Tremendous use of bandwith!

[Halo]

Hiya

vbb 2.0

MySQL Version : 3.22.27
Apache Version: Apache/1.3.9
PHP Version 3.0.12


The first 4 days we had 2000+ members signing up (around 100 online 24/7) - and we used 13848.4 mb bandwith?!?!
This is not a typo! Do the math,- this will end up as 50 GIG per month!!?
I moved all images and called them from another server, but images was only 8% of the used bw.. I had to close the board.

Can this be right?

Please help me, I have to eat out of a dumpster all next month just to be able to pay for all those gig's

[George L]

where's your forum url so we can see ?

is this a dedicated server ? do you have gzip enabled ?

[Halo]

thx

I had to close the board, we used bw for $20 per day

It was located on a shared server (Dreamweb)

gzip? er... ?? I'm green at this - what is that?

[George L]

hmmm you still using PHP3 ? gzip compresses forum pages to a smaller size saving bandwidth i.e. take alook at my front page at http://animeboards.com/index.php?s= it's 124kb in size but compressed to 14kb using vB 2.0.0 final's gzip compression.

to use gzip you need PHP 4.04 and above compiled with zlib support i think

if you're on dedicated server you can do the same for html, cgi, pl pages as well will mod_gzip installed - http://i4net.tv/marticle/get.php?act...e&articleid=12

i went from 150GB/month to under 100GB/month with both vB's gzip and mod_gzip installed

[Halo]

old tech

Nice board

So, what I need is a new host with PHP 4.04 or above. What will you suggest for MySQL and Apache?

Using those zip's would maybe reduce the traffic from 50 to around 35-40?

You are using 100GB/month? Can I ask what you pay for that?

I guess I have to go search for a better host.... I know there is a dedicated forum for this but do you have any recommendations?

Thanks for all the help!

[George L]

well my server specs are in my sig and pay US$500/month for it but the prices might have changed since my web host www.venturesonline.com moved to a new upstream provider www.verio.com

how much traffic per day do you get ?
how many concurrent users per day do you get ?
other scripts and sites you'll be hosting ?

Apache 1.3.19
MySQL 3.23.38
PHP 4.05 compiled with zlib and GD support

would be recommended

[Halo]

Thanks

Im trying to get a ok deal on 50 gb...

This is a lot of money!! How do u all afford it??

[Wayne Luke]

Depending on your graphics use, you may get more savings from using gzip. We implemented it this month and went from almost 25 GB a month to less than 12.

IF your forum is targetted and has that much traffic, you could sell targetted sponsorships for $5 to $10 CPM or even better as a flat fee every month. If you do it right, advertising still works.

[Halo]

Good idea... but where can I get in touch with advertisers like that?

I have signed up with cj.com, but will I make any money there? - and will they pay me if I actually did??

Im also thinking about charging a little something something for being a member on my board. Does anybody know a good, easy online service for doing this? I found something called PayPal, but if anybody have a better suggestion, Im all ears

Sorry all the questions..

[Wayne Luke]

Well the first place to look for Advertisers is within your own membership. Everyone one of our advertisers has at least one employee that is a visitor to our forums.

We run the vBulletin affiliate program through CJ and haven't had any problems.

I don't know what your forum is about but if I had a link, I could come up with a few ideas that might help.

[RobAC]

Originally posted by Halo
Good idea... but where can I get in touch with advertisers like that?

I have signed up with cj.com, but will I make any money there? - and will they pay me if I actually did??

Im also thinking about charging a little something something for being a member on my board. Does anybody know a good, easy online service for doing this? I found something called PayPal, but if anybody have a better suggestion, Im all ears

Sorry all the questions..

Sometimes it's not easy depending on what the goals of your web site are. Personally, I hate advertising as I find most banner ads either annoying, butt ugly, or both. However, it obviously cost money to operate a web site so a happy medium must be found. Depending on what your traffic is like, you can take a look at a few advertising companys such as Doubleclick or Burst! Media ( http://www.burst.com ) Programs like CJ are ok, but honestly, I have made about 32 cents in one year. I have had better luck with individual affilate programs that are geared toward the content of my site. Amazon.com has been a very good one for me. I designed an entire page of my site with books that are related to my content. The money I make from the Amazon affiliate service right now pays for my hosting fees. When I go to a dedicated server, obviously, additional income will be needed.

I have also tried the Amazon.com Honor System which others here are using on their Forums. PayPal Donate is similar, but Amazon.com gives you the ability to personalize the whole transaction much more. You should check out both programs.