Hi "lifesavers"

Can someone please. please help a beginner? I am planning to get a "matchmaking" site developed by an expert where men and women are able to search for a parther.

Can someone pls help me choose the appropriate scripting language/ database and a good webhosting company who will support the recommended language/ database at a good price to enable me to get this site running.

Some ppl have mentioned that I sould use MySQL as the d/base and PHP as the language, but others have said that since MySQL is not so popular SQL2000 is better?? Pls help, i'm just gettin confused. To top up the confusion, I am not even sure about the hosting company that I need.

What web space considerations do I have to have for something like this?? I was recommended a hosting company which said that they provide languages such as PHP, ASP, perl ... for $99 a year plus SQL2000 for $25/year for every 25MB space. That implies that I need to consider the space allowed on the database?? Do I need to consider this and if so how much space do I need to select?? What other considerations do I need for choosing a host i.e bandwidth, general webspace etc.

Your help will be sincerely appreciated.
If you are interested, below are very brief details of the site. Thanks a million.
The site will allow ppl to be able to use preset criteria form to be a able to search for the type of person they are looking for, based on, age sex, location etc. The site comes back with the matches found with details of the matches. The users will need to subscribe to the site to view member email details. Any one accessing the site will be able to submit their details free of charge for the database. Their email address will be verified by them acknowledging a membership email sent from the site. The site will also provide members the facility to change their profile information, change their passwords, submit pictures etc.

A matchmaking application that actually works (most of them don't, and nearly all are missing key matching functionality, causing their search agents to return bad results) is a great idea. Unlike a lot of the dotcoms, this area is showing healthy growth, and the more targeted the better. And if you get a good solid app, you can always license it to other sites.

The language and database choice will vary depending on who your expert is, and whether or not they are a Linux person or a Microsoft person.

Linux vs MS is a holy war waged by zealots on both sides.

I work with two of those who follow the Way of the Penguin (Linux). They would recommend using mySQL as a backend, and using PHP and Perl. Nearly all of our co-lo customers are also database application developers, and except for one lone standout heretic who runs NT, they are solidly committed to the Linux cause.

There are major security issues with Microsoft's servers, and 'popularity' data can be massaged in a lot of way. It's hard to compare a product that is only sold over the counter for a hefty chunk of change with a product that costs nothing, and has no marketing dollars.

I poked around on frienfinder.com's (they run 12 separate targeted personal ad sites) corporate pages, and they run on the Linux platform (their job openings page lists skillset requirements that spell out exactly what they are using).

While rummaging around on match.com looking for any clues to their back-end, I did find out that on March 27 of this year, they aquired a company called soulmatestechnology.com that offers private label portals, so you may want to price out licensing someone else's technology instead.

Or there is even the possibility of taking an existing open-source application and modifying it.

As with anything else, before committing to a developer, demo their prior projects, and contact prior clients for references. Make sure they delivered on time, and within budget, and that the application worked as promised.

Your developer will have the final say when it comes to what specifics are needed from the hosting company, regarding versions and libraries, etc. Many developers run their own hosting servers, or are partnered with a host. And you probably should be thinking along the lines of an upgrade path to eventually running dedicated servers, depending on how busy your site is projected to become.

Good luck, and I'd appreciate hearing how it goes, I have plans for a matchmaking site myself, for a community that I'm active in that is not served properly by any of the current dating sites. And I'd much rather license someone else's technology than have to hire someone to build a proprietary app for me.

Phoenix

Thanks a million. I value your comments as I've read some of the useful advice you have offered others.

Now I know that any one offering MySQL is on Linux (sorry for sounding thick but i'm in a long learning process b4 I get my teeth stuck in). You are not the first to recommend MySQL. I guess PHP and MySQL seems to be a wise choice for me to date. Now that the incline is towards MySQL, some more points to clarify please:

- How much Webspace do you recommend that I go for? 200MB, 500Mb......?

- What about the bandwidth considerations?

- Do you know any good reliable hosting co. that can offer me what I'm looking for, with request to my requirements?

- In your opinion, how much and what type of maintenance would you plan for a site like this?

My developer is happy to accomodate PHP - MySQL as well as ASP - SQL2000/ MS Access. I will ask him for PHP- MySQL.

I am planning to develop a fairly targeted business (with matching services online as well as offline publications in the future) and will of course keep in touch.

Thanks again

regards

Kess

Kess,

Actually MySQL can run on other platforms such as Windows and Sun. Infact this forum is using a MySQL database with PHP on a windows platform.

At this point I will leave it up to the hosting gurus to discuss the finer points of hosting MySQL and the preferred platform for it.

As your site becomes more popular your database will grow and so will your ned for bandwidth.

IMO you should find a host with a reasonable base hosting plan now and with room to grow (i.e. plans that you can upgrade to as you need more space/bandwidth).

But first you have to decide on the platform (Unix or NT) and whatever scripts are going to run your match maker service. Then shop for a host.

GO WITH OPEN SOURCE!

MS SQL is very good, but, it is costly, and you can't get the support you need. I know, I'm MS certified.

Think about it this way. Either way you go, with MS SQL or with MySQL, you will be spending ALOT of time creating what you need to create.

You can afford to hire additional programmers, or better programmers, whereas with MS SQL YOU WILL PAY!

It doesn't matter that you outsource your Web Hosting. I've seen time and time again MS SQL destroys budgets.

Unless you have money to burn, stick with open source. That money is better off in the hands of trusted experienced programmers than a proprietary app that requires the same time and energy.

Let me know if you have any other questions:

sales@busydata.com

David Grant
Busy Data LLC

Notice webhostdir.com uses php... You have your answer.

David Grant
Busy Data LLC

My opinion is to go with the MySQL PHP combo for all the same reasons mentioned above, so I won't reinvent the wheel and repat those reasons.

As far as your hosting company is concerned I think you should look for a company that will allow you to expand your hosting package easily. It's nice to find a company that will work with you, so to speak, on your internet projects. I would think your developer should be able to referr some credible hosts to you. If he can't, give him my card... Not to toot my own horn though.

When approaching hosting companies be forthcoming about your goals and plans. Any credible knowledgable hosting company will be willing to work with you to acheive those goals and maybe even suggest a few of their own ideas to help you out. How much space do you need? This is a tricky question, it depends how much space each profile needs. Literally how many words each person's profile has will effect the ammount of space each profile takes up.

I couldn't guess how many people are in any given database, but I am sure there are ways to find out. If you setup a test database with say 10 users (just to keep the number simple and small) and give those users full profiles, filling in every data field, then take the size of that database and multiply it by the number of users your hoping to actually have, divide by 10 ofcoarse .

I hope that information helped.