Geek Question: Message Board Installs and Global Locations
 

I have a project which I am mapping out. Here are my problems:

Global message boards. I will have message boards serving medium to high volume traffic for regional forums throughout the world. Multiple language packs are needed.

Do I have multiple installs of the script on servers at multiple locations? Ex: U.S., Australia, Holland.

Or do I have one single large server at one location?

Do I use one install per language pack?

How do I synchronize all those forum databases if I am using multiple locations?

Any suggestions?

I would run one main installation of the message board on a powerful server (quad xeon, or similiar). Serve all languages from that same install.

Put your database on another similar server connected through a second nic card.

If you will offer search, split the indexing onto yet a third server.

Be ready to do hardware load balancing or to setup clusters if you need more servers.

Geographical location is trivial compared to just about everything else.

Awesome! Thank you.

That was a pretty generic answer, but I think the general schema would make for far easier updating, maintanence and management than any kind of distributed configuration.

I agree with fusionx...if you have them on multiple servers then you have to worry about synching which can be a real bitch

Especially if you use any custom mods in your bbs software. That could be a management nightmare.