Recommend Managed VPS for Medium Sized Forum

Disciple of Nagash

Disciple of Nagash

Active member
Hi,

I currently have a medium sized website: www.vampirecounts.net

It has approx 10K members and 367,310 posts. I am currently in the process from swapping from MyBB to XF.

I am also thinking of swapping hosts, as my current one is just not responsive enough for me. I have a managed VPS as I do not have the technical skills / experience to do it myself. However when there are issues and my site goes offline I have logged a ticket and waited for over 24 hours before I get a response. There is also no telephone or online chat.

Currently I am paying £17.00 for my VPS, I think my site in total uses around 5GB (I have a mirrored testsite) with about 70GB bandwidth - so it is not a super busy site.

That said I with the transfer to XF I am carrying out many improvements so the bandwidth and disc space will likely increase (implementing a gallery system).

I would appreciate any recommendations on a good solid host, and one that very importantly is good and responding and fixing any problems.

Thanks very much.
 
I would recommend Nimbus.

I transferred a whole list of sites to them early this year and they handled a whole load of fuss about it because stuff was not in good order - no extra charge.
Everything has been stable as rocks. All backed up and safe for small extra charge.
They have people who know and love XF so all the support I need is there - a new install, a test install - all done within an hour or so.
Response to queries is always quick - I think the most I ever waited was 3 hours and that was something non urgent. Usually it's within the hour.
Response is very courteous, never talks down to me as a non tech. Very pleasant and I'm talking to named people.

I'm not sure what your price would be as I have a whole list of sites but I find it very good pricewise.
You speak in ££££ well Nimbus is UK based so timezone matches which I always find helpful.
I think you should at least talk to them.

www.nimbushosting.co.uk
 
Disciple of Nagash said:
Just had a look, they do seem very good :) A bit more expensive but worth the investigation.

Thanks very much.
Click to expand...
www.nimbushosting.co.uk - are a superb host who really knows their stuff when it comes to Xenforo hosting.

We have been using them for over a year now for our web site, and the difference to our previous hosts couldn’t be more profound.

Tickets are answered efficiently and in a timely manner by extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff.

I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for reliable, experienced hosts, you really should pick the phone up and chat to them.
 
ps. I should have said response is often within 15-20 mins
and yes it costs a little more than I was paying before but not much. Well worth it for peace of mind, pleasant working relationship, many efficient pieces of advice on XF and hosting, never any condescension, endless courtesy, and stability.
Ask for Matt, he's a honeypot.
 
I'm a little confused, maybe one of you guys can help me. I have spoke to both Nimbus and WiredTree as they both seem to be very highly recommended. Yet as far as I can see WiredTree is so much cheaper for much more, unless I am reading incorrect:

Viewed Packages:

Wired Tree - VPS1500
Intel Dual Xeon CPUs (8+ Cores)
Fully Managed CentOS Linux 6 x64
Idera (R1Soft) Backups
cPanel / WHM Included
1536MB Guaranteed RAM
100GB SSD-Accelerated Disk Space
CPU Priority: Equal Share
4000GB Bandwidth
$49 per month ~ approx £30 per month
Current offer code - 10% off for life
Approx £27.50 per month (with possible further discounts if paid in advance)


Nimbus - Looking at their Whirlwind package as an example (although I think I might need the next level up)
Looking around couldn't find CPU specs
1GB Memory
20GB Disk Space
100GB Bandwidth Transfer
Plesk 10 Domain License
£20+VAT = £24 per month
Backups extra - £7.50 + VAT = £9 per month
£33 per month (with possible discounts paid in advance)

Both are fully managed with 24 hour support etc, the only difference really is one is in the UK, one is in the US.

There just seems to be a massive difference, with WiredTree being cheaper yet giving 80GB more disc space and 3900GB bandwidth?!

Am I missing or misunderstood something?
 
Disciple of Nagash said:
I'm a little confused, maybe one of you guys can help me. I have spoke to both Nimbus and WiredTree as they both seem to be very highly recommended. Yet as far as I can see WiredTree is so much cheaper for much more, unless I am reading incorrect:

Both are fully managed with 24 hour support etc, the only difference really is one is in the UK, one is in the US.

There just seems to be a massive difference, with WiredTree being cheaper yet giving 80GB more disc space and 3900GB bandwidth?!

Am I missing or misunderstood something?
Click to expand...
@Disciple of Nagash - I suppose the best people to raise this with might be Nimbus, I am certainly not an expert, but we did the same sort of exercise ourselves and came to the conclusion you really do get what you pay for, and in our case it has paid for itself in spades by removing any worries about our host and giving us the additional comfort of having experts as an integral part of our site tech team... ;)

So, I will do my best to try and expand on one or two of the apparent difference points you have raised...

Our Nimbus server has a 4 vCPU share of a Dual 6 core 2.0 intel Xeon processor.

As for the bandwidth - it appears to be a commonly misunderstood overselling point in hosting - they might list the 4000GB in the knowledge that you’ll never get near it. Even if you did, chances are you’d be needing more memory well in advance to cope with the traffic.

We did speak to Nimbus about Bandwidth when we first joined - they don’t impose any automatic caps at all - they constantly monitor your usage and, if you go over the limit consistently they will then discuss options with you.

Did WiredTree give you any details on how often the R1 backups run, and for how long they are stored?

My advice, talk again with Nimbus, from your points, above, they are not a million miles away and easily comparable on facilities available AND, their after sales and expertise is second to none and has been invaluable aid to keeping our site available whatever our requirements.

Hope that helps? ... :D
 
Thanks for the information. I have popped an email to Nimbus with the comparison, and also queried with WiredTree on the backups. WiredTree have been recommended by some members on here so I would hope that what they are offering is legit.

That said even if the bandwidth was a tenth (which to be honest I wouldn't get near most likely), it is still 400GB compared to 100GB. o_O

I really do like the look of Nimbus, my main concern at the moment is that to cover what I require in reality even Whirlwind would not be enough, Tornado would be more comfortable. So that is upping the price even further :(
 
As far as the differences, hostng is almost always more expensive in Europe, mainly due to the fact that datacenter costs are higher, bandwidth costs are higher, etc. Seeing as you are dealing in pounds, I would guess you would want a server in Europe, assuming that's where the majority of your visitors come from. That is going to be the most important factor in how fast your site loads for your visitors. If you're using a company with servers in the US, you are going to get increased latency.

Bandwidth is so cheap in the US, that it is highly doubtful Wiredtree is overselling the bandwidth, contrary to what Venomator says. We order 100TB of bandwidth (with room for expansion) on most of our VPS servers. On an average server, we could offer 5TB of bandwidth to our clients all day long, without ever overselling.
 
WSWD said:
Bandwidth is so cheap in the US, that it is highly doubtful Wiredtree is overselling the bandwidth, contrary to what Venomator says. We order 100TB of bandwidth (with room for expansion) on most of our VPS servers. On an average server, we could offer 5TB of bandwidth to our clients all day long, without ever overselling.
Click to expand...
@WSWD - Hi, I guess I should clarify, my reference to overselling was not meant in the literal sense, it probably would have been better to say over-specified, to be clearer - apologies for any confusion on that point... :barefoot:

:D
 
I'm UK based and Ive used host companies based in the US. They are cheaper, and to be honest I haven't noticed a big difference in l;oad speed - that would be relevant to a big site though.
But the big downer is the timezone difference for support.

Either I've had to wait until US waking hours :( :( :( or I get admittedly fast ticket response but it's done by badly paid callcentre type operatives. That meant template emails which did not answer my query so I had to keep insisting over and over again on what I needed.
For me support counts more than cost (speed and stability being good anyway).
I suggest you check review websites about the US company on how their support works.

The other huge thing for a UK company like Nimbus for me is that I can if I want TALK to them! There's a phone number and an INTELLIGENT HUMAN at the other end. OK this is only in UK office hours but it's bliss.

Nimbus have a kindly system that converts an email I send to a ticket. Like most clients I don't love ticket systems.
I have had some exchanges about payment because I could not understand the invoice sent. Faultlessly polite messages replied never once implying I was stupid although actually I was.
This month a leftover invoice was unpaid because I went into hospital. Nimbus could not have been kinder and more helpful. As usual I was dealing with a named person.

OK maybe I'm a bit obsessive about quality of support and communications. But I am often working 15 hour days or more with highly complex and stressful situations: other people depend on me for their income: a big responsibility. I am in poor health and struggle to cope.

I NEED good support that doesn't gobble my time and energy. Nimbus gives me that.
 
Last edited:
Morgain said:
I'm UK based and Ive used host companies based in the US. They are cheaper, and to be honest I haven't noticed a big difference in l;oad speed - that would be relevant to a big site though.
But the big downer is the timezone difference for support.

Either I've had to wait until US waking hours :( :( :( or I get admittedly fast ticket response but it's done by badly paid callcentre type operatives. That meant template emails which did not answer my query so I had to keep insisting over and over again on what I needed.
For me support counts more than cost, speed and stability being good anyway.
I suggest you check review websites about the US company on how their support works.

The other huge thing for a UK company like Nimbus for me is that I can if I want TALK to them! There's a phone number and an INTELLIGENT HUMAN at the other end. OK this is only in UK office hours but it's bliss.

Nimbus have a kindly system that converts an email I send to a ticket. Like most clients I don't love ticket systems.
I have had some exchanges about payment because I could not understand the invoice sent. Faultlessly polite messages never once implying I was stupid although actually I was.
This month a leftover invoice was unpaid because I went into hospital. Nimbus could not have been kinder and more helpful. As usual I was dealing with a named person.

Ok maybe I'm a bit obsessive about quality of support and communications. But I am often working 15 hour days or more with highly complex and stressful situations: other people depend on me for their income: a big responsibility. I am in poor health and struggle to cope.
I NEED good support that doesn't gobble my time and energy. Nimbus gives me that.
Click to expand...
@Morgain - Wowsas, I could not have put it any better myself and would absolutely echo everything you have said here, especially the HUMAN face (ear!) of Nimbus... :D
 
I don't personally use nimbus, but have helped a member on here who does use them. I was actually able as a none customer helping someone out, to phone them and speak to them. Not many places would do this, and they were very easy and pleasant to deal with.
 
I went for Tornado in the end. A bit more than I am paying now but I'm planning for (hopefully) future increased traffic.

On a side note I just wanted to mention how fantastic Nimbus has been, especially Matt Cooper. As per another thread I had some serious problems with my old host not bothering to reply to problems, unable to access my VPS etc. Nimbus did everything they could and as soon as we could get access, literally within hours they had mirrored everything across, repointed the DNS etc. They even did a brand new install of XF (my copy of course) on my testsite ready for me to test importing.
A very nice touch was that Matt personally called me at certain points throughout to keep me updated.

So far, I very impressed.
 
Disciple of Nagash said:
I went for Tornado in the end. A bit more than I am paying now but I'm planning for (hopefully) future increased traffic.

On a side note I just wanted to mention how fantastic Nimbus has been, especially Matt Cooper. As per another thread I had some serious problems with my old host not bothering to reply to problems, unable to access my VPS etc. Nimbus did everything they could and as soon as we could get access, literally within hours they had mirrored everything across, repointed the DNS etc. They even did a brand new install of XF (my copy of course) on my testsite ready for me to test importing.
A very nice touch was that Matt personally called me at certain points throughout to keep me updated.

So far, I very impressed.
Click to expand...
@Disciple of Nagash - That's brilliant to hear and echoes our own experiences, not just of Matt, but the entire Nimbus Team who work to the same ethos! A refreshing change indeed to deal with people directly, especially when they know their stuff inside out, as all of these guys so clearly do... :notworthy:

:D
 
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