Countless questions from a complete newbie

Hello, I'm aware that some of these questions may seem to be idiotic and easily answered by googling, but nonetheless posted them here for further clarification (spare me the jargon please )

I'd like to begin by saying this. I'm interested in creating several websites, and so have considered two options - a shared hosting plan or a vps. I'm considering between hostgator's 'baby plan' which claims to have the features stated below:

• UNLIMITED Domains
• UNLIMITED Disk Space
• UNLIMITED Bandwidth
• Shared SSL Certificate

And a vps which has these features:

• 2048MB RAM
• 2048MB vSwap
• 4 CPU Cores (Equal Share)
• 100GB SSD-Cached Diskspace
• 3000GB Bandwidth
• 100Mbps Shared Port
• 1 IPv4 Address
• OpenVZ/SolusVM

(Nodes are configured with the E3-1240v2 CPU, 32 GB memory, 4×1 TB WD RE4 SATA, LSI 9260-4i with BBU and a 120 GB SSD for SSD-cached enabled transfers)

So, if for example I was going to host 3 wordpress sites, and maybe 1-2 forums, is the vps enough? Or if I were to host more sites? I'm not so concerned about diskspace, but about ram. I have no idea how much ram is needed for web hosting, which is why I'm here. How many wordpress sites do you think I can host? (Assuming I have something like 10000 visitors monthly per site) Obviously I'm going to take the vps if the ram is enough, otherwise it'll be hostgator's plan. And, assuming the ram is enough, should I take a 1 gb ram plan instead to save $?

Also, theres several OSes I can choose from (I'm assuming they are all linux OSes), including CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu with 32/64 bit variations. Which one is considered the best for advanced users, and which is considered the best for new users? (Assuming the websites I use are all going to use php, and maybe flash)

And.. I have the option to pay for extra IP addresses for the vps. What do these IP addresses do? Are they needed to host 2 sites/domains? (Like wordpress1.com and wordpress2.com) Or are they used for a different purpose?

Lastly, can anyone recommend me a good guide to setting up a website on a vps? (Preferably for the specific OS you recommend) Or is it so troublesome that I should just go for a shared hosting plan instead? (Keep in mind that I have no intentions of going for shared hosting first then switching over to a vps when my site gets more popular) Thanks for reading, and I'm very sorry for having so many questions.

(Any cheap and reliable vps recommendations are appreciated too)
(This vps I'm considering is from vpsnodes.com, it would be appreciated if anyone could tell me if it looks shady etc)

 

AVOID HOSTGATOR. Really though, they've gone to utter crap. I would get more reviews of HostGator before you decide to sign your soul over.

 

Shared hosting and VPS hosting are two different things. There are a lot of differences between two, check https://neximweb.com/blog/shared-hosting-vs-virtual-private-server-vs-dedicated-hosting/ for comparison.

Now if you are going to go get the VPS with the mentioned specs, you can host not just 5 but a lot more websites. The resources used by the websites depend on how much traffic you get on them, and unless you have a really popular website, 2 gb ram should be wayy more than enough for 5 websites (I would say you could run about 50~ average traffic websites on that VPS).

There are a lot of operating systems to choose from, but i would recommend using CentOS because its the best free enterprise grade operating system for servers and its the most popular server OS and its easy to learn (well all of them are). Use x64 if you have at least 1 gb ram on vps, if not use x32 or x84 There are some minor differences between all the operating systems, but pretty much anything you can do on one of those linux based operating systems can be done on others.

Some VPS providers give you 1 or 2 free IP addresses with your server. You do not need 1 ip per website, in fact you can host a lot of domains or websites on the same IP address using virtualhosts (i would recommend googleing). If you want to setup your own nameservers on your VPS (Ns1.yourdomain.com, ns2.yourdomain.com etc) then you would need 2 IP's (you can actually have just one nameserver but i would recommend 2).

Check http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-nginx-with-php5-and-php-fpm-and-mysql-support-on-centos-6.4 for a good guide to setting up your server. Optionally you can install something like Webuzo http://www.webuzo.com/ to manage your websites from a web interface instead of command line.

Check lowendbox.com and lowendtalk.com for cheap VPS offers, also check the hosting section of this site.

Generally, i would recommend staying away from big name hosting companies since they tend to oversell a lot. Good luck!

 

As was mentioned, don't even consider Hostgator. They used to be a decent host and was recently bought out by EIG (Endurance International Group), which is known for buying good hosts and running them completely into the ground.

That said, there is a HUGE difference between shared hosting and VPS. If you have to ask how to set up your websites on a VPS, then an unmanaged VPS is not for you. How are you going to secure it, take care of updates, configure PHP, the databases, etc. if you don't know how?

You can always go for a managed solution, if you wanted, but you aren't going to find it at that pricepoint. You can also install a control panel to make things easier. I highly recommend cPanel, as it's probably the easiest and most robust. That's an extra $15/mo. or so.

At the end of the day, either shared hosting or a VPS will run your websites fine (even the 1GB RAM VPS).

 

Go with a company that will allow you to easily upgrade your hosting as you require more and more resources for your sites. E.g. going from shared hosting to a decent VPS plan, then added more resources to your VPS plan as time goes by if need be.

 

A small VPS plan should suit you for now and as you grow then you can always move up to a larger VPS plan without having to go through any big changes that might affect your site ranking and positioning. It is really the forum traffic and the resources that forums can use that you may want to consider as your primary big use. Overall, it is a good plan to contact who you are going to choose as a host and that allows you to see how customer service responds to you initially, and look for a reliable and affordable provider over cheap. If you are going to put your time into at least 3 sites and a couple of forums you aren't going to want to be moving your accounts. Good luck with your hunt.

 

First off, the difference between shared hosting and and a VPS is significant. Each site on a shared hosting package lives on a server with many other sites and has fairly limited storage and bandwidth allocations. One of the limitations is that you can’t usually modify the web server or configure the software stack to better meet your needs. A virtual private server is completely configurable, so you can change the software to meet your needs. You can start with a low-resource VPS and scale up as needed. Now, the real question for you seems to be whether or not to stick with shared hosting or choose a managed VPS. The managed VPS would take a lot of the questions you have out of your hands and put the responsibility on the hosting company. If you go this route, I have worked with Future Hosting and WiredTree, both of whom have great customer service and quick to respond support teams. (Edited to add that any reputable managed VPS provider will be able to answer all of your questions and direct you to the plan that is best for you.)

 

Comparing VPS plan of dreamhost and digital ocean ...
Is there anyone who knows the best plan for VPS?

All sites running wordpress only?