Hello everyone.  Our previous server was a VPS.  Simple 1 core, 1GB, 70GB VPS that ran about $65/mo.

Damn, that's a lot for a small amount of hosting.  Why didn't you go with shared hosting or some shit for <$10/mo?
We did.  Kong hack bounced between several shared hosting setups, getting kicked off of each one.  Not for consuming too much space, but for consuming high amounts of CPU and RAM.  Between the long nightly cron jobs that compile data, the bots that mine data, and the growing number of active queries used for various features, we simply consume too many resources for shared hosting.

So, we went to a GoDaddy VPS for $30/mo.  It had more storage than the small VPS above... but it wasn't a true VPS.  As soon as we hit our RAM limit, the entire server locked up.  this shit doesn't know how to swap...

Anyway, that landed us at Liquid Web.  I used to manage a dozen servers with them (now 3 + the KH server), and had plenty of experience working with them and their servers.  So, I bought us a VPS and off we went.

Due to the insane increases in traffic, and our database becoming quite large, our little VPS doesn't have the power we need.  So, as of today, I've upgraded us to a Storm Server.  It's basically a VPS on a dedicated box.  We're the only ones on it, so 99% of the box's resources are allocated to our server.  This way, should we grow again, we can jump to a new box with minimal down time.  Our new server is an AMD though, so I don't know what'll happen after the move is complete.

We just moved to an Intel Core i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz 4 Core, 4GB DDR3, 453GB Box.  Definite power increase.  Unfortunately, this is double the price of the previous server.  So the monthly is now $130/mo.  

I know it sounds insane, but I think if we sell a couple ads, we might be able to bring that down significantly.  We get a ton of hits, have a large user base, and we're continually growing.  I'm hoping the reviews upgrade will drive more traffic to the site.  I'm not talking one of those shitty ad services that throw up huge flash ads, I'm talking a closed community ad system.  Something where members would buy in or what have you.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.

~TiM

Both OPCache and MEMCache are now installed and configured on the server.  I'm going to start working with both to increase performance.  So far, load hasn't gone over 1, so we're doing fairly well.  There's probably one script somewhere around here that isn't optimized and is causing the lag.  Noidea what it could be though...

Blazing speed with the new server, i will try to help as much as i can meanwhile. 

1 Kw solar panel is going to cost ya around $1000 or more , not worth it i suppose for now?

Yeap they are that expensive, though if you own one you wouldn't need to worry about electricity bills anymore, more or less.

But keep in mind to check the PV peek watt is 1Kw. The advertisement might quote '' 2Kw system'' for the same price but may consist of 2Kw inverter with only 1Kw of solar panels.