Hosting gallery site - requires alot of bandwidth

[silvers_]

Hi everyone at HostingDiscussion! Hope all is good~

I seek your guidance and experience in regards to a hosting plan. I will be running a adult gallery site soon. I am completely new to this. I’ve did a lot of reading and there are dedicated servers, shared dedicated servers, unmetered vs unlimited bandwidth, etc— all in which put me in a state of being unsure.

I would like a host that will allow adult content, not charging me for over-usage of bandwidth, fair pricing, and easy upgradable options. My site will host images that are 500kb each, requires alot of bandwidth, and I am expecting each visitor to use an average of 15mb.

500 visitor a day = 450 GB per month (First 6 months)
5000 visitor a day = 2250 GB per month (Month 6-12)
10,000 visitor per day = 4,500 GB per month (1 year+)

Which hosting plan should I choose, type of server option (dedicated, shared, etc), and as my site grow...how should I proceed in upgrading my options?


Thank you so much in advance. -Silvers

 

[silvers_]

..........any suggestions? -.-

 

[Artashes]

Your spread is relatively large. 500 visitors per day to 10,000 visitors per day - it makes a difference.

500 visitors per day and estimated 450 GB per month in bandwidth can be easily handled by a VPS.

5,000 visitors per day and over - you'll need a dedicated server for.

Specifications-wise, I don't think you need anything extreme. I would suggest to go with a company that will allow you to grow and upgrade to a dedicated server as your requirements change. A company that offers both VPS and dedicated servers.

Start with a VPS. Nothing extreme. Linux OS, 512 MB-1 GB of RAM, basic setup, should carry you through some months.

Once you are hitting 1200-1500 GB in monthly traffic, I would upgrade to a dedicated server with at least 2 GB of RAM and enough traffic to keep you secure.

 

[csn-uk]

I would back what Artashes said entirely however would add as you will find the opinion of many and even an advertising point of some, please avoid unlimited bandwidth at all costs and unmetered as well. These terms are often linked closely to poor performance and sudden outages or package suspensions when you reach the hosts “invisible limit”. Defined package limits a.k.a x amount of bandwidth may cost a little more however these are guaranteed usage limits and may be upgraded in most cases (though be sure to check the TOS for overage fee’s if imposed).

 

[handsonhosting]

I'd recommend that you look into UNMETERED servers. This will allow you to run a 10Mbps or 100Mbps connection on the server and not have to pay any overage fees, you are only limited by the size of the pipe to the server.

Also, if you're going to be runing multiple Terrabytes of information that usually means a successful site - so in those cases I'd look at running multiple machines and a load balance so that if one machine did get get overloaded, the other can take over etc. Splitting load etc.

I would definitely look for a dedicated server - make sure that the AUP allows adult content. And then see if they allow Unmetered Bandwidth/Connection.

 

[Henry Leed]

Most of the hosting providers allow legal adult content on the website as legal adult content is allowed in the hosting industry.

As per your requirements, I would suggest you to consider a VPS hosting package with decent amount of bandwidth as for now and then you can upgrade to a dedicated server when your requirements increase in future.

Make sure that you choose a hosting provider who offers easy upgrades so that you can upgrade your server at any point of time.

Also, choosing a fully managed server is always recommended as they will install the necessary applications on the server and will also assist you in case you face any problems with the server.

All the best!!

 

[othellotech]

500 visitor a day = 450 GB per month (First 6 months)
5000 visitor a day = 2250 GB per month (Month 6-12)
10,000 visitor per day = 4,500 GB per month (1 year+)

over what period of the day ? are you expecting them at peak-times or spread evenly (which never happens) ?

at those sorts of transfer levels, you should be thinking in terms of peak bandwidth, not data-transfer
- and you'll be limited by the disk i/o, memory, nic throughput, network quality, switch type, etc

4500Gb/month of transfer if all your visitors are spread "nicely" is 15-20Mb/s

If they're all hammering the site between 6pm and 10pm then it's 90-120Mb/s, so a single server with a 100Mbs NIC or on a100Mb/s switchport or on a contended switch is never going to be able to do it ...

 

[silvers_]

THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYONE’S HELP!! :agree: (sorry for caps ^_^) I think I will avoid the hassle of shared hosting and will start off with a Virtual Dedicated Server when my site launches.


One last question, do you know if a 10Mbps unmetered Virtual Dedicated Server would be able to manage an adult image gallery site (400 GB - 2250 GB per month)? At 10Mbps unmetered and at HIGH PEAK times of users, does this mean that all my users will experience a delay in image loading during this hour (assuming 10Mbps divided amongst everyone…not sure how it works...?)

• Virtual Dedicated Server #2
• 10Mbps unmetered
• 512MB RAM
• 300GB HDD
• 3 IP Address

The specs above are with FDCservers.net. (http://fdcservers.net/Services/VirtualDedicatedServers/VPSVDSPlans#s102)

Does anyone have recommendations for other hosting company or experience with FDCservers.net?


Thanks again. -Silvers

 

[handsonhosting]

The amount of memory will depend on what else you're running on the server and what way you're serving up the pages. If the pages are being run through a database and are dynamic, then memory will play an issue for you.

The more people, the slower the connection (for everyone). It's not normally a first come first serve type situation. If you have 10 people downloading a file, then that speed is spread between then. if you have 100 then obviously the connection gets even slower for people.

Think of it as water in a hose. One sprayer at the end will get a lot more pressure than if you had say 10 nosels on the hose.

Can the above VPS support your needs? Possibly. Be prepared to add more memory and upgrade the system should the CPU not be able to keep up with the demand.

Also, check with the hosting company themselves, they may have special servers for adult hosting that have less users on the server.

 

[silvers_]

Everyone here at HostingDiscussion is sure helpful!! I ordered my VDS today and waiting for it to be set up.

THANKS AGAIN!