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

[Adam Barrett]

--Another job well done!--

On 5/31/06, Chad <masterclc at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/31/06, Adam Barrett <dragen at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Chad,
> >
> > I went down this path recently too. Different hosting options,
> > different needs, basic same problem.
> >
> > The conclusion I had was based on uptime. Obviously you will want to
> > have a guarantee that your site is going to be up, and stay up.
> >
> > Erase any notions you have about Comcast and any memory you have about
> > downtime. They are an on-demand service. Which means there is lag, and
> > possible outage. They offer NO QoS at all. Not even on the workplace
> > account. If it goes down there is no failsafe, there is nothing to
> > help you stay in business.
> >
> > Hosting through Xmission will supply you with the backbone, a QoS, and
> > uptime that is great.
> >
> > Talk to the boys at Xmission about what you can and can't do to the
> > server. You mention one of your concerns is storage space, think
> > realistically about what you will be using the storage for on the
> > server. Don't mix you business with your pleasure (ie, music storage).
> > Keep the business end of this deal, business. If you really need the
> > 750GB for storage, well then I would think your site is a little
> > heavy, but more power to you.
> >
> > Personally for business, I would go with Xmission (or other host) to
> > make sure that my site will always be available to the end user, cause
> > they dont care if it is hosted in your basement or in a warehouse,
> > they just want to get to the site.
> >
> > BTW - Site looks good, I need to take a longer look!
> >
> > On 5/31/06, Chad <masterclc at gmail.com> 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
> > > ______________________________________________________________________
>
> Thanks for all the replies!
>
> I definitely don't need the 750GB, that's just what I have piled into
> my server (as you noted, it is for my personal use).  I just like the
> idea of having total control which is why I mentioned basically
> unlimited storage.  I don't like worrying about how much space I'm
> using or how much bandwidth I'm at; but definitely see the advantage
> of using a real hosting provider.  Always on, plus the backbone are
> very inticing options.  I thought about just calling them and telling
> them basically what I emailed you guys to see what their thoughts
> were, but I didn't want to insult them by saying "I can do what you
> can offer me, but for cheaper".  :D
>
> The virtualhost sounds a lot like what I'm after, I'll check Xmission
> and see if they offer that.  I'll also definitely check out the
> mentioned links in these replies.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Chad
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-- 
Adam Barrett
dragen at gmail.com