Could Really Use Some Advice on What to Do....

[Phil Boyd]

So I set up a little image host for a small ProBoards forum using Chevereto version 3 almost 7 years ago. I installed it on some shared web hosting I have with some of my other sites. Just set it up and let it run and it's really been running just fine. I've actually had very few issues.

Well, I'm moving on from this present host and I need to decide what I'm going to do with this. I would love to separate the image host from my present WordPress sites, but I have no idea where to put it or even how to go about doing it. I actually purchased version 4 of Chevereto when it first came out - it was a "pre-buy" of sorts in 2020, I think. I never bothered upgrading because version 3 was working just fine and I didn't want to risk doing something wrong. Would this version 4 purchase still be valid?

So where should I look to transfer this to? And I remember that using Docker was mentioned when version 4 came out. Is this a requirement? Are there services that can transfer everything for me? What kind of costs can I expect? This is not a large site at all. My dashboard is saying 150 users, a little over 24,000 images, 11 gigs of space. I also have Backblaze set up as extra storage.

And I'm just going to ask this as well. How much trouble is setting all this up? I'm not ashamed to admit that technically, this project has been a little over my head. And of course, financial expenses are a consideration as well. I'm not making anything with this site and my other sites are not making a whole lot either.

So any advice or suggestions on what direction I can take here will be greatly appreciated because I have no idea where to even start looking.

 

[Rodolfo]

Would this version 4 purchase still be valid?

Of course.

using Docker was mentioned when version 4 came out. Is this a requirement?

Docker is the preferred way to run the application, but is not a requirement.

Are there services that can transfer everything for me?

We do offer Extra Support, it could cover this.

How much trouble is setting all this up?

If you are using external Upload storage already the shore is to move the database and application files, also point the domain. You will require to update the database connection details and filesystem permissions.

Some providers offer complete website migration, but please note that for the best hassle free experience you must try to match your existing database system. For example, if your database uses MySQL get a provider with MySQL and not MariaDB.

 

[Phil Boyd]

OK, thank you for the quick reply.
How much is the Extra Support?
Who are some providers I could go with, or rather - what do I need to look for in a provider? In addition to the Database configuration.
How do Docker solutions compare cost-wise?
I've heard over and over how easy and wonderful using Docker is. Would this be true for someone who has never used Docker?

 

[Rodolfo]

How much is the Extra Support?

The current fee for Extra Support is $60/h and for this kind of incident it only requires one hour.

Who are some providers I could go with, or rather - what do I need to look for in a provider?

Basically there are two types of providers: Managed and unmanaged, as you may imagine managed is more expensive but it is friendly to use. Unmanaged is cheaper, gets you more resources, and generally the machines "are the same" between virtualized providers. At the end you buy the one closer to your user base... Unfortunately your access to manage that server is basically a terminal window.

In the managed tier you have an ocean of several providers, very different realm. The most important is to look for PHP 8 and MySQL 8 support, ideally Apache HTTP server or nginx.

How do Docker solutions compare cost-wise?

The gain with Docker is that you get a 1:1 system image as we designed the software, so when we add a new requirement like exiftool via Docker you don't ever need to worry about it as the system image includes everything, not only the app files but the entire system. Docker also requires knowledge, but somehow we managed to provide a Docker project that is very near to maintenance free and once setup your job is basically run make sync && make image && make update. There are also GUI software for using Docker, but I can't say that is friendlier than "root server" setup, is just different.

What we could do is to setup the Docker project for you in any given VPS, from there run the commands we prepared for. Several users are doing hit this way, feel free to ask other users how that worked out.

I've heard over and over how easy and wonderful using Docker is. Would this be true for someone who has never used Docker?

It is great and enables to ship predictable software systems, but it requires knowledge. I can confident say that when we started using Docker the technology wasn't mature as today and people was skeptical. Our implementation required a lot of learning and try/error, but the outcome on the end is less manual labor on your servers. That you can simply run a few commands and the thing just works is golden, compared with root server when you are behind the wheel the number of things that can go wrong is huge.

For anyone into self-hosting you will find out that Docker on the end makes your life easier, it just requires a small shift on how you understand running systems.