Hello All,

I am planning to build a portal. I expect the traffic to be arnd 20,000 each month to begin with.

My portal would have a lot of static data and some dynamic too. I am trying to figure out whether I should go with a VPS or a dedicated server.

It would be great if you all can give your 2 cents

Will this be your first portal? Is it20,000 hits or visitors? Between the two, a VPS solution should be fine.

Thanks a lot for replying. Yes, this is the first venture, so I am not expecting a huge traffic to my site for the first few months.

VPS should be fine for what you need.
To be safe make sure the provider offers dedicated as well that would be easily transferable.

VPS will suit your needs.

Go for VPS, but if you're not a server admin, make sure it's a fully, proactive managed one. In the early stages you might fare fine with shared hosting. It usually takes time get an audience (unfortunately).

I assume you need to start with simple shared web hosting service and then only move to the VPS when you rich 20k visitors. No need now overpay for the VPS
Cheers

I would concur. A mid-range VPS should suit your needs very well.

I'd suggest of getting a managed VPS in your situation. A managed VPS with enough RAM to run everything else will probably run you $35-50 for a reputable host, which is much cheaper than a dedicated server. If the budget hit is one you can take, then, you can look into dedicated servers.

I think you can try with the shared package at first and if you will grow then tou can consider in upgrade to VPS or even dedicated server. All of this depends on engine your want to run, how much resources your portal will be using. I know some cases when account on shared server had more then 250k if unique visitors per month and this person wasn't overloading the server (Bandwidth he was using was almost 2TB). Also I know the client that had less then 5k of unique visitors per month (Bandwidth he was using was less then 100Gb) and Good VPS was not enough for him.
So I think you should check the shared package first and only then think about upgrade to some VPS.
Cheers.

I would rather suggest you to opt for a starter VPS package.With a VPS you would get more control than any Shared package. A control panel with it can prove helpful for you to manage the account.

VPS is going to be more than powerful.
I would start off with a small package and then just upgrade as required.

VPS is the way to go, if its works out and you feel you have reached your limits on VPS then its time to get dedicated or two.

VPS first, then upgrade as your traffic grows. No point getting a dedi when there are little visitors in the first few stages.

I agree with you. VPS may be a bit too much at first.