forum software / hosting

[Nathan Vidican]

Steve Camp wrote:
> I need to setup a web forum for a friend, and sure could appreciate
> some pointers.
> 
> Some of my questions/issues include:
> 
> 1)  Which forum software runs on FreeBSD?
> 
>     By forum software, I am referring to programs such as 
> 
>         o phpBB
> 	o vBulletin by Jelsoft

Personally, I HATE working with PHP... not to start flames or anything, call me 
'old-school' if you will, but I prefer to seperate as much of the 'code' from 
the 'presentation' (html) as possible. I use a mod_perl'd version of mwForum 
under Apache, with a MySQL backend for my hosting customers. It allows me to 
setup multiple forums, can do polls/voting/etc, and gives great felxibility to 
'virtually-hosted' forums/communities. Check out 
http://forum.tallyhoamusements.com/ (one of my customers' sites) - for bandwidth 
usages, check out http://forum.tallyhoamusements.com/stats/ to see what that 
forum actually uses. I've hacked some portions of the forum code for 
security/configuration reasons, but mwForum will work pretty much out-of-the-box 
on FreeBSD with Apache; using optimizations for mod_perl are a little trickier - 
but that's where experience pays off.

> 
> 2)  Suggestions for hosting services
> 
>     At a recent Colorado SAGE meeting, a fellow told me that hosting
>     services exist where I can get a "virtual Linux" box for $20/month
>     or so.  I specify how much physical memory, disk space etc. that I
>     need, and I get a "virtual Linux" system, but for all intents and
>     purposes, it looks and acts like it's own system.
> 
>     Does FreeBSD have any similar ability to "virtualize"?
>     Are any hosting services offering FreeBSD servers for as little as
>     $15-25 / month?  If not, for how little $/month might I find a
>     FreeBSD server hosted by someone else?  Recommendations of hosting
>     services welcome.

I looked into a lot of VPS options before I picked my providers; but in the end 
I found it cheaper/easier just to pay for a dedicated server alltogether. I pay 
roughly $100 / Canadian ( ~ $85 USD) per month for a dedicated 2Ghz+ machine w/ 
80GB drive, 512Mb Ram, and 200Gb/month bandwidth. Email me off-list for 
details/providers if you'd like. I have servers currently in Chicago, Toronto, 
and New Jersey - all from different providers.

> 
> 3)  Is anyone familiar with web forum software?  Can you point me to
>     any of: 
> 
>       o Usenet groups
> 	o Web forums for forum admins
> 	o rules of thumb for estimating bandwidth requirements /
> 	  system sizing for estimated numbers of users?
> 	  
> Many thanks,

As mentioned above, I'd reccomend mwForum -> http://www.mwforum.org/
> 
> --
> Steve Camp
> Camp Technologies, LLC
> steve at camp.com
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> 
> 

Hope it helps.

-- 
Nathan Vidican
nvidican at wmptl.com
Windsor Match Plate & Tool Ltd.
http://www.wmptl.com/