Advice and Help

bakoo.net · 6th April 2004

Hey All - I am running an e-business now for just over 1 year from an established business of mine, time has come now where i want a little more integration and features for my customers

I have a 512KBS Upload speed, and 2MB down, i want to be able to run a server on my WinXP Pro machine i use at my shop.

I want to host my website, and it must have SSL, I dont know what webserver will be best? any advice?

I also want to offer all my customers an e-mail address ending in my domain name, this will help with marketing, etc.

For even more marketing i want to offer free hosting to them also, so i am in need of advice of what is the best, or compatible panel on an XP Machine

I am not looking to upgrade to W2K3 as i dont have that type of money to invest, i am looking to spend $800max.

Help would be most appreciated

Karl

4dhosting · 6th April 2004

Don't run it on the end of an ADSL line if you want stabilty and reliability -

M@tt · 6th April 2004

Most ADSL providers also have clauses about hosting commercial websites on personal ADSL connections too.

bakoo.net · 6th April 2004

I have a Business ADSL connection, not a private one, i have already contacted my ISP and asked, thats why i am on here asking for what information i have done as i dont know that much about hosting, but am more than willing to learn. Thanx for the concers, Karl

jonny_b · 6th April 2004

bakoo,

i'd recommend getting a static IP for your site,

also...if it is actually making you money then you're going to want reliability in which case id recommend you get a secondary DSL connection ( even a smaller one ) with a static IP as well and multiplex the 2 connections so you have some redundancy....

If at all possible a DSL line and a cable line to ensure best availability....

you can get a broadband load balancer for about 250 notes.....

Cheers,

Pyralis · 6th April 2004

i would say you're better off with a virtual hosting plan on an established web host, or if you need performance and have money, on a dedicated server.

4dhosting · 6th April 2004

I'd recommend Jonny's advice of a backup connection preferably with a different supplier (or different technology altogether) -

That way your site should say online if your DSL provider happened to have problems.

However you're still left with problems such as what about power outages, power spikes, theft of equipment, and quality of equipment (i.e. Standard desktop machines are not designed to be left online 24*7 serving web sites).

If you can afford it you'd be better off with a dedicated server or buying your own 1U rackmount server (Around £800-1000) for a decent one with RAID arrays for data protection and then colocating with a hosting provider that has UPS, backup power generators, multiple internet connections, etc. - You'll probably also find your site is a lot faster this way since the connection can burst upto the port speed (Usually 100mbps) and not be capped at 256kbps.

Andrew · 6th April 2004

You will definately need at least 1 static ip for what you want, otherwise the SSL wont work. Also what David has said is very true with regards to speed and contingency, after all whats going to happen when either the line dies, or the power cuts? the answer is a downed server, loss of trade and your customers loose confidence (especially if your offering email addresses).
Again, echoing what David has said - colocate with a provider (there are enough on this forum that will probably PM you anyway offering some service), its fairly inexepensive and you get peace of mind and the flexibility to easily run SSL, your email.etc
Just renember that cheapest provider isnt allways the best provider

markcastle · 6th April 2004

XP? Seriously?

4dhosting · 6th April 2004

Doesn't the IIS in XP Pro only support a maximum of 5 concurrent connections?

racksense · 6th April 2004

Doesn't the non-server IIS only support a single site as well?

pelinor · 6th April 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul-Xensia

Doesn't the non-server IIS only support a single site as well?

Am I missing something? What's to stop him running Apache?

Cyberprog · 6th April 2004

I think you're still bound to the windows licensing on 10 concurrent connections.
He'd need to be running server at a minimum for just his website, i think that's permitted, but anything more than that and he'd need to be on SPLA wether he was using apache or not.

pelinor · 7th April 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyberprog

anything more than that and he'd need to be on SPLA wether he was using apache or not.

lol... I typed SPLA into Google to check the terms:
Result #1:

The Sudan People's Liberation Army

markcastle · 7th April 2004

http://www.microsoft.com/serviceprov...nsing/spla.asp
http://www.microsoftspla.com/