trying to run forum/php software on website

[ThePiston]

I've ben doing some research lately into adding a forum-like member's site (much like Anandtech) to my own website. I have looked into vbulletin, FuseTalk (Anandtech's program) and phpnuke. All these just say "upload our files to you server". I called Interland where my website resides and it's on a shared server. It's $100/month MORE to get a dedicated server. Do I NEED to have a dedicated server to run these kinds of apps?

 

[imported_jb]

all you need (usually) is PHP, (My)SQL, and some webspace. maybe your host only offers that w/ a dedicated server? MySQL and PHP are usually pretty standard options.

 

[Cerebus451]

It all depends on how busy you envision the forums being. If you don't expect the forums to push you past the bandwidth limits of your current hosting plan, then you don't need dedicated hosting. However, some hosting companies forbid you from running forums on certain plans and require you to purchase more expensive plans. Not sure about Interland.