What would you need to get into web serving?

[KDOG]

If I get a bonus from work, I thought of maybe uses it as a business opportunity instead of spending it. I was think of creating a mega capacity file/web server. I would get 2 decent cases with good power supplies (Antec TruPower 430s) and 8 of the WD 250GB hard drives in redundant RAID for 2 Terabyte of storage. I would need 2 motherboards with RAID support, onboard video since it wont be used for anything but serving, and I'll just hook them up to a cheapo 15 or 17 in. CRT thru a switch box. Of course I'll need a TON of memory how does 2-3gig for each machine sound? DDR400? Also a couple of good backup powersupplies and a regular CDROM for each rig. I suppose I would of course need either MS Server OS or Linux for each one as well.

BUt how does a person get started "renting out" server space? What are the major hoops and hurdles? Just curious. Want to explore my options....

 

[EmperorIQ]

might want to try 4 gigs of ram, and do you have a back up system, to back up the data incase the hard drives go bad?

i know nothing about servers, but I was talking to my boss about the server in our computer lab and he said he has 4 gigs of ram.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

good luck on that Tex....

 

[ghostman]

What about bandwidth?

 

[KDOG]

Oh you know what, I boo-boo ed in my description. I would split/copy the data (somehow) between the 2 rigs, so really I'd have 1 terabyte of data x 2, that would be the "redundancy."

4Gigs, huh. What mobo supports 4gig of ram? Is speed more important of size? Could I get away with using DDR333 instead of DDR400 if I'm using MORE ram?

Oh yeah, I'm on comcast cable as far as bandwidth. I suppose I'd need to open a business account with them...

 

[new2AMD]

or buy a t1 from the phone company (or whoever provides them in your area)

 

[MrScott81]

why not just get a dedicated server...they'll provide you with all the hardware and bandwidth for one fee...buying your own hardware and supplying your own bandwidth is not fun...especially the bandwidth part...even if you upgrade to their business plan, the upload is slow...

and about the t1, it would cost much less to just use a dedicated server rather than run a t1 to his house..t1 would be AT LEAST $300/month.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: MrScott81
why not just get a dedicated server...they'll provide you with all the hardware and bandwidth for one fee...buying your own hardware and supplying your own bandwidth is not fun...especially the bandwidth part...even if you upgrade to their business plan, the upload is slow...

and about the t1, it would cost much less to just use a dedicated server rather than run a t1 to his house..t1 would be AT LEAST $300/month.

Wow, T1 prices have come down, a lot. I remember when they were into the thousands a month for a T1 line.

 

[Crazymofo]

Comcast wont let you host sh|t on their network even with a biz account...

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: KDOG
Oh you know what, I boo-boo ed in my description. I would split/copy the data (somehow) between the 2 rigs, so really I'd have 1 terabyte of data x 2, that would be the "redundancy."

4Gigs, huh. What mobo supports 4gig of ram? Is speed more important of size? Could I get away with using DDR333 instead of DDR400 if I'm using MORE ram?

Oh yeah, I'm on comcast cable as far as bandwidth. I suppose I'd need to open a business account with them...

I can't see doing a business like that on Cable's bandwidth.

Overall, it's a saturated market -- you stand to make more by applying yourself in the hosting market. There's money to be made, but it isn't easy.

Rob

 

[KDOG]

BAH!! Damn. Any suggestions otherwise? If I can't do that, I'll be forced to build my dream machine1

 

[DaveSimmons]

There are 10,000 other people with similar ideas, look at how many junky little hosting "companies" there are, most of whom go bankrupt (or just disappear) within 6 months of startup.

Take some of your money and build that box for yourself if you want, then take $3K of it and put it into a Roth IRA (as long as your income is under $100K). You can fund a Roth even if you have a company 401k and it grows tax-free. www.Vanguard.com and their VFINX are good choices.

 

[KDOG]

Or I could buy some Google stock when it becomes available. Well, I can take some of the money and build a nice file/HTPC server, upgrade my rig something furious, and put the rest away...

 

[NightCrawler]

You can get "real" hosting today with major bandwidth. They also have dedicated servers for pretty cheap so this is a really bad idea.