I know nothing about server setup, but I need to make sure the Geocraft directory loads fast & runs smoothly at high capacity (i.e. 10,000+ entries). I've been told that these factors are important: - Database & Images Caching - usage of lesser tags - type of plugins - usage of dedicated or VPS servers What else needs to be set up to run a large directory well? I know nothing about any of this - Help! Does anyone know of any trusted resources, sites, guides etc where I can find out exactly how to set up an optimised directory with all the above (and whatever else I need to know)? Also, and good tech teams who know how to do this? Thanks
Hello Mo, I don't think you need to worry a lot about the performance at the initial stages. Initially when the traffic is not so high, you don't have lot of problems, once you start to get handsome amount of traffic to your site you can upgrade to high capacity server as required. For eg: In our case of InkThemes, about a year back, we used to have the Level 3 VPS server with HostGator. Overtime, as traffic grew at InkThemes, the site performance reduced and the loading speed turned out to be slow, we than updated our server to Level 5 VPS and also bought MaxCDN which we used along with the WP Total Cache plugin, which worked for us for about 8 months or so. Later we had to upgrade to even higher level VPS which we are using right now and further we can upgrade to dedicated servers as need arises. So my suggestion is to use a hosting service which gives you easy option to upgrade your plans as need arises. You don't want to get the most expensive server out there from day one but rather grow as your revenue grows. We started InkThemes running on shared hosting which used to cost about $70-$80 a year and right now paying about $1200 a year on hosting. So my suggestion for you would be to upgrade as the need arises and choose the hosting company which is flexible enough to allow hosting upgrades as required. Thanks Neeraj
Thanks Neeraj It is a concern because we plan to use this for exhibitions with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors, where traffic will go from nothing to large numbers in a short space of time.... Our next event is in one month and we plan to have 5000 entries in the directory for that weekend....and 40,000+ visitors who may use the directory constantly over the 72 hours.... so I do really need your advice on this! You sent me an email a while back with some references to server setup requirements and mentioned that there are a number of considerations to run a directory at high level. 'You need to get good servers for running a large site. Also, big site owners usually implement lots of other stuff like Database & Images Caching, usage of lesser tags, usage of dedicated or VPS servers and so on. The theme itself will not create the issues but the type of server that you are using, your actual WordPress install, type of plugins, Caching you use etc. contribute to your overall site performance.' I would really appreciate you telling me what I need to know to optimise performance for the server setup. Thank you.
