I'm looking into starting a chat & dating website (using SQL, PHP etc.) and was wondering what sort of web hosting package I would need to host the site? Do i need a dedicated server? Can I use a virtual one? What should I look out for from my host? I cant predict what sort of traffic I'd have, but I'm being optimistic and hoping to sign up several 1000 users monthly (the host would therefore need to cope with several users being on-line at once). Can anyone give me any advice on this? What sort of traffic can I expect? What sort of band width should I look for? The site wont have provision for webcams initially, but this may be an option in the future. Users will be able to upload photos, videos and music on the site too (with limitations). Any help much appreciated. Thx

As your site is just starting out I would go with a Virtual server. If the site grows out of the Virtual server then it will not be too difficult to convert to a dedicated one. I would say that your traffic will be minimal at first. Dating sites need a good reputation to grow and that will take some time. The thing you want to look at most is disk space. Since you are looking at hosting a chat service you will probably need to keep archives for at least 6 months and that will use up disk space quickly. Also the pictures will need space. With the virtual host you can just add the space to your hosting package. As for bandwidth, that can grow as your site grows. Start with the minimum then increase it as traffic grows on the site.