Suggestion: Forum for Large/Multi-Server VB implementations

[RedWingFan]

John has brought the topic up and we're still trying to decide what to do, should we provide a private forum for larger boards and post code hacks / modifications to let them try performance things out or a public forum.

The problem with the public forum is that posting changes would violate our own posting rules of no code hacks

Maybe a public forum and then a sub forum for modifications.

Advantage of a public forum: someone who's on the verge of having a large forum could browse posts to see how others are dealing with growth issues. IOW, someone could be on a shared hosting account, using too many resources, and is curious about how the admins of larger forums have their forums configured. That could be helpful when trying to move up to a dedicated server, for instance.

Disadvantage: the posting of code hacks which goes against your forum rules.

One idea might be to have a Large Forums usergroup: you could give read-only access to everyone, but give posting and attachment-viewing privileges only to members of the group. Or to expand on your idea: the sub-forum with the actual hacks could be viewable only by members in this group, where discussions in the parent group could still be read-only by all members.

I don't know what criteria I'd use, but I would think that anyone who's on a dedicated server should have access. I wouldn't want to stick to statistics only: a forum could have only 500,000 posts, but may be extremely popular early on with 700-800 members online at any one time. I don't know if anyone on the vB staff would have time to check out new memberships in the usergroup, or just do it on the honor system.

[Slapyo]

While I don't qualify for having a large forum, I do find reading the large boards thread very interesting. I for one would definitely like to see it a public forum.

What about a large board forum on vB.org where code hacks could be posted?

[daemon]

While I don't qualify for having a large forum, I do find reading the large boards thread very interesting. I for one would definitely like to see it a public forum.

I agree with this sentiment. Not only as a forum owner who's curious about larger operations, but as a software developer that wants to see what can be done to make web applications more scalable.

[encryption]

I personally would like to see a forum for the larger boards too, not because mine is anywhere near as large, but from a webhosts perspective, it would help to learn about the "issues" that large boards can / do face and the various "fixes" out there being implemented.

You could probably setup a disclaimer saying that any code modifications obtained from this forum / subforum are at your own risk and vBulletin will not provide any support or guarantee to the effectiveness or peformance of the code tweaks. This way you guys can stay in the clear and probably even get some useful info from the gurus of the larger boards.

[Bendo]

John has brought the topic up and we're still trying to decide what to do, should we provide a private forum for larger boards and post code hacks / modifications to let them try performance things out or a public forum.

The problem with the public forum is that posting changes would violate our own posting rules of no code hacks

Maybe a public forum and then a sub forum for modifications.

A public forum would be a good thing to have because none vB users could at least see what problems current users have and determine if vB would be suitable for their needs. vB already leads the way with this over IPB, IMO since IPB hide absolutly everything behind closed doors meaning one cannot even get a sence of it's suitability. Public access would at least help people considering converting from other software assess whether moving to vB would be suitable for their needs.

Thats my view as a none vB user, feel free to ignore it or whatever .

[Nombie Wan]

Count me in. I think this would benefit Jellsoft and the community of large boards.

[john1744]

What are some general ideas for improving server performance on a forum with 1.25 million posts and about 150 users online in the afternoon.

We have a single dedicated server with a P4. Our site begins to choke when about 100 users are online.

Is it possible to offload the mySQL to another server and keep the forums on another?

Or are there features I should turn off to improve performance?

[ManagerJosh]

What are some general ideas for improving server performance on a forum with 1.25 million posts and about 150 users online in the afternoon.

We have a single dedicated server with a P4. Our site begins to choke when about 100 users are online.

Is it possible to offload the mySQL to another server and keep the forums on another?

Or are there features I should turn off to improve performance?

If you look in config.php, you could change the server from localhost to another server, provided that you do have another server dedicated to handling MySQL.

[bigsoccer tech]

So any verdict? the 1mm vb thread is so hard to sort thru...

[Steve Machol]

If you have a problem, start your own thread in the server configuration forum.

[iardon]

I also don't have a large forum but would be interested in at least reading the posts. So please make it public if this happens.

[TheMusicMan]

Not a bad idea actually.

I am not at that stage just yet, but it would be nice to be able to read up a little about the more advanced aspects of multi-server management, and the technical aspects of running larger vBulletin forums. I am aware though for those needing information now, that there are already such places where these type of dicsussions take place. I am sure theAdminZone has a forum category for admins of Big-Boards - perhaps take a look there and see if this meets your needs for discussion?

Just 140,000 posts (and counting) to go for me to be able to start posting there...

[Shining Arcanine]

A forum for this would be an interesting read. Please consider having one.

[Jpax]

My board is about to hit the 1 million mark, with 200~400 active members on between 10am and 11pm ,I would like to have a place to talk about how to make my fourm run better.

[Phrost]

Pretty please...

The Admin Zone (not my site) has an area exclusive for "big board" operators as judged by big-boards.com. I think there are some Vbulletin staff over there too.

Anyway, it's been a good resource for me as I run a big board.