What is the cost of running the Tenerife Forum?

Delderek · 16th August 2007, 10:35

Following on from a comment made by Kirsty,in another thread. I must admit I have never thought about how the site is financed, do the adverts cover all the costs? if not why would Zarion undertake the work he undoubtedly puts in, and why it was originally started.

I know curiosity killed the ###. but just interested.

KirstyJay · 16th August 2007, 10:37

Only Zarion can answer that one!

Maybe the same reason I started up the Canarian Mum website... because I felt there were a lot of people out there that would benefit form the information that I didn't have when I was pregnant...

But maybe the forum reasons are nothing to do with pregnancy!!!

lord_cheeseman · 16th August 2007, 10:42

Most revenue on the internet is generated by ads. Make something popular enough in terms of hit stats then you can charge alot of cash.

stevem · 16th August 2007, 10:44

Some of the forums (car/racing related) we have been heavily involved with cost £000s to run. On one of the last ones we started the last server move cost over £1000!!

It was started by a very good friend of mine to house a Mitsubishi Evo buyers guide and became well known in the Evo world. To that aim a forum was tacked onto it as an "after thought"

Trouble is, before we knew it we had over 100,000 views a month with over 1200 active posters to the forum.

As we started doing more shows/meets/races the place just exploded. Then members wanted Club merchandise, shirts, caps and the like. Before you knew it we had a full team, mods, reps and an official merchandise guy.

And that's the reason our first forum was born. As for the cost, well a lot of that was paid by us, the Moderating team!

KirstyJay · 17th August 2007, 11:06

Can I just resurect this thread a little and ask for help from some of the other more 'techie' members...

After the recent problems we've had last night and the night before with the forum's account being suspended due to high volume emails, we've been a little concerned about whether this is going to be a regular occurance on our current server and are trying to source a new one.

So... to anyone that may have any knowledge about hosting packages (especially for forums, as they have higher requirements than a run-of-the-mill website regarding databases, bandwidth and emails) can you please PM Zarion with your suggestions. We also need hosting with reliable support.

At the moment, we are on shared hosting, however the only ones Zarion, Welsh and myself were coming up with last night that remotely covered our requirements were dedicated servers.... and at 40-50 quid a month it's just WAY too much money and something that can't be contemplated until the Forum has advertising or sponsorship that will cover that cost. (If anyone wants to though, contact Zarion

)

This was inevitable as the forum grows... however it's now on an exponential curve to success and therefore we need to start sourcing good hosting NOW that will cope with our future demands WITHOUT and disruption (because let's face it, we (the mods) can't cope with all the phone calls, emails and MSN messages we get whenever the forum goes off for more than 10 minutes

).ç

Anyway... if possible, this is what we need.

LINUX
at least 1 Database that can hold 500mb data on it's own... not 5x100mb databases... if possible 1 unlimited database!
at least 50gb of monthly bandwidth... if possible double that, or even better, unlimited.
MySQL5+ & PHP5+
SMTP that can cope with about 10,000-20,000 emails a month.... preferably unlimited, as the forum can only grow.

The HD space etc isn't as important, as any package that has all the above requirements is bound to have loads of space anyway.

Post your recommendations below, or PM them to Zarion or myself.

Ta in advance!!!

stevem · 17th August 2007, 11:15

Sorry guys but on your requirements/demand I think the only way to fly is dedicated.

If you can get one at £40 a month I'd bite their hands off as our last UK based server was £90 pm!!!

You can get US based servers but the ones we trialled were rather un-reliable

KirstyJay · 17th August 2007, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevem

You can get US based servers but the ones we trialled were rather un-reliable

This is the problem, Steve... all the websites look fantastic, but what is the support & service like? Hence why we're asking for recommendations if anyone has any!!!

Cazten · 17th August 2007, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by djkirstyjay

This is the problem, Steve... all the websites look fantastic, but what is the support & service like? Hence why we're asking for recommendations if anyone has any!!!

Have pm'd you and Zarion, Kirsty with a suggestion

SparkyBear · 19th August 2007, 19:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by djkirstyjay

Can I just resurect this thread a little and ask for help from some of the other more 'techie' members...

...Ta in advance!!!

Kirsty babe

I have PM'd you and Zarion ( Bad Grammar but cant be bothered correcting). Like I say I can highly recommend them... WOuld be too frightened to give you bad info LOL !!

G

david16 · 20th August 2007, 11:33

I have used http://www.memset.com/index.php for several years and found them excellent. The server has a UK IP and support is fantastic. I use a "virtual" server which has a daily backup. 1&1 internet also have virtual servers at a lot less money but they are hosted in Germany and I found there support dismal