Dedicated Server vs. Doing it Myself
As of right now I'm with a virtual host for my site and everything is going well. I can tell how it really slows down sometimes though and my friend who using their service eventually reached a point where he had to find a dedicated server.
I've been looking around and most seem to be very expensive and I don't like not have the server around for me to install the software I would like... many sites seem to charge additional fees for these things.
I've was thinking that if I get to the point where I'm outdoing the virtual host, would using SDSL be a viable option? For around $300 I can get 1500/1500 SDSL w/ 32 static ips. My best friend owns a computer shop so I can build a server to my specs at his cost and then I could do all the maintenace on it myself... the computer would also be WAY better than what I've seen comes with basic dedicated server packages. My site is a discussion forums for Evo fans and I'm just wondering if it reaches the point where it has about 60 people on at a time would I have plenty of bandwith to handle that?
Thanks,
Mark
Webmaster
http://www.lancerforums.com
Justin S posted this at 00:56 — 16th August 2001.
They have: 2,076 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
You have to first check with the SDSL provider and make sure you can host websites off the line. If you can, then I think that speed line should suffice.
Justin Stayton - [email] [icq]
mairving posted this at 01:42 — 16th August 2001.
They have: 2,256 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
There is a lot to think about when setting up a server. Things that you take for granted right now that your host does for you. Things like backups, security, upgrades and maintenance. The biggest among them would be security. You will also need to know what OS to run and how to administer it. Other things to be considered are that this computer would have to always be on, so you will need a pretty good UPS to help with that. Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem with 60 people, it just depends on what they are doing.
Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states
anti posted this at 23:16 — 23rd August 2001.
They have: 453 posts
Joined: Jan 1999
If you can use the DSL-line for commercial purposes, go for it.
Server adminstration is quite easy, once you get the hang of it - and we're here to help.
And you will have so much more possibilities.
1.5Mb is more than enough (if you don't mirror debian.org).
Slashdot (for example) was running on a 64K line for a long time, without anybody seeing any problems.
Just make sure you have a sane configuration for you box.
(Dual 1.2GHz CPU with 64MB RAM won't be fun,
while a Single 800MHz box with 512MB can handle a lot.)
If you expect lots of (static) traffic you should go for a box that is made for that (read: non Intel based), like an IBM pSeries or an UltraSPARC. They simple have (far) better IO capabilities.
anti
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