Forum Installation
What are the system requirements for vBulletin?
Minimum Requirements: vBulletin is designed to run on every server that has PHP 4.3.3 or greater and MySQL 4.0.16 or greater installed.
It is recommended to use PHP 4.4.2 or 5.1.2, or later and MySQL 5.0.19 or later.
The software has been successfully installed on several different flavours of UNIX, as well as Windows™ 98/NT/2000/XP, and the Mac
Note: We recommend you contact your hosting provider to verify that they have the correct versions of PHP and MySQL installed. If you administrate your own server, PHP and MySQL are available for free download from php.net and mysql.com.
Minimum Requirements: vBulletin is designed to run on every server that has PHP 4.3.3 or greater and MySQL 4.0.16 or greater installed.
It is recommended to use PHP 4.4.2 or 5.1.2, or later and MySQL 5.0.19 or later.
The software has been successfully installed on several different flavours of UNIX, as well as Windows™ 98/NT/2000/XP, and the Mac
Note: We recommend you contact your hosting provider to verify that they have the correct versions of PHP and MySQL installed. If you administrate your own server, PHP and MySQL are available for free download from php.net and mysql.com.
How much disk space do I need to run vBulletin?
With vBulletin there are 2 different types of disk space usage:
* Web space - For the PHP scripts and images of vBulletin.
* MySQL database space - Which is separate from Web space, and you need to make sure your host gives you enough space in that department.
When you use vBulletin, you have to take into account both web space and MySQL database space. vBulletin 3.x consists of:
* PHP scripts and image files in the zip file you download = 7.0mb in size once zip file is extracted and uploaded to your Web site account.
* MySQL database space which holds the actual vBulletin data:
1. On initial install the MySQL database space used is approximately 3.6mb, and that is mainly the database table structure and initial data in the database tables.
2. Once you start posting, adding threads, members, polls, private messages, attachments, avatars etc, your MySQL database space is the one that grows and should be your main concern - MySQL disk space.
How much MySQL disk space is used is highly dependent on the type of forum you run, and factors such as:
* Your average allowed attachment and avatar size
* How many attachments and avatars you have stored in your vBulletin database
* How many private messages you have stored in your vBulletin database from members
* How many posts and threads you have and the size and variables you have set for your searchindex
* How many members you have
* How many forums you have
* And so on and so forth
For example, one installation we have seen had 5,800+ members, 40,000 threads, 662,000 posts, 70,000 private messages and 8,000 attachments. The total MySQL database size was 940MB - which comes to around 140MB per 100,000 posts. Please note that it does vary from forum to forum, so your mileage may vary.
But it's better for you to have a good serverWith vBulletin there are 2 different types of disk space usage:
* Web space - For the PHP scripts and images of vBulletin.
* MySQL database space - Which is separate from Web space, and you need to make sure your host gives you enough space in that department.
When you use vBulletin, you have to take into account both web space and MySQL database space. vBulletin 3.x consists of:
* PHP scripts and image files in the zip file you download = 7.0mb in size once zip file is extracted and uploaded to your Web site account.
* MySQL database space which holds the actual vBulletin data:
1. On initial install the MySQL database space used is approximately 3.6mb, and that is mainly the database table structure and initial data in the database tables.
2. Once you start posting, adding threads, members, polls, private messages, attachments, avatars etc, your MySQL database space is the one that grows and should be your main concern - MySQL disk space.
How much MySQL disk space is used is highly dependent on the type of forum you run, and factors such as:
* Your average allowed attachment and avatar size
* How many attachments and avatars you have stored in your vBulletin database
* How many private messages you have stored in your vBulletin database from members
* How many posts and threads you have and the size and variables you have set for your searchindex
* How many members you have
* How many forums you have
* And so on and so forth
For example, one installation we have seen had 5,800+ members, 40,000 threads, 662,000 posts, 70,000 private messages and 8,000 attachments. The total MySQL database size was 940MB - which comes to around 140MB per 100,000 posts. Please note that it does vary from forum to forum, so your mileage may vary.
