Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

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cedricthecat
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Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by cedricthecat »

Hi folks

I've got bargain hosting for a forum I've been running for probably 15 years. Really cheap, in fact, as it's only cost me £40 for the past four years. There's only a handful of users, but I'd like to keep it going.

I've also got a more recent forum, not hugely bigger, but I'd like to grow it if possible. This one has cost me quite a bit more for it's first year, and it's due for renewal next week. I've found that the hosts for the original forum have an offer on right now which could save me £150 a year.

The thing is, can I keep the original forum and migrate the newer one and run both on the same hosting?

If I can't, I guess I can just create a new account on the cheaper hosts, but it'd be easier if I can keep them all at the same logon!

Any advice will be greatly appreciated :)
Last edited by Mick on Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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AlfredoRamos
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by AlfredoRamos »

You can run as many boards or any other CMS or any other website as your hosting plan allows.

Some shared hosting services restrict the number of domains or databases you can use without paying extra money.

If any board grows and uses more resources in the future, you can simply upgrade to a higher plan, which requires no interaction on your part.
cedricthecat wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 9:07 pm I've found that the hosts for the original forum have an offer on right now which could save me £150 a year.
If that's a promotion, just read carefully the terms and conditions of it.

I've rehosted some clients because at the end of it they got charged way higher than the normal price because of the the small print.
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PlanetStyles.net
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by PlanetStyles.net »

Sure!

On a shared host, here's what you need to do:

1. Head into cPanel (or your control panel)
2. If you've got a new domain name for the second forum, create an "Addon domain" , otherwise create a subdomain. Either of these will create a new directory in the file system which is specific to the new domain.
3. If you've got a new domain for the second forum, change the domain nameservers to point towards your web host
4. Create a new database
5. Install phpBB as you normally would in the new part of the file system
cedricthecat
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by cedricthecat »

That's great! Thanks for the answers - very helpful indeed :)

BTW, the offer is a good one, and although the prices will go up, that's a year away and the regular prices that will kick in then are still much cheaper than where I am now :mrgreen:
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by thecoalman »

PlanetStyles.net wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:18 am 2. If you've got a new domain name for the second forum, create an "Addon domain" , otherwise create a subdomain.
Doesn't necessarily need to be on it's own domain/subdomain but it would need to be in it's own directory.

PlanetStyles.net wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:18 am 4. Create a new database
While different databases are ideal, if the host only allows one database you can change the table prefix during install to something other than default. Default is phpbb_, change the second install to phpbb2_, etc.
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by warmweer »

There is a risk when using 1 database.
When using the phpBB backup and restore feature, only the board that you're accessing will be affected.
But when 1 board has a problem (for whatever reason) and need to use the host backup and specifically restore system: you're basically restoring 2 boards to a previous state. In the situation that one of your boards had a problem and has been offline for a couple of days, using the host backup/restore will result in loss of data in the other board (which had been running fine).
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cedricthecat
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by cedricthecat »

^^ That sounds scary!

For my particular case, I actually got a good deal from my existing hosting company when I let them know I was leaving so didn't actually change anything at all :)
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Re: Can I run two forums on the same hosting package?

Post by thecoalman »

warmweer wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:00 am But when 1 board has a problem (for whatever reason) and need to use the host backup and specifically restore system: you're basically restoring 2 boards to a previous state. In the situation that one of your boards had a problem and has been offline for a couple of days, using the host backup/restore will result in loss of data in the other board (which had been running fine).
That's a good point and if you are requesting restore from the host you better be very specific about what you want restored regardless of the situation.

With WHM backup basically it will backup the system files(Cpanel account files, email accounts etc.), the files and mysqldump of the database(s). These backups can be used to fully migrate to another server or fully restore on same server with one click but of course it's when the backup was taken. Individual databases can be extracted and restored and if you needed to you could restore to different database and export the affected tables. Your host may not offer to do that but it can be done.

With that said don't rely on your host for backups.
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