we were closer to 30 gigs a month, and last month was 56 GB)
It doesn't seem like it would be a problem doing the PayPal donate thing. I didn't see anything about needing to be a full NPO since its set up for individuals as well. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?c...-intro-outside
As far as hosting, I've been out of the loop on the subject for a while now. Would something like godaddy or jaguarpc be viable options? I know I used to use jaguarpc many years ago back when I ran a guild site and had no problems with them.
Either way I would be interested to see where SH decides to go since I may be looking for a web host as well in a few months.
Hmm you're right your link doesn't mention NPO status (when I did a search for donations using their search box it mentions you could set up a button but the next day need to send Paypal your paper work).
There are usually fees involved if folks use a credit card.
I know folks can just send a "Gift" payment to my regular paypal account emails though and then put Safehouse in the notes area, if they use PayPal money (or direct from their Checking) there won't be any fees. I just don't want to get in trouble with PayPal since I use them for my business.
30 gigs to 56 gigs (a spike in November.. but we had a spike last Nov too but we tracked that down to an outside site linking to the Geek Gals thread).
Site runs on vBulletin. (requires SQL database).
I remember that, I was like "wtf?" when my photobucket account's bandwidth got killed out of nowhere.
And wow, that much stuff goes on outside of the Main House forums?
Master Tailor Toprem Spaztastic, level 75 Drizzlecaller of Karana. Member of Clan Ta Veren
I didn't realize that you still had that much traffic. No way I could host it and still have my services stable (we're a construction company and host a Virtual Plan Room type thing where people download sets of plans for jobs).
I'll throw something in the collection plate once you find it.
Technically my office could host this, and probably not have much of a problem, but I doubt I could do so without it becoming known to my superiors and me being fired :S
The bandwidth is the only killer spot, and it's not that bad.
Check out amazon. It's possible you could handle the whole thing on a small instance, which is about 62 bucks a month + bandwidth, and would give you serious storage and cpu potential. If you prepay for a year it's cheaper.
I've used NearlyFreeSpeech for several years, but it's all low bandwidth sites. It's pre-paid, you only pay for what you use. Don't pay anything for data stored in SQL, 1 penny per meg stored per month, 2 cents a day for an SQL process, and then 1 dollar* per gig transfered. But that decreases rapidly down to 20 cents per gig bandwidth. Their price calculator helps with math https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/estimate
Otherwise, I'll second what others have said. Shared servers generally suck for forums.
We're definitely looking at VPS at this point so the cheapest level GoDaddy (or Dreamhost) options won't cut it. I've worked with sites on GoDaddy before (client sites) I like Dreamhost's interface vs them and the prices are comparable.
Will pitch in as soon as I can, will likely be Jan 1 though. :( I am pretty much maxed out on funds until then.
"Forums: You have to form your opinions immediately based on jack s*it then fight them to the death! It's like Highlander, but instead of swords we use ignorance."
In comparison Dreamhost: 
