MithraPride

What would you need to run a board like say FFXIonline's

from the software standpoint, i know you need a big pipeline to the internet but what would you need in terms of software, and hardware. thx

meow.

Like as in the content, forms,etc, or as in the traffic level? Ie 200-500 active users at one time? The biggest issue until you break about the 1000 concurrent user mark is purely bandwidth. Before that your average 2.4Ghz system will handle the load so long as you are running a real server OS like unix, or linux. For their software they seem to be running an out of the box forum/website system.. probably php, or cgi with their own tweeks added.

cool so bandwidth is the biggest issue, k .

I've gotten a few program listings

1)PHP - is this the board software(scripts and stuff ?)

2)MySQL - the database software

3)Vbullletin - more board software?

not sure on the server software tho.

Could this be a out of box solution?

Reason i'm asking i may want to start a site, have the bandwidth(well not me but a friend,we his dads office does...) we dont want to pay someone to host it for us(so they can keep raising the price of bandwidth when they lose other customers). We want to do it ourselves. Not sure on the softwre needed. Or if there is a good all-in-one package out there?

thx

meow

yes, there is a great all-in-one package for doing this.. it's called linux and it can faithfully do everything mentioned above, if you can take the time to learn how to properly configure it. Of course, we 'nix cats can also give you some limited assistance.

Expect a learning curve when you are first using it.. maybe stick with something thats been simplified such as Mandrake Linux, or Red Hat Linux.. don't delve into the more complex (and more powerful) builds like Slackware or Gentoo, untill you've adjusted to the new linux environment.

Just a suggestion

-Swipe

k i'll try that then

meow

Swipe wrote:yes, there is a great all-in-one package for doing this.. it's called linux and it can faithfully do everything mentioned above, if you can take the time to learn how to properly configure it. Of course, we 'nix cats can also give you some limited assistance.

If you want a real server, then you have to go with a BSD system. FreeBSD is my personal favorite. It doesn't have all the extra garbage Linux has, and configures easily while leaving the guts exposed for those (like me) who really want to mess around with it.

Someone also mentioned php. Unless you use a php accelrator, you'll never really get up to the speed/power you can with a pure perl message board system.

Just my thoughts.

I agree with Firemyst about BSD, however you would probably be safer to go with Mandrake Linux since it is far easier to setup and has a lot more tools to help you run things.

If you go with the default server install and get talking through setting up ssh someone here can probably log in and make sure the system is secured and setup.

If you manage to draw traffic equal to FFXIonline.com I would recommend looking for a way to draw revenue from the volume of traffic and hire someone to maintain/administer it.