Migrate old forum into read-only forum

[fist34]

I have an old vBulletin 3 forum that has been in read-only mode over a decade. Registration is disabled and users cannot log in to post. It exists purely as an information archive.

With php 7 end-of-life and my web host wisely forcing us to php 8, this forum will no longer work.

So I am thinking of purchasing a xenforo license just to import all the old data. But I want to be sure that it is a simple matter to keep the whole thing in read-only mode, so that only the administrator can log in.

The xenforo demo site doesn't allow importing so I didn't go very far looking there. Just wondering if XF makes sense for this, or if perhaps there is a better way to do this.

 

[Paul B]

Yes, you can disable registration and posting in XF by changing a few settings and permissions in the ACP.

 

[FTL]

How about rolling your own hosting in AWS and migrating the forum over? That way, you have full control over everything, including the PHP version. I set up my forum on AWS and it worked a treat.

Buying a new license just for an archive site seems a bit excessive to me. There's no absolute right or wrong here, though.

 

[psx]

How about rolling your own hosting in AWS and migrating the forum over? That way, you have full control over everything, including the PHP version. I set up my forum on AWS and it worked a treat.

Buying a new license just for an archive site seems a bit excessive to me. There's no absolute right or wrong here, though.

How much does AWS cost?

 

[Mr Lucky]

Why not just convert to static html?

 

[FTL]

How much does AWS cost?

There's no fixed cost, it totally depends on the resources used. Use the pricing calculator to work it out.

AWS Pricing Calculator

AWS Pricing Calculator lets you explore AWS services, and create an estimate for the cost of your use cases on AWS.

calculator.aws

 

[psx]

There's no fixed cost, it totally depends on the resources used. Use the pricing calculator to work it out.

AWS Pricing Calculator

AWS Pricing Calculator lets you explore AWS services, and create an estimate for the cost of your use cases on AWS.

calculator.aws

Which product is it?

 

[FTL]

Which product is it?

What do you mean?

AWS is a framework that allows you to build your own solution.

 

[psx]

What do you mean?

AWS is a framework that allows you to build your own solution.

Oh is it Amazon EC2?

 

[psx]

What do you mean?

AWS is a framework that allows you to build your own solution.

How much do they charge you?

 

[FTL]

Oh is it Amazon EC2?

Those are the virtual servers that most things run on. AWS has almost 100 services though. Have a look at their intro page to get a better feel for it.

 

[FTL]

How much do they charge you?

That's confidential, but it's affordable.

 

[psx]

That's confidential, but it's affordable.

That comes up to $99 a month, which costs way more than a normal VPS?

 

[FTL]

That comes up to $99 a month, which costs way more than a normal VPS?

It doesn't have to cost anywhere near that if you take a low powered one and for your read only application that would be perfect. Seriously, just look at the AWS site which will answer all you questions. In particular, note the free for a year and always free options. The t2.Micro EC2 server is free for a year, beating any other hosting costs during that time.

 

[briansol]

why keep it closed?
sell it to someone to reopen it if you don't have interest in keeping it maintained?

 

[MySiteGuy]

How much does AWS cost?

For what you get, it's far more than similar cloud hosting solutions from Vultr, Linode, Digital Ocean, etc. You'll also find as your site and needs grow, AWS will nickel and dime you to death. AWS is great for many things, but not for a one off small server.

And as you can see just from the response here, for something so simple the learning curve is steep. The alternatives are comparatively easy.

 

[TPerry]

What do you mean?

AWS is a framework that allows you to build your own solution.

Well, let's see...
You have a WHOLE slew of products in the Compute field for AWS.
The prime 2 would be
LightSail (performance sucks)
Amazon EC2

In the mean time, one could get a Hetzner 2vCPU/2GB/40GB/20TB for a whole $5.44 USD a month... and install AlmaLinux on it and CentMinMod and you got all you need. As far as performance... my site has been running great on a 4vCPU/8GB/160GB/20TB (located in Ashburn, VA) that I'm paying a whopping $16.25 a month for.

 

[FTL]

Well, let's see...
You have a WHOLE slew of products in the Compute field for AWS.
The prime 2 would be
LightSail (performance sucks)
Amazon EC2

In the mean time, one could get a Hetzner 2vCPU/2GB/40GB/20TB for a whole $5.44 USD a month... and install AlmaLinux on it and CentMinMod and you got all you need. As far as performance... my site has been running great on a 4vCPU/8GB/160GB/20TB (located in Ashburn, VA) that I'm paying a whopping $16.25 a month for.

You're countering something I didn't say...

 

[TPerry]

You're countering something I didn't say...

No, he SPECIFICALLY ASKED which product it was.

You replied

What do you mean?

AWS is a framework that allows you to build your own solution.

There are really only TWO instances of an Amazon product that would work effectively for serving a website using all the goodies that are required (referred to as a LAMP/WAMP stack) that I found out of ALL their Compute products (BTW, even THEY call them PRODUCTS.



You could have simply said EC2 or LightSail instead of trying to be all "secretive".

 

[FTL]

No, he SPECIFICALLY ASKED which product it was.

You replied

There are really only TWO instances of an Amazon product that would work effectively for serving a website using all the goodies that are required (referred to as a LAMP/WAMP stack) that I found out of ALL their Compute products (BTW, even THEY call them PRODUCTS.

View attachment 277826

You could have simply said EC2 or LightSail instead of trying to be all "secretive".

You've got it wrong. You haven't properly understood what I've written. Time for you to give it up.