[sllug-members]: Host my own, or pay someone?

[Eric Huber]

I actually did virtual hosting for a while with rackforce.com and it was
pretty good.  But they did use Plesk as a control panel and there were
some lower level operations that I still couldn't do - even with root
access.  I didn't have access to run the conntrack module with iptables
and so it made running a firewall on the box pretty much impossible.  I
also didn't have the ability to set the time (or run ntpd) on the box
either and this caused some problems with shopping cart scripts as clock
got out of sync with network time.

I ended up changing my provider to rackmounted.com and was able to get a
full dedicated host option for  $69/month (they have plans that start at
$49/month).  They even let me remotely install the OS (Gentoo).  There has
only been a couple of times during the last two years that there has been
downtime and then, it wasn't for very long.  You still would be
responsible for your own backups, but this is easily accomplished if you
have your home server and run rysnc.

Good luck...

> Hi Chad,
>
>
> Xmission is a fine hosting choice and they provide great service.
> However, if you need total control over your server you need a virtual
> host. I like Advantagecom.net and have used them for 6+ years and referred
> many to them. Though their rates have increased recently they are still
> cheap compared to Xmission. You can find their rate page for virtual
> server here:
>
> http://www.simplywebhosting.com/plans-vps/index-vps-x.shtml
>
>
> For under $40.00 a month you should be able to get what you need.
>
>
> With a virtual server you have full root access over a (virtual) Fedora
> Core 2 server. You can load and compile any software you need. Their
> service has been great and I know of no outages for us over the past 6+
> years.
>
> FYI, I have no connection whatsoever with these folks--just a satisfied
> user.
>
> Alternately,  Google "virtual web hosting" or checkout one of the many
> sites that rate web hosting companies.
>
> Xmission may now offer virtual hosting--don't know for sure--but last
> time I looked they did not.
>
> Good luck,
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
> Chad wrote:
>
>> Hello there linux fans!
>>
>>
>> I'm about 2 inches away from my 'go live' for my business (shameless
>> plug http://www.pauselivetv.com ).  Right now it's being hosted on a
>> residential dynamic Comcast IP (my home linux server).  By the time it's
>> actual Go Live day hits I'd like to have it hosted correctly, on a
>> Commercial IP.
>>
>>
>> So, I'm looking at hosting providers and Commercial ISP's.  I've not
>> completely decided upon these 2, but this is what I've narrowed down to
>> in my browsing: Comcast Workplace vs Xmission
>>
>>
>> Here's my problem, and hopefully you great folks can help me with
>> deciding:
>>
>>
>> I have Comcast as my home ISP, and pay ~60/month for the internet and
>> extremely basic analog cable TV.  That's ~4mb/sec down and ~384kb/sec up.
>> Comcast workplace will give me a static IP, ~6mb/sec down and
>> ~768/sec up, no port restrictions (though I don't have any with my
>> residential either), email blah, and other blah (the blah are things that
>> are of very little interest to me).   All at ~$110/month.  If I went
>> this route I'd drop my residential line, and use the Workplace account
>> for my home internet; meaning I'd see a new output of ~$50 additional
>> bucks a month. The benefit of this option:
>> I host my own.  I can do pretty much anything I want with my server,
>> including extremely niceties such as NFS'ing image directories, and MUCH
>> MUCH more.  I have pretty much the world as my oyster as far as
>> what my server includes; and what seems very important to me is basically
>> unlimited storage (currently capped at 750GB, due to my HD sizes ;) )
>> and unlimited bandwidth.
>>
>> My other option:
>> Minimum account I'd even consider at Xmission costs me ~$50/month.
>> Obviously bandwidth far exceeds that of what I'd have piped into my
>> house as Xmission would host it on their >450mb/sec connection.  I'm not
>> sure how limited I'd be with what I can do with the server, but I'm
>> fairly sure it wouldn't be as easily tweaked as my own home server (it's
>> a decent IBM eServer P4 series), at least not for the $50 package.  I do
>> get their excellent supply of geek knowledge!  And if I keep my
>> residential Comcast service, and add this, I'm at ~$110/month here too;
>> so money washes out if I go with the $50/month hosting package at
>> Xmission.
>>
>>
>> So, in the end, anyone have any responses on which one to go with and
>> why?  Or even better, another option to throw into the mix?
>>
>> I linked to the site at the beginning of this message, so hopefully
>> you can see what I need and see what the site requirements might match
>> with (with other hosting providers and such); but, basically I need at
>> least 2 mysql db's, Apache with PHP enabled, >/=PHP 4.x, ~300mb storage
>> (for now), and if possible a SSL cert.
>>
>>
>> Any ideas?  If I'm not clear on something, please ask, I'll be happy
>> to clarify.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>> Chad
>>
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-- 
Eric Huber - eric at hubernet.com
Moonlight Design, LLC
(801) 299-0851    FAX: (801) 683-7300