# Size of each file?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 17, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670 "2001-08-17T01:34:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/1 "2001-08-17T01:34:39Z")

</div>

TPTB:

I am considering using this BB software on my own humble site. However, disk space is an issue. How much space does each post occupy? Perhaps it would be easier to state it in units of thread; how many kb is an average thread of, say, 30 posts? Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/2 "2001-08-17T01:44:49Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> …how many kb is an average thread of, say, 30 posts?

Depends on whether **Duck Duck Goose** is in the thread! 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/3 "2001-08-17T04:25:36Z")

</div>

Well, Mr Astronomer, let me give you some statistics from the UnaBoard (which is also a vBulletin site).

As of right now, I have 8018 posts on my Board, within 568 threads. That’s an average of 14.1 posts/thread.

The total size of the database is 12,463,000 bytes (11.8 MB), of which about 3.9 MB are posts and post indexes, and 4.3 MB is the Search index. The size of the software you have to install to make this run is:

Apache 1.3.19: 4.0 MB  
PHP: 1.0 MB  
MySQL: 21.0 MB  
vBulletin: 3.0 MB (includes tons of avatar graphics)

So, overall, you can get 8000+ posts on your site for about a total of 41 MB, including all the software.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/4 "2001-08-17T04:28:33Z")

</div>

Sorry…forgot to mention that is an average of 1.5 kb per post overall, including the Search indexes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/5 "2001-08-17T04:36:47Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by samclem \*  
> \*\*
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > …how many kb is an average thread of, say, 30 posts?
> 
> Depends on whether **Duck Duck Goose** is in the thread! 😃 \*\*

Yeah, that Mad Hatter thread must be several times the size of a post count party.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/6 "2001-08-18T19:19:07Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Anthracite \*  
> \*\*The size of the software you have to install to make this run is:  
> Apache 1.3.19: 4.0 MB  
> PHP: 1.0 MB  
> MySQL: 21.0 MB  
> vBulletin: 3.0 MB (includes tons of avatar graphics)  
> \*\*

The webhost I use already has Apache, of course, PHP and MySQL. So I guess I don’t need all that much. I wouldn’t include avatars (I pay for bandwidth) so this might just work out. Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/7 "2001-08-18T22:06:42Z")

</div>

I also have all sorts of bandwidth-saving tips and configuration tips for vBulletin, if you proceed further on this. Just mail me, or stop by my Board and ask in my ATMB Forum.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-of-each-file/76670/8 "2001-08-18T22:14:20Z")

</div>

Oh, and there’s a message board at [http://www.vbulletin.com](http://www.vbulletin.com) that might be useful as well.
