[olug] Basic cheap local hosting?

[Christopher Cashell]

On Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 7:01 PM, Lou Duchez <lou at paprikash.com> wrote:
> I assume you've got DSL or cable at home; how much to add a static IP
> address?  If static is too pricy, you can always get dynamic DNS thru
> www.dyn.com or elsewhere.

I ran an Internet server from a home connection (using Cable modems or
DSL) for over 10 years.  A little less than 4 years ago, I decided to
try migrating some of the functionality to a VPS (after extensive
research, I tried Linode.com).  About 2 months after I setup the
Linode VPS, I cancelled my business-class cable modem and went to a
normal residential offering.  For me, it dropped my monthly cost by $5
(-$25 for cable modem, +$20 for VPS).

After 10+ years or running it at home, I would not do it again by
choice[0].  The flexibility, performance, availability, convenience,
and price of the VPS solution just wins.  Yes, there are a few
trade-offs (reduced RAM/HDD, vs a home machine), but if you actually
analyze what you really need, a basic VPS is probably plenty.

There's lots of VPS providers out there, but I love Linode[1].  They
very much feel like a company run by engineers (geeks) for engineers
(geeks).  Their service and support is awesome, they continually
increase their features without increasing the cost (I've paid
$20/month since the day I started, and in 4 years, my VPS has gone
from 384MB of RAM to 512MB of RAM, from 12GB of disk to 20GB of disk,
from 100GB/month of included transfer, to 200GB/month of transfer, and
the bandwidth pricing dropped by 33% for outbound, and became free for
inbound).  Oh, and they fully support IPv6, too.


[1] I still have and run a server at home, and it still handles all of
my in-house functionality.  I just moved all public/Internet
accessible services to the Linode VPS.  I also maintain a VPN
connection between the VPS and my home server for flexible and secure
communication to the VPS.
[0] I have no business relationship with Linode beyond being a very
satisfied and happy customer.

-- 
Christopher