Slashdot Mirror

This page shows the server specifications for some of the busiest message boards on the internet, along with what software they use. You'll see the configurations are quite disparate, from the 90+ servers serving the anime fans at Gaia Online on 100% open source software, to the sometimes single server hosting some of the other top 50 forums.

Slashdot isn't even one of the top 25 message boards on the net anymore. It's small time.

Check out Gaia Online: phpBB forum with 190,595,085 articles posted, 1,042,339 registered users -- and 10,386 of them online at this very moment. MySQL db running on one dual Opteron. Here is an interview with guy that manages it.

> Where does one go to look for people to collaborate with technical (hosting, DB management), artistic, and web design help?

There are tons of good resources for technical talk. A good start can be found at web hosting talk or SitePoint

> What have your web site startups been like, have you any advice to offer?

To choose the software to power your community, check out successful ones at http://www.big-boards.com/ . When looking at the statistics, it seems the php-powered vbulletin is the most popular amongst large communities.

This site also has a couple of interesting interviews with admins sharing their thoughts on what made their community successful, how did it start-up, are they making money etc.
Gaia Online interview
Neowin interview
NASIOC interview

> Where does one go to look for people to collaborate with technical (hosting, DB management), artistic, and web design help?

There are tons of good resources for technical talk. A good start can be found at web hosting talk or SitePoint

> What have your web site startups been like, have you any advice to offer?

To choose the software to power your community, check out successful ones at http://www.big-boards.com/ . When looking at the statistics, it seems the php-powered vbulletin is the most popular amongst large communities.

This site also has a couple of interesting interviews with admins sharing their thoughts on what made their community successful, how did it start-up, are they making money etc.
Gaia Online interview
Neowin interview
NASIOC interview

> Where does one go to look for people to collaborate with technical (hosting, DB management), artistic, and web design help?

There are tons of good resources for technical talk. A good start can be found at web hosting talk or SitePoint

> What have your web site startups been like, have you any advice to offer?

To choose the software to power your community, check out successful ones at http://www.big-boards.com/ . When looking at the statistics, it seems the php-powered vbulletin is the most popular amongst large communities.

This site also has a couple of interesting interviews with admins sharing their thoughts on what made their community successful, how did it start-up, are they making money etc.
Gaia Online interview
Neowin interview
NASIOC interview

> Where does one go to look for people to collaborate with technical (hosting, DB management), artistic, and web design help?

There are tons of good resources for technical talk. A good start can be found at web hosting talk or SitePoint

> What have your web site startups been like, have you any advice to offer?

To choose the software to power your community, check out successful ones at http://www.big-boards.com/ . When looking at the statistics, it seems the php-powered vbulletin is the most popular amongst large communities.

This site also has a couple of interesting interviews with admins sharing their thoughts on what made their community successful, how did it start-up, are they making money etc.
Gaia Online interview
Neowin interview
NASIOC interview

> Where does one go to look for people to collaborate with technical (hosting, DB management), artistic, and web design help?

There are tons of good resources for technical talk. A good start can be found at web hosting talk or SitePoint

> What have your web site startups been like, have you any advice to offer?

To choose the software to power your community, check out successful ones at http://www.big-boards.com/ . When looking at the statistics, it seems the php-powered vbulletin is the most popular amongst large communities.

This site also has a couple of interesting interviews with admins sharing their thoughts on what made their community successful, how did it start-up, are they making money etc.
Gaia Online interview
Neowin interview
NASIOC interview

... can be seen at big-boards.com, which inventories the Web's busiest bulletin boards. The busiest boards are usually custom jobs, but they tend to be very light in features; they need to be with millions of daily visits. Otherwise, vBulletin and phpBB rule the day. Of 483 boards, the breakdown goes:

vBulletin: 295
phpBB: 34
Invision: 23
UBB: 22

I've got vBulletin 3.0 RC 2 running on an urban planning-related forum that I run, and I'm extremely happy with it.