As the site grows, i've being looking more and more at dedicated servers, while the site doesn't need one just yet, i find it is always good to have a plan
I am looking through webhostingtalk and other sites, but as it seems we have some rather smart members here, i wondered if you have any personal recommendations for dedicated hosters?
Hmmmm
Well before I comment on the dedicated server front. I know a few things that might help the forum.
So first off. Installing Sphinx search on the forum could reduce load and keep the form getting stalled by slow searches. We aren't huge yet so it might not be needed yet but it could help.
The admin of Digital point is supposed to have the simplest instructions for VB 4. So when you install VB 4 you could add Sphinx search.
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1777329&highlight=digital+point+sphinx+plugin
You have to register to get to the article. But it easier than doing it without help.
http://articles.digitalpoint.com/content.php?r=12-Sphinx-Search-For-vBulletin-4
Also consider using Litespeed Web server. Its a drop in replacement for Apache. It tends to use less ram, CPU and stands up to higher loads more easily.
http://www.litespeedtech.com/overview.html
It dose cost money. But for a VPS with less than 2 gig of ram you only need the VPS license. For a dedicated server most of time a 2 CPU license is enough.
Most folks just lease it month to month.
http://store.litespeedtech.com/store/cart.php
They also have a new cache feature and some folks have had great results with VBulletin.
http://www.litespeedtech.com/support/forum/index.php
http://www.litespeedtech.com/support/forum/showthread.php?t=4625
As for dedicated servers I can offer some places I've heard good things about and in general have been around a while. But keep in mind I tend to focus more on Shared and VPS as that's what I would be looking for for a new site. I also tend to keep a closer eye on managed dedicated servers as that's what I would need.
But here are some good unmanaged dedicated server hosts. Your going to want to check each host out as I can't possibly list all the features each host has.
Softlayer
http://www.softlayer.com/
Softlayer is a very big host now. They have 4 data center locations (Seattle, San Jose, Dallas, And Washington DC. They have a very large and often very good network. Both private and public networks. They have a ton of features, a great portal, full time KVM access, auto OS reloads and good support. very quick deiliver of your server And a lot more.
But they aren't cheap and your going to need to contact them directly to get a good price.
Gigenet
http://www.gigenet.com/
Gigenet is as large as Softlayer but they are a good host none the less. They have a good network. They are located in Chicago. They have a lot of the same features sotlayer dose Such as KVM access, OS reloads, public and private network, a good portal ecte. They have over softalyer in that they offer basic support free. They also offer Litespeed web serve licenses. And they also have R1soft CDP back up options.
http://www.gigenet.com/hosting-solutions/storage/r1soft-cdp-backup.html
They also offer co location and DDos mitigation but the anti DDos proxy is pretty expensive.
There are obviously a ton of providers out there. But these two are the ones I'm most comfortable recommending. There are lot of good hosts but honestly they seem hit or miss. And I don't know enough about others host to say they would be a good choice.
Another option could be to order a larger Linode server. I know Linode allows for some really big VPS. That might work.
There are also other options if you don't want to do as much system administration. If you wanted a fully manged dedicated server.
Wiredtree might be a good option.
http://www.wiredtree.com/
Just keep in mind thought Wiredtree requires the Use of CentOS and Cpanel/WHM to be installed on the server to manage it. But its a good option if you want to not have to worry as much about the server. They have like the other hosts, a Good network, a great portal, public and private network. They offer Litepeed, Plus they have great support. For example 15 minutes or less first response on tickets is guaranteed. They also tend to have decent prices.
http://www.wiredtree.com/supportservices/
And lastly some thoughts about getting a new sever. Make sure it has at least a hot swap RAID 1 array that way if a hard drive dies the server doesn't go down. And make sure there are backups in place either on another drive or a remote server.
