Community Site Hosting Needs

[Scott Jack]

Hey everyone..

I was thinking about opening up a singles site for a specific city. Now would I be able to run this type of site on shared hosting plan or would I need my own Dedicated Server?

Also if it could run on shared hosting how many members could I have who upload pics, videos, etc.?

Thanks, Scott

[Luke Beale]

You could do it on shared hosting and it depends on the host with the amount you can upload.

[Nuvo]

It depends on your needs really.
If it's not going to be a huge site, then you could do it on a shared server.
Image uploading isn't really going to be taxing on your server unless you allow users to upload high resolution images that are 10MiB in size or something like that.
Video could be problem if you're intending to implement a YouTUBE style conversion to Flash with FFMPEG as this could tie up your server quite a bit and the files may take up a fair bit of space.

In short, unless you're adding video content from a number of users, shared should be fine to begin with and you could always move to a dedicated server if your site grows beyond what the shared hosting offers.
If you are doing movies, I'd go for a dedicated server, or at least check with your hosting company before adding such features as you don't want to be a burden to other users as the host may lock down or remove your account for using too many resources.

[Tivo]

If i were you i would start with shared hosting until you start getting a lot of traffic. I have a basic plan that is on discount right now for only $4 the first month and that should be plenty for a while. Check the hosting plan out HERE.

[Doskono]

I agree with Tivo, shared hosting is a lot cheaper for starters. Or VPS might be a good solution as well..

[Lovely]

If you can afford Dedicated Server better, if not you can start with shared hosting on a business premium plus plan.
Cheers

[abuzz]

I would do shared and when my site gets more popular. Maybe move to dedicated.