I am making a messenger called Agent-M. I'm putting a lot of great features in it that no other messenger has. I'm sure it will be a big hit. but I'm having trouble finding someone to host the server program for it. I need a small win2k server to run it. right now, I'm making it in visual basic 6, but in the future I'm gonna make it in c++ so it can handle more connections. it uses udp insted of tcp for the clients to connect to it, so one vb6 program can handle a few thousand users at once, insted of around 20 tcp connections. it has a build in cashe for usernames and passwords to help speed it up a little. it stores all the users information in txt files in different folders. it doesn't use much for prosessor resources or memory.

I might put a few small banners in the messenger once I get people using it, to help pay for hosting, but to start out, I'll be paying for it all myself. I would like to find a host for under $40 a month if I can.


Matthew Kemmerer
Mattsoft.net

You probably want to post this in the Web Hosting Requests forum. I doubt you will find a host willing to lease a Windows dedicated server to you for that price, but you will never know.

One comment on your application:

It sounds like an interesting idea, but since UDP does not allow for error correction, don't you run the risk of garbled chat sessions?

You are going to be hard pressed to find any Windows based server for $40.00/month. Just a tip!

I'm using udp because it sends faster, and I can handle more connections at once. it does lose data once in a while, but I havent had any problems with that in testing it. msn messenger uses udp to send messages too.

if I can't find anyone to host it, I'll have to upgrade my personal server here and run it on that.

Remember that the license alone for W2k server is roughly $500 or more. (CompUSA has it for a steal: $999.99)

Drew

I don't see a particular reason for a win2k server in your case. It may very well be that you can make do with a shared hosting account (Unix) for $20 or more dollars a month that will come with decent amount of bandwidth (assuming you have a high bandwidth usage if not you can make do with even smaller accounts).

Also if your just starting your site/program you probably want to start out with a shared hosting account and not dedicated. If your planning on a very large ad campaign reaching millions upon launch then you may need your own server.

He needs a Windows server because his program was written for Windows. Also, most shared hosting accounts don't allow background processes.