What's the best way to host a XenForo site with flexible bandwidth?

Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf

Well-known member
I have a site that is normally pretty quiet (100 active users most days) in the off season but can get a lot busier when there is a related event going on (between 300 to 450 active users).

I'm paying a lot of money monthly and the site can often be slow or unresponsive.

Can anyone recommend a way to flexibly host my site where the monthly cost is low but if there is unexpected traffic then I can pay a (non extortionate) top up fee without the site going down?

We have a large database too so we would need some RAM and disk space.

Should I move to cloud hosting?
 
You have a couple options.

Cloud hosting or VPS hosting with a panel where you could immediately change your plan or add bandwidth would work. Or as is the case with a lot of cloud hosting platforms, you aren't billed until the end of the month for bandwidth.

Contract with your current host so that your site isn't suspended when you go over your limit. And the most important part to avoid being extorted for going over a limit is to talk with your host in advance and let them know. Perhaps they can bill you based on your entire year's worth of average bandwidth as opposed to hitting you with fees once you go over. If they know you're going to be around for a while, I'm sure they would be more than happy to do something for you.
 
Lone Wolf said:
Can anyone recommend a way to flexibly host my site where the monthly cost is low but if there is unexpected traffic then I can pay a (non extortionate) top up fee without the site going down?
Click to expand...
I can only think of Amazon Web Services for this.
 
RoldanLT said:
I can only think of Amazon Web Services for this.
Click to expand...
nope Amazon bandwidth is almost US$90/TB so unless you site is commercial site making money to cover such bandwidth costs, i'd recommend against Amazon !

Lone Wolf said:
I have a site that is normally pretty quiet (100 active users most days) in the off season but can get a lot busier when there is a related event going on (between 300 to 450 active users).

I'm paying a lot of money monthly and the site can often be slow or unresponsive.

Can anyone recommend a way to flexibly host my site where the monthly cost is low but if there is unexpected traffic then I can pay a (non extortionate) top up fee without the site going down?

We have a large database too so we would need some RAM and disk space.

Should I move to cloud hosting?
Click to expand...
profile and test your site and measure current bandwidth usage and then shop accordingly !

but 'a lot of money' is relative to ones budget :)
 
How much bandwidth do you need by the way?
Enable Cloudflare and you'll save 60-70% of your current bandwidth.
 
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Lone Wolf said:
I have a site that is normally pretty quiet (100 active users most days) in the off season but can get a lot busier when there is a related event going on (between 300 to 450 active users).
Click to expand...

Did you ask your host about letting you have extra bandwidth certain months with advance notice? We do this for several of our customers during drafts, playoffs, Olympics etc.. They just notify me a few days in advance and I I update them during it.
 
The Forum Heroes said:
Did you ask your host about letting you have extra bandwidth certain months with advance notice? We do this for several of our customers during drafts, playoffs, Olympics etc.. They just notify me a few days in advance and I I update them during it.
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I note it says Mike Edge in your username and I note you have yet a new hosting company. You've ripped me off once, I don't want to be ripped off again. Please stay out of this thread.
 
Lone Wolf said:
I note it says Mike Edge in your username and I note you have yet a new hosting company. You've ripped me off once, I don't want to be ripped off again. Please stay out of this thread.
Click to expand...

New? Same company for years now. I simply changed my username to reflect my business as I don't really use xF personally any more... That said I wouldn't accept you as a customer again with your attempts to rip me off on several occasions.. Was just offering advice.. It is a public forum after all..
 
The Forum Heroes said:
New? Same company for years now. I simply changed my username to reflect my business as I don't really use xF personally any more... That said I wouldn't accept you as a customer again with your attempts to rip me off on several occasions.. Was just offering advice.. It is a public forum after all..
Click to expand...

Very mature. Maybe I should write a review with quotes.
 
Lone Wolf said:
How does Cloudfare work?
Click to expand...

Chances are your "forum" itself is not exceeding the bandwidth. That's incredibly difficult if you are just serving a bunch of text, as a forum does. It is generally the pictures or videos or what have you that causes the bandwidth issues. If that is what is causing the issues, CloudFlare would definitely help. Here are a list of file extensions that get cached using CF: https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/e...ons-does-CloudFlare-cache-for-static-content- That would definitely help cut down on your bandwidth usage.
 
There's alot of good solutions but it really depends on what you're looking for exactly...

How much storage, bandwidth, RAM do you currently use?
How much are you currently paying (what is considered Low for you)?
How big is your database?
Can you live without cPanel?
 
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