Okay I have a tough decision to make and need some opinions.

I have been doing web development and some small web hosting for the past 4 years and because of my location the only fast internet access I can get is T1 which is not a problem because I love it and never goes down.

I am in the process of expanding and have come to a fork in the road do I keep my servers inhouse(I am planning to purchase Disel Gen, UPS, Gigabit Switch, & add. servers) or do I colocate they new servers?

If I colocate them I would have a half rack at Datapipe.com and would keep my servers there however it could cost money for additional IPs and backup. They do have burstable bandwidth and redunant providers and Datapipe is only a 45 minute drive from my office so it seems to be the best choice for a colo facility

If I keep them here I would have unlimited IPs as provided by Sprint Data and there is nothing like being able to manage your servers that are right in your office. Plus I would be able to expand my dedicated lines in 3-6 months to provide more bandwidth.

When talking with Datapipe I was told I would receive 1mps connection and it could be burstable to whatever I need, however the T1 is 1.45 mps but not burstable. Plus If I colo I still need to keep the T1 for web development so its almost twice the price (Colo+T1).

What are your thoughts on inhouse verse colo and which would you choose?

What the hell do you need a TI at home for just web dev? - Just get a dsl line a 3rd of the cost...

Anyway, I would reccomend colo. It saves you having to purchase UPS, Diesel gen etc. Plus the datacentre should be a very secured building, constant low temp etc.

You said a 1mps line, do you mean 1mbit? I would reccomend getting a b/w limit with the ISP, that way it will most probably be burstable to 10-100mbit. So your sites are going fast what ever time day.

Keeping the servers in house until I have enough miney is exactly what I'm doing. Right now, I have a similar setup to you, and until I have a good client base, like 20 users, I'll have enough to colocate my server.

Good luck in your choice!

Originally posted by James[UH]
What the hell do you need a TI at home for just web dev? - Just get a dsl line a 3rd of the cost...


Because of the location of our office we are too far from the telco for DSL and cable isn't in the area yet.

You might ask where such a rural location this is? NorthWestern New Jersey about 45 minutes from NYC!


Any yes they were speaking of a 1mbit line that's burstable to whatever we need.

I would definately say colo. There are so many things to consider when looking at a data center that most people don't realize... things besides bandwidth.

You have to think about backups, fire protection, climate control, backup generators and UPS's, raised flooring and interference from power cables, security, etc.

Most of these can be done in-house but it is often more costly than colocating your servers to a reputable data center. In the end you'll save money.

A 1mbit line is burstable to 1mbit. You dont get a 1mbit line that is burstable 10mbit...

I have considered running servers in-house but for now I have decided not to..

Advantages:

Pretty much all of the bad things associated with a data center's tech support.

You can keep your own spare hardware that you know will swap in quickly.

Pay no bandwidth fees between your servers and for backing up your servers across your network at home. Right now I backup my servers from the datacenter to my house which chews up quite a bit of bandwidth.

You can keep a hot standby server ready to plugin..

IP addresses (depending on your provider)


Disadvantages

You only have 1 provider

Fixing connectivity to your house is probably going to be less of a priority to them as fixing connectivity to a data center (who pays a lot more $$).

Around here, all the telephone/electric wires are on telephone poles and there are quite a few trees that can fall on them.

You have to buy your own sufficient power backup system.

Wow.. so rural...

I live in the middle of freaking alaska and I have DSL/Cable in my area...

That's really bad.... :stickout:

Also.. this is what I have decided..

When hosting would you rather tell your customers:

a) we have a single dsl or t1 line for all of our customers!

or

b) we have all of our servers connected by redunant oc3 lines connected to multiple internet backbones, so if one goes down, you're still going to be online!

and

a) we have all of our servers managed by us in our office - we manage the servers in between the time we are trying to offer quality support to you and do our web design

or

b) all of our server hardware issues are managed at a large data-center approximately 70 miles away from our office. We can focus on quality service to you while they focus on making sure it stays powered up.

Just my 2cents

Thanks I appreciate all your comments its going to be easier to make a decision, I think. :eek:

Major points to colocating:


we have all of our servers connected by redunant oc3 lines connected to multiple internet backbones, so if one goes down, you're still going to be online
Save money on power hardware.
Save money on upgrading the network in the future.



We are going to be running a hosted ecommerce solution similar to http://www.monstercommerce.com/ (Ours will be better :D ) and have some really big companies marketing our program as well as marketing the sites we have hosted so our backbone will be crucial.

Another thought:
In my half rack I inquired about having a managed switched connecting all my servers and backup devices with two ports connected to their network (Always add more). Since it will be an all gigbit switch the two ports should be able to handle the traffic.

I am pretty good with hardware so as far as I know this should work fine: I can then connect all the devices to the switch and only traffic being served out over the web will be calculated as part of bandwidth and all the data transferred between the servers will remain on the switch and will never actually go onto the datacenter's network.

Am I correct in saying this?

BTW the switch I will be using is the Dell PowerConnect 5012. Any feedback on these switches?

Thanks again!

If you can afford it, always keep servers inhouse.

NexTek,

Got any reasons, suggestions, and/or thoughts for your opinion?

Thanks

Well, the key words are "if you can afford" it. :) It takes a lot more resources, both financial and technical, to do your own thing. For me, I like to have the local control. If a server has a memory leak, or a tape needs to be rotated, or another hard drive needs to be added, I don't have to depend on another company beyond my control to do that for me. If a client calls and asks why their site is down, the worst thing you can tell them is "I don't know, let me call the company that your site is on". Not everyone will agree with me but I cannot even potentially let my service or reliability suffer because of an outside company that does colocation. Your clients will be impressed more if they're in your facility and see your servers, server rack, and other hardware instead of just your workstation. I have lots of reasons why it works out better for us not to colocate, but as you've seen there are reasons why you should. If you have the resources, do your own thing.

nxtek I tryed loading up your site and its taking forever......seems your connection may be saturated...what kinda lines are you using?

It's not the connection it's our site itself. We'll have a new design probably next week that takes a bit less time to load. :)

Well I am still interested to hear what kinda setup you guys have..what kinda lines etc =)

didnt find any info on the site.

:o Local controll is my number one priority. I had a deal with another company before that gave me servers for free it was awesome! Sometimes I couldnt get in touch with the person incharge about a problem and it hard to go to the client with "sorry I can't help ya".


It's a tough decision... errr! :eek:

i like elephants. go circus! :D

I think if you can afford fractional t3's, then you can run your own DC. 5mbps would be enough for you to start out with.....
The generators and such arent that big of a deal (ebay), the other thing you need to consider is the sprinkler system in your building...that would need to be either A. disabled (may violate fire code?) or B. get a halon fire supression system ( I wouldnt wanna be working in there when that goes off)

get a few rackmunt heavy duty APCs and your ready to go.

In my half rack I inquired about having a managed switched connecting all my servers and backup devices with two ports connected to their network (Always add more). Since it will be an all gigbit switch the two ports should be able to handle the traffic.

I am pretty good with hardware so as far as I know this should work fine: I can then connect all the devices to the switch and only traffic being served out over the web will be calculated as part of bandwidth and all the data transferred between the servers will remain on the switch and will never actually go onto the datacenter's network.

Am I correct in saying this?

BTW the switch I will be using is the Dell PowerConnect 5012. Any feedback on these switches?

No one really awnsered my post about this, so anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks I appreciate the help.