Web hosting Go big or small

[faq88]

I searched a bit and not sure which way to go. I am looking at starting a web community (forum). My question is will I be ok with a host gator shared business plan (19.95) or do I need to bump it up a few notches to a managed server account ($150)? What does the managment include? Will I need the dedicated server right away or can I start small while building up the website?
Second question is what software should I start off with? Wordpress? pHpBB? or Vbulletin? I know some people recommend starting with just a blog but I'm really looking for a community environment. Thanks for the help a head of time.

Mike

 

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[Jonleehacker]

Hostgator has a good VPS system where you start at a low rate of $19.95 and you can scale up as you need more resources.

VPS Hosting | Linux VPS Servers with cPanel from HostGator

*** be aware that the bottom 2 plans (by price) are unmanaged, so you have to do your own server patching, etc. Best to go up to the $39 plan to start if you don't do the whole Linux tango very well.

go with vBulletin, it is by far the most professional.

 

[EastWind]

yeah, what he said, VPS systems, you want the ability to scale. start small, if traffic/resources pick up. you just tell em to increase your cpu/memory/bandwidth and charge accordingly.

 

[faq88]

Thanks for the input guys, I will go that route. Should I get the Premium vBulletin? Looks like the Blog features of it are worth the extra cost. Any opinions?

 

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[TheRiskTaken]

1 word...liquidweb.

 

[biophase]

1 word...liquidweb.

Oh I get it now, you needed 5 posts so you could start your own thread.