Why Forum Hosting Requires Bullet Proof Reliability

Why Forum Hosting Requires Bullet Proof Reliability
Forum hosting is serious business. It’s best served up with top notch support and bullet proof reliability.

Believe me when I say this: Forum owners everywhere are silently nodding their heads to that statement. You can take that to the bank. If you’ve never ran a large forum or owned a popular website you’re yet to understand how serious things can become when the your traffic spikes. It can get pretty hairy.

There comes a time when we all grow out of our small shared hosting plan. If you’re planning on starting a forum, understand this: you need a web hosting company that kicks ass. Forum hosting has its own set of unique needs. Membership websites eat up bandwidth and drain server resources faster than normal websites. Your goal as a forum owner is to increase forum members and build a thriving community. If you are putting in the work, you should be on your way to having a booming forum. Maybe congratulations are in order. Remember this though: as the new members roll in, and the conversations grow longer, you’re web hosting plan is what’s keeping the party alive. One mishap here and it’s lights out.

So, what factors are at play when choosing a web hosting company for a forum? The answers are much the same as choosing any hosting plan – know your budget, have a basic understanding of the resources you’ll need, and find a hosting company that has reliability and a proven track record.

Sometimes a list is easier. Take a look. You should keep these questions in mind when searching for a good forum hosting company.

8 Forum Hosting Questions to Ask Your Web Hosting Company

How good is uptime? This is the first thing you’ll want to investigate. Don’t just take their word for it. Scope out some of the forums, look for reviews, and see if you can narrow your search to a few good hosting companies.

How fast is support time? When you’re having problems, you want help. How fast that help arrives is the question. It’s even more of a deciding factor when choosing a forum hosting provider. You want fast response times and a support team that knows what they are doing.

Do they specialize in forum hosting? If you are in the market for serious forum hosting (because you have a killer forum), then dealing with a hosting company that understands vBulletin and phpBB can be a plus. You are bound to run into problems. If you have a host that specializes in exactly what you need – i.e. forum hosting – you’ll save a headache or two.

Do they offer managed hosting? If you have outgrown your VPS, then it’s time upgrade to a dedicated server. Managed hosting is a viable solution. It will save you time and the hassle of maintaining your own server and equipment. You don’t even have to deal with the expense of purchasing your own server. You essentially rent the hardware, infrastructure, network devices, and everything else. Then, let the hosting company take it from there.

Can I get automatic backups of my files? A forum churns up a dizzying amount of content quickly. Member accounts, articles, forum threads, images, and comments can build up in no time to a mountain of data. Losing this can destroy all the work you’ve done. You should examine what type of automated backup solutions the forum hosting company has at their disposal. The more options the better.

Is my web hosting plan scalable? If your forum takes off running you don’t want to kill the show because your hosting plan can’t keep up with the pace. Make sure the plan you have allows for traffic spikes and be sure that you can scale your resources up if you need to.

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