What's the right hosting type for me? Advice needed.

Hi there,
I'm currently running a vBulletin and a couple of WordPress blogs on my Bluehost Shared Hosting account.
I am always getting error messages telling me that my account has exceeded its CPU Quota. And I know there are many others at Bluehost with the same problem.
So now I've been getting tipps to (amongst other things) either switch to phpbb (not an option), get a better Shared Hosting host or get a vServer.
I've never had a vServer before so I'm not sure which would be the best host for me.
My forum (which causes all the CPU Exceeded errors) has about 900 members with about 150 members, 400 guests and about 70-100 search bots visiting daily. At peak times I have about 35-50 people on my forum.

Cost is also a factor for me, though I do understand that sometimes you have to spend a lot to get good quality. But since I do not put ads on my forum (and I don't want/plan to), I appreciate good prices.

Anyway, if more information is needed, please let me know. I'm thankful for any useful tips.

My honest advice would be to look into a low level dedicated server for your forum. If you're pushing that much and show no signs of slowing, then I would just bit the bullet and go with that. No good, successful, busy forum, runs on a shared server. Not well anyway. OZZU is run on it's own box for the reasons you are having trouble with.

The next best option IMO is to move to a vServer. Be careful with this one though, because a lot of companies still oversell these. You may still be on a box with 10 accounts, but who knows how many of those have multiple accounts. My point is that even with vServers, they can be like a shared box whether people realize it.

As you yourself mentioned, you get what you pay for. So take your time, shop around, ask lots of questions, and make a good, informed decision on how to proceed with your site.

Well I have had previous issues with bluehost, And Like you I had CPU issues, I moved to a dedicated server and its heaven Nothing to worry about and everything runs so smooth.

My advice would be to get your own dedicated server. You would be spending a lot of money, But if your serious about your website it would be a good move.

Thanks for the info so far, thanks very much.
I think Dedicated Server might be a bit too much for me financially. As I said, I don't put ads on or anything - so I can't really spend a hundred bucks a month on my forum. Not with the job I have *lol*

http://www.hostgator.com does have a shared acount with unlimited bandwidth and 90 second CPU usage....Dont know if thats any good for you?

I've heard bad things about hostgator - aren't they part of the bluehost network or they belong to the company that owns bluehost or something of the sort?

Hostgator are nothing to do with bluehost, And actually Both bluehost and Hostgator are great webhosts.

You don't know anyone you could split the costs of an entry-level dedicated with ?

You said yourself that there's others with the same problem, surely you've come across one with similar intrests to yours.

I like Site5, I've been trying out a lot of different web hosts but always ended up with them again.

http://www.adrenelan.net is a good host

You're gonna get lots of people recommending their hosting company. I prefer Anhosting.com myself.

However, the best thing to do is contact some of these sites and see what they have to say about their limitations.

Most will be pretty honest with you. For a decent list of hosts, go to http://www.best-webhosting-advice.com. On the front page is a good list to get you started. I'm sure you'd be able to find a host that can handle your needs with a Shared acct.

I work for Cyberspace HQ, makers of AddWeb Website Promoter, and Anhosting.com hosts our FTP and Mambo Overview page for our software. We get a lot of traffic and never have bandwidth problems. Check with them about CPU useage.

Scott