I have been in the process of setting up my own services at home, here is my current state of affairs.
Connectivity I would not bother with a T1 unless you lack cable/DSL as options. I have TW Roadrunner cable, 4 MB down/384-512 up, 5 static IPs. Way cheaper than a T1, you don't have to sign a long-term contract, and installation is faster than T1 service. Security You must have a firewall if you plan to host anything that you would be upset about/in trouble over if it got hacked. I use m0n0wall software on an embedded Soekris engineering device that has WAN, LAN, and DMZ ports. Take the time to study firewall rules and set it up correctly. DNS I don't host my own DNS. TW hosts one domain for me. I have my other domains registered with Yahoo! and they maintain the DNS for me. Awesome! Special note on DNS and email - If you host your own email server, you will need to make sure that your DNS entry for your mail server is properly configured. Many mail servers will not accept mail from a sending host that can't be verified by reverse DNS. And you can't have any other DNS entries on your mail server IP address, so you'll need to have multiple static IPs. Email I use a mail server called XMail. It is freeware POP3 only, open-source, and cross platform. I run it on Windows 2000. There are lots of free plugins for it to handle virus scanning (essential on a mail server), spam blocking (including integration with SpamAssassin), and other functions. You can layer webmail solutions on top of it, and if you run it on *nix you can hook it up to Courier-IMAP for Web folder support. Server Hardware It all depends on your price point. I got a tower PC with a good power supply, stable MSI mobo, Athlon64 2800+, 1 GB RAM, and dual 80 GB SATA HDD in RAID 1. That cost me under $800. Backup I don't mess with tape, I go with a Maxtor OneTouch external drive, and I make periodic DVD burns of data. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeffry Houser" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <cf-community@houseoffusion.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 5:02 PM Subject: Re: Hosting Considerations > An associate of mine has a T1 into his house, although he was thinking of > cancelling. The reason was to try to spin off a hosting portion of his > business, which he only had moderate success with. > > Anyone have any tips for buying a server? > > At 06:04 PM 2/1/2005, you wrote: > > >Subject: Hosting Considerations > >From: "Adkins, Randy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:23:12 -0500 > >Thread: > >http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm/method=messages&threadid=15 878&forumid=5#145807 > >Running a server, I would imagine I would use a DNS service or > >what do I need to setup a machine as a DNS server? What registrations > >would I need to consider? > > > >Besides running a firewall and antivirus (standard server items), what > >are my other considerations? > > > >I know there are various mail programs on the market, such as iMail > >and more, what do you consider to run as well as making it web based > >in addition to a POP service? > > > >Anyone have any ideas on how much a T1 service costs? Right now > >I have Verizon DSL . > > > >I am sure there are more questions but those are my questions to start > >off with. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Now there’s a better way to fax. eFax makes it possible to use your existing email account to send and receive faxes. Try eFax free. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=63 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:145850 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
