Cloud Hosting?

[Caliburn]

Man I've been gone for a while. I'm very pleased to see xenForo maturing so nicely.

So I am pretty sure xenForo doesn't offer cloud hosting like IPS at the moment. Is something similar planned for the future? If you launch a cloud service I'll be one of the first to sign up!

I've been trying my luck recently at a forum (IPS Cloud) but have always preferred the xenForo software. Cmon guys it's Christmas. =D

@Mike @Kier

 

[Chris D]

There's no immediate plans for any such thing - we're focusing our effort on developing XenForo 2.0.

There are many hosts that now specialise or are familiar with XF so that's probably your next best solution for now.

 

[Caliburn]

There's no immediate plans for any such thing - we're focusing our effort on developing XenForo 2.0.

There are many hosts that now specialise or are familiar with XF so that's probably your next best solution for now.

@Chris D

That's unfortunate to hear, Chris.

You're right in that there are a handful of web-hosts that specialize in hosting xenForo (or at least that's what they claim) however that still leads me to having to purchase the full software and self-hosting the product. What I like about a service (e.g: IP.Cloud) is that, for a low monthly payment, I can use the Invision software and rely on their expert hosting.

The solution you mentioned doesn't come anywhere close to that unfortunately.

 

[TPerry]

If you just "have" to have cloud hosting, then your two options are going to be
IPS
vBulletin

I'd prefer they spent their time right now on working on XenForo 2 and not starting an entire other line of product like that.

 

[Caliburn]

If you just "have" to have cloud hosting, then your two options are going to be
IPS
vBulletin

I'd prefer they spent their time right now on working on XenForo 2 and not starting an entire other line of product like that.

@Tracy Perry
I'm already with IPS (and will be until xF becomes an option one way or another) but have always had a strong preference for the xenForo software. I've been monitoring it since the developers left vB and it's been maturing nicely. I fully agree that xF2 should be focused upon and as Chris stated earlier there are "no plans" to offer a similar cloud solution for xF at this time. With a little luck xF2 will change that but we'll see.

I was merely inquiring and perhaps hinting at a potential market they might want to consider in the future. =)

 

[TPerry]

Honestly.. rather than a cloud offering, I'd rather see them devote their resources to other aspects that have a higher return possibility - like CMS, blogs, a "store" system.
It would really surprise me if they contemplated that anytime (cloud) in the near future - but you never know.

 

[Caliburn]

@Tracy Perry

You and I disagree slightly on that point. I would personally like to see xF2 released and fully polished first. I would then like to see some form of cloud-hosting become available. I'm not entirely sure of what the financial return on something like that would be but it seems to work well for those who are doing it.

 

[TPerry]

@Tracy Perry

You and I disagree slightly on that point. I would personally like to see xF2 released and fully polished first. I would then like to see some form of cloud-hosting become available. I'm not entirely sure of what the financial return on something like that would be but it seems to work well for those who are doing it.

I think if you review the requests - the ones for a CMS/BLOG/STORE outweigh cloud hosting by a wide margin.
Where it works well for IPS is that they can reduce the overhead of support - they don't like doing it for self-hosted admins and will tell you that takes up most of the "support time". When the admins can't stick their fingers in the OS cookie jar, the support requirements are a lot lower.

 

[Caliburn]

I think if you review the requests - the ones for a CMS/BLOG/STORE outweigh cloud hosting by a wide margin.
Where it works well for IPS is that they can reduce the overhead of support - they don't like doing it for self-hosted admins and will tell you that takes up most of the "support time". When the admins can't stick their fingers in the OS cookie jar, the support requirements are a lot lower.

@Tracy Perry

By that logic wouldn't it be beneficial for xenForo then as it would reduce the overhead for support?

Also - I was reviewing the forums last night before I went to sleep and it seems that the Devs have no intention of coding a CMS for xenForo in the foreseeable future due to the sheer scale of such a project. That was stated by @Mike.

 

[Chris D]

We have no intention of doing anything other than XF 2.0 for the foreseeable future, so the discussion generally is a moot point.

That said, Mike's comment was mostly suggesting that you wouldn't see a CMS built into XenForo itself. The scale of it would mean it would be a separate product (like Media Gallery and Resource Manager).

 

[Mike Edge]

You're right in that there are a handful of web-hosts that specialize in hosting xenForo (or at least that's what they claim)

Considering we only host xenForo communities (besides a few small side sites of clients hosting a board with us), more then a few, over a few million posts at that. My company doesn't just "claim to specialize" to do so. We been offering the service for several years now and host several hundred communities.. So some of hosts here really do specialize in it, not just claim to.

 

[Caliburn]

Considering we only host xenForo communities (besides a few small side sites of clients hosting a board with us), more then a few, over a few million posts at that. My company doesn't just "claim to specialize" to do so. We been offering the service for several years now and host several hundred communities.. So some of hosts here really do specialize in it, not just claim to.

I'm going to contact you privately with some inquiries.

We have no intention of doing anything other than XF 2.0 for the foreseeable future, so the discussion generally is a moot point.

That said, Mike's comment was mostly suggesting that you wouldn't see a CMS built into XenForo itself. The scale of it would mean it would be a separate product (like Media Gallery and Resource Manager).

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[TPerry]

By that logic wouldn't it be beneficial for xenForo then as it would reduce the overhead for support?

I've got a sneaking suspicion that the support for actual server related stuff is not that high with XenForo - as you seem to have a different "breed" of admin using it compared to IPS (I have licenses for both) and I've seen how almost impossible it is getting any help on the forum over there for anything strictly IPS related - much less server. Most of those admins are only forum management admins. Very few of them that participate are actual system admins - you can tell that by the lack of responses that you get when you post a technical question. I've posted questions over there that are still unanswered (other than being told by staff to submit a ticket).

Whereas, over here, you post a technical question (even server related) you generally have one of the admins (that are license holders) jumping in answering the question. There is a much higher incidence of fellow admin support on problem solving here than over there - even if it is a "chosen few" that respond, we do respond. Very rarely will you see a "submit a ticket" type response.
That, to me is one of the BIG "pro column" items of XenForo - the community based support is par excellence.

Also - I was reviewing the forums last night before I went to sleep and it seems that the Devs have no intention of coding a CMS for xenForo in the foreseeable future due to the sheer scale of such a project. That was stated by @Mike.

And that doesn't change the fact that one of the most requested features by current license holders (and prospective) is for a CMS ability. Pretty sure in that thread that Mike was talking about it being "core" - which is a common refrain that you hear that people want stuff "core". CMS (if/when it comes) will most likely be an add-on just like the gallery or the resource manager. That will bring in more customers than a cloud based hosting would (going by requests).

EDIT:
I see Chris clarified that the CMS would most likely be an add-on like the RM/Gallery and not "core" to the script - not that it wouldn't happen. Mainly because the CMS would be a large package (done right like XenForo dev's normally do their stuff).

 

[Caliburn]

I'm not server-savvy like many around here are. There's no denying that. Which is why I prefer using a cloud service personally. xenForo seems to attract a more Dev-oriented group of people than other solutions. No arguments there. This discussion would make for an interesting analysis in another area of the forum.

Yeah - Chris clarified it earlier.

Anyhow this topic has served it's purpose. So if they want to lock it or close it great. I don't think I can close it myself.

 

[Mike Edge]

I'm going to contact you privately with some inquiries.

Was nice chatting, please feel free to contact me again if any further questions arise.

 

[Caliburn]

Was nice chatting, please feel free to contact me again if any further questions arise.

I'll be in touch. =)