hosting advices

[jeskel]

hi everyone,

here is my question... a simple one... I plan (for the future, not yet at all ) to host my site(s) myself: I'll have access to the server configuration, can use the kind of DB I want without extra charges (working with ASP using IIS but I want a db like MySql) etc... I'm far from being at that point now but I'm already wondering what kind of specs the people who experienced "self-hosting" would recommand in therms of bandwith and computer capacities... Well, let's take the example of an average of five hundreds connections at the same time (it's an average of course...) during the whole day with db connection etc...

I'm aware that this question will probably seem very... mmh... blurry... but if you have basics recommendations to make, don't hesitate...

thanx a lot:thumbsup:

[bcarl314]

500 simultaneous connections??? :eek:

Well, you can do the math.

500 connections x 56 Kbps (avg modem speed) = 28 Mbps.

T1 = 1.544 Mbps
T3 ~= 45 Mbps (I think, I can't remeber)

Of course, that doesn't even include DSL users, which would drive your bandwith up.

See this post for connection speeds / bandwith specs
http://www.codingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18310&highlight=bandwidth+speed

[zoobie]

Go read for a few months @ Web Hosting Talk (http://webhostingtalk.com/) :D

[jeskel]

Nah guys... Not that I excpect 500 connections in my site, but if I have to invest (one day maybe???) in my own hosting solution, I want to be able to host friends sites too, and the number 500 was just an example that I wanted high in order to have an idea of something quite big... But well, this day is not to come tomorrow... So thanx for the links, they contain good infos... and that's what I expected, something that could give me a more precise idea and put me on the right track... Thanx fellas, and feel free to re-post anything about this topic (links, personnal advices etc...):thumbsup:

[oracleguy]

You don't want to use cable or DSL since their data rates fluctuate. You'd want to get frame relay (e.g. T1) however that stuff can be kinda spendy. But you'll need the bandwidth if you got lots of sites and a good ammount of traffic. With frame relay when they say 1.5MBps, it is always 1.5, not 1 or 1.2 like it can be with DSL.

As for a server, since you said IIS, you'd want to get Windows 2003 Server (I'd recommend standard over the cheaper Web Server). You'll want like a pretty good Pentium 4 system (or even a Xeon) with 1+GB of memory. Also try and get two identical hard drives (SATA or SCSI would be ideal) so then you can run RAID mirroring so if one were to fail (physically) the other is a exact duplicate (as far as data goes) you can just unplug the bad drive and computer won't even know the difference. You'll also want to regularly do backups via CD-R, DVD-R, or tape. Also put good network cards in too, the cheaper 5-10 dollarish ones are cheap because they don't have their own processors so to speak and take CPU time up.

The hardware might seem like overkill at first but you'll get a hell of a lot of performance out of it and it will have a large capacity and most importantly last for quite a while.

[jeskel]

thanx a lot Oracleguy:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: that's exactly the kind of answers I was expecting... As I said, I'm not at that point now... And I need to learn a lot more about doing sites before hosting one... But that's the kind of question you don't wanna think at the last minute... So I'm already taking my infos, thinking about it.. should I say dreaming about it?;)

[jeskel]

About the money.... I was thinking that if you are something like 5 people, each one hosting on to three sites, it would obviously cost more than if you choose for a professionnal hosting, but within five years, you can reduce your costs to come close to a professionnal hosting solution... It would obviously still cost more to take the personnal hosting solution, but for that extra price, you have flexibility (since you have your own server, you do whatever you want with it, install whatever you want without being extra-charged) and most important, you'll come to face problems that will make you learn things, communicate with people about their personnal experiences etc... and I think that has no value... that's why I really want to do that one of this days (in the years to come).... Don't hesitate to share your personnal experiences and your knowledge about this subject here with me... thanx a lot

[raf]

I once also tought that buying me own server would give me more flexability and possibilitys and could come cheaper.

But then i realised that setting up and managing a server would simply take up to much time. Now i don't even realy manage my own machine.
I'm more intrested in coding and databasedesign then running servers or securing my computer and data

Like Rasmus Lerdorf said: real man don't bother backing up there code. They store it on a server and let someone else back it up.

As for the money. If there are excellent hosting services like ithium.net that have a personal plan for $10/year (yes indeed) ...(+ Krycek is a real nice guy that gave me and a few others a free account) --> how are you gonna beat that kind of competition :D
I'd rather pay Krycek to host my stuff, then invest in hardware and a faster connection.

He can probably give you some pointers if you're gonna set up your own shared server (especially his testersaccounts were a great idea ;) )

[jeskel]

mmh.... I see.... I knew Krycek from CF (even if we never had contact together as far as I can remember) but I never heard of ithium.net. Very interesting... Well, I'll think about it closer but I know a few server-passionated people that would love to host site themselves... So when the time will come, I'll figure it out. But you're right about the fact 10$ is unbeatable... Anyways, I'll repeat myself if I say that before thinking about it I still have a lot of things to learn (and you know that about me right;)) thanx raf:thumbsup:

[oracleguy]

I gotta recommend ithium.net too, I've been quite pleased so far.

He even gave the project myself and a few others from CF are working on, Developers Against Standards Deficient User Agents.