Finding the right host for your vBulletin forum can be a difficult task. Is the host going to provide you with the resources required to run vBulletin efficiently? Is the host’s support system responsive? Will I have enough bandwidth and space for my forum, and can I upgrade as my forum grows?

These are questions most new users of vBulletin ask themselves when trying to choose the hosting solution best suited for them.

What I have found is, in the beginning, getting by on a shared hosting plan will be fine. You’ll just be starting out. Visitors, members, thread counts, post counts, and overall server load will be minimal. For shared hosting, I recommend using HostGator. The have three shared plans to fit your needs, and you can start small and upgrade at any time. Additionally, HostGator offers dedicated servers should your forum outgrow the resources of a shared hosting plan. Cost of shared hosting plans typically range from $4.95 to $12.95.

Other companies offering shared hosting that I’ve had good experience with are BlueHost and iPowerWeb.

If you are a existing vBulletin owner that is in need of the next step in hosting solutions, you may be interested in a VPS server (Virtual Private Server). An advantage to a VPS server is, you get Root access, which makes backing up your forum and database a breeze. VPS plans also isolate clients sharing the same physical disk space. This makes it much less likely that your site will be hacked through a neighboring site because your VPS site is isolated – a distinct entity on the server. Additionally, with a VPS, you can host as many sites as you like (within the ability to provide those sites with adequate resources. A VPS server is more secure, and prices range from $44.50 to $120.00 a month. I highly recommend PowerVPS (www.powervps.com). They don’t offer a affiliate plan, so if you sign up, please tell them you were recommended by me (mark[at]markbolyard.com)

Last but not least, there is Dedicated Server hosting. If you would like to read more on the benefits of dedicated hosting, you can read this article Benefits of Dedicated Hosting. This hosting solution is the highest performance, but also the most expensive. A dedicated server is YOUR server, and only your forum(s) and/or websites are on the server so your not competing for server resources. However, you either have to know how to manage the server yourself or pay a company to manage it for you. There are many companies that offer dedicated servers, a few being ServerPronto.com and HostRocket.Com.

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