What would be needed for myself to effectively host myself from home?

I figure I would need a PC to act as a server and some connection to the network - DSL or something? Then I would need some DNS from somewhere - etc etc.

The main reason I am asking is:

1. Running a business off a shared hosting package is tantamount to suicide

2. Having to rely on someone else to monitor and fix server and connection problems is just not on - ala Dedicated and Colo.

3. I want to have full and absolute control over every aspect on the server - dodgy backups being the main reason besides other.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I would like some kind of indication as o what hardware would be best. I have a singple processor 1.7GHz P4 with 512MB Ram sitting around idl at the moment - would this do?

And I would prefer a Unix based platform - which version is the most stable?

It's more unstable.
And it is worse idea to have your own net business running from your home.

One of the reason is that Home connections are usually unstable. DSL isn't good enough if your site gets a tiny popular. T1 might be enough for a very small popular site but unless you purchcase business class T1, home T1 providers forbids running a server on their connection.
T1 = approx $600 to 1000.
And don't go with business DSL line. They are bad, I keep hearing.

Better go for colo with a NOC such as VDI, DI or Verio

Many use Red Hat Unix 7.1 but some still use Red Hat 6.2 series as 6.2 is tested and proven to be stable.

klissis - Pleas forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject, but I'm not States based but I figure things are similar.

If I get a T1 (proper one) from my Telco, am I not linked to their backbone as a result?

My main future priority is what I perceive would be a substantial customer database that would need to be preserved at all costs - even if it meant hourly (or even live) backups. Am I to expect this kind of support from a Colo?

If you colo with a NOC, you expect no support from the NOC, what you can expect from the NOC is when your server requires rebooting. That is all you can expect.
Colo means you own your server. You install everything as well as your hardware. So when your server's hardware go wrong, the NOC won't replace them unless you asked them and pay for it.

You also must install whatever is needed to run the server from distance. Or you can find a NOC nearby your location.

Now, you may ask yourself why you'd need to colo instead of getting a connection and place your server in your home.
Well, I think the main factors are
1. Stable connection
2. The security (physical)

As for the T1, if you get a proper one, it costs way too much. Unless you earn more than you spend, that'd be no problem but that means your business must be rather large. You will also need to maintain your DNS servers as well as a proxy server.
Building a small/personal NOC in your home is tougher than anyone could think but I am not an expert.

Someone will provide you with better information.

Originally posted by Zonk
klissis - Pleas forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject, but I'm not States based but I figure things are similar.

If I get a T1 (proper one) from my Telco, am I not linked to their backbone as a result?

My main future priority is what I perceive would be a substantial customer database that would need to be preserved at all costs - even if it meant hourly (or even live) backups. Am I to expect this kind of support from a Colo?

Zonk, save yourself a lot of trouble. If you want a professional, fast site with daily/hourly backups then running one on your home pc is about the worst thing you can do.

1. Since money seems to be no object, get a hostingpackage with a good, reliable source who has a proven record of minimal downtime. Make sure your hostingplan also includes cronjobs.

2. Get a second account at a different hosting company which inludes lots of bandwidth and diskspace.

3. Set up a cronjob on your first hosting account that makes hourly backups and ftp's them to your second hosting account.

However I do think you are overreacting. It seems like you have been scared pantsless by all the stories you have been hearing about bad hosts here and and maybe on other boards.

To set the record straight, it is NOT standard practises for hosts to blow up their servers, screw up their backups, have network problems once every day or turn off their servers while they go to lunch.

Go with a name that is trusted and known in the industry (not a reseller) and pay a decent amount of money ($ 20 - $30 per month) and stay clear of $ 1 per year hosting companies and you should be fine.

OK. So I'm guessing that trying to host myself is potentailly not the brightest idea under the sun. I would like to know how to do it though - where would I need to go for that kind of knowledge?

klisis - That remote management is something I never thought of. I'm guessing that it actually allows you to do what you want with your server from a remote point?

Pilgrim - You're talking shared hosting I gather? This is precisely what I don't want. I specifically don't want the hosting company switching me off because I use up all the available mysql connections or use up huge chunks of CPU time.

I know the other option is dedicated but maybe I don't know enough about the differences between dedicated and colo. As far as I figure, the biggest difference is support and who chooses and configures the machine.

colo is that you buy a server, ship it to them and they will hook it up in their datacenter.

dedicated is that you rent a server already at their datacenter.

In both cases you do not have to count on much support. When you choose dedicated at least they replace broken components if they occur but that is about it.

It is up to you to keep them updated with the latest security patches, install software etcetc.

Originally posted by Pilgrim
colo is that you buy a server, ship it to them and they will hook it up in their datacenter.

dedicated is that you rent a server already at their datacenter.

In both cases you do not have to count on much support. When you choose dedicated at least they replace broken components if they occur but that is about it.

It is up to you to keep them updated with the latest security patches, install software etcetc.

I think that many dedicated server offerings are "managed", which means that the host will provide support, monitor performance and uptime, update security, and so forth. This is more typical in a case where the customer doesn't get root for the server.

Of course, if the customer does get root, then presumably you've vetted their ability to maintain security, right? So that the server doesn't become another DDoS zombie, hurting your network and reputation? What, you didn't think of that? That's OK, a lot of other providers didn't either. And that's just one possible issue.

Anyway, back to the point. A managed dedicated server is not hard to find and should not have less support than a cheaper shared hosting account.

Kevin

I would recommend a dedicated server with a well-known provider. Don't go around looking for a bargain server, either. Find a solid provider that knows what they are doing and can guarantee connection to your server no matter what (unless the building exploded).

I think serving a mission-critical site on a home server is suicide. Power outages, DSL outages, and other related things will surely have you looking for another solution in the end. In fact, shared hosting on a solid server with a well-known provider would be better than a home situation. I think a dedicated (managed or unmanaged) solution is probably your best bet.

Ok here is how it works trying to get a home lan going that's worthy of hosting say, your son's little league web site, unless things are VASTLY different where you are, let me put this mildly

YOU CANNOT, AND WILL NOT GET A RELIABLE ENOUGH CONNECTION AT HOME TO RUN A MISSION CRITICAL SITE LIKE YOU ARE DESCRIBING FOR LESS THAN $2500 A MONTH and you're probably not gonna get it for THAT price unless you're in a business area and your house is zoned for that sorta thing.

DSL: these packages you get for $200 a month are NOT meant for 24/7 web site, they're meant for 9-5 business use.

T-1: last T-1 I bought, $1800 in setup fees, $1800 a month, and let's face it, 1.44mbit is peanuts, that equates to less than 50,000 hits a day. We routinely peaked at 10 or MORE megabits a second on a site sporting 250K unique hits a day, 13-15 mbits at prime time was NORMAL. 1.44 megabits ain't crap and a T-1 is not burstable.

T-3: now you're talking, last one I priced was $8,000 a month.

I've "heard of" (as in 0 experience myself) SDSL connections in the 7 mbit range for around $2500 a month. 7 megabit is getting to the point where you could run a relatively nice sized site, and I hear SDSL is specifically waged for small time ISP types so the uptime "might" be acceptable. but I repeat, I have 0 experience with this just word of mouth from guys who worked at the now defunct, Northpoint.

I agree with what the others are saying, hosting at home is not the best route. I thinking getting a dedicated server with a respectable company or even a VPS (Virtual Private Server) would be best for you.

Go to amazon.com if you want to learn how to setup a server though, buy a few books.

Good luck

There are many softwares that allow you to control a server remotely.
1. webadmin
2. CPanel and so on.
Basically, you would need telnet/SSH connection enabled to control your server manually from remote.

Personally, I use a US$99/monthly package for my site. It's a semi-dedicated package. I have been having barely any downtime for seven months now. But I must warn you that I did have some downtimes. Don't expect 100% uptime. It's just impossible.
Before I get the semi-dedicated package, I was once on geocities(yeah long long ago) then $US 5 package then $25 package and now I am on a semi-dedicated package. Well, my site is not a business site but I have been monitoring downtimes.


Originally posted by Zonk

klisis - That remote management is something I never thought of. I'm guessing that it actually allows you to do what you want with your server from a remote point?

I would suggest going with a managed High Availability server from rackspace, or a managed server from Verio.

If price isn't an option. They both include backups.