Server at home

[Richard Esplin]

When I considered running a server at home, I decided instead to lease a 
linode (www.linode.com). The linode costs me about $20 a month, which at the 
time was less than the difference between my slow DSL (Qwest's cheapest 
product is about $25 a month), and a cable modem or high speed DSL (about $50 
a month). The costs are still pretty comparable. I get all the nicieties of a 
data center, such as a fat pipe and rare outages; though the provider does 
take the node down for maintenance about once a quarter. I really enjoy not 
having to worry about hardware failures and the associated expense. Since I 
am not hosting a server in my home, having a slow connection there doesn't 
bother me as much.

As a disclaimer, if I can get my neighbor to split the connection with me I 
still might upgrade my home DSL to the fast connection. If I do so, I'll 
reconsider the expense of keeping a linode once my lease is up next June.

Just another perspective.

Richard Esplin


On Friday 04 March 2005 12:34, Thad Van Ry wrote:
> Okay, now that we all know the pluses and minuses of hosting a server
> on your own. :) I have a different question aimed at those of you who
> host your "hobby" website/e-mail servers at your house. I'm curious as
> to what ISP you use. Also mode of connection. (i.e. DSL, T1 (at
> home?), Wireless, or Cable) I'd also like to know what happens to your
> e-mail when/if your internet connection drops off. Do you have
> multiple mail exchange records at different places? Remember this is
> about a hobby/family server. Not business servers. Not mission
> critical stuff.
> Thanks.
> Thad