njorgard
First Post
This is all very interesting...
Morrus,
I do alot of work with W2K web-based applications and the architectures that support them. I can tell you that for the price you would be paying to upgrade to that next package you could be getting alot more. I wholeheartedly agree with what die-kluge said about owning your own server. The only thing you would need to worry about then is to protect that server from hackers using a router switch (Linksys offers a few good ones) and a firewall software (BlackICE Defender comes to mind). I don't know your level of technical expertise (nor do I think it should be a topic of discussion in this threat - I think we all value and respect the contribution you have made by owning this site regardless of technical prowess) but I know that there are many companies out there who would be more than glad to provide you all the bandwidth this server requires for about $100 a month. I know there are lots of us in these boards who would be willing to help with the research. I'm also sure the people who own those other websites hosted by this server would be willing to pony-up some time and effort into this endeavor.
Again, I am writng this message basing my calculations on the numbers you have disclossed. You should be able to get a quality server with 1GB RAM, a RAID controller so that you can have 2 mirrored disks using a RAID 1 configuration, and maybe a double processor for about $6,000. The router and the firewall would end up costing around $400. Finally, getting the dedicated IP address through a service provider and registering the domain on a DNS would end up costing you about $1500 for the whole year. The upside is that most of these costs are one-time costs and you end up owning an infrastructure that you can build on.
Just my two cents...
Morrus,
I do alot of work with W2K web-based applications and the architectures that support them. I can tell you that for the price you would be paying to upgrade to that next package you could be getting alot more. I wholeheartedly agree with what die-kluge said about owning your own server. The only thing you would need to worry about then is to protect that server from hackers using a router switch (Linksys offers a few good ones) and a firewall software (BlackICE Defender comes to mind). I don't know your level of technical expertise (nor do I think it should be a topic of discussion in this threat - I think we all value and respect the contribution you have made by owning this site regardless of technical prowess) but I know that there are many companies out there who would be more than glad to provide you all the bandwidth this server requires for about $100 a month. I know there are lots of us in these boards who would be willing to help with the research. I'm also sure the people who own those other websites hosted by this server would be willing to pony-up some time and effort into this endeavor.
Again, I am writng this message basing my calculations on the numbers you have disclossed. You should be able to get a quality server with 1GB RAM, a RAID controller so that you can have 2 mirrored disks using a RAID 1 configuration, and maybe a double processor for about $6,000. The router and the firewall would end up costing around $400. Finally, getting the dedicated IP address through a service provider and registering the domain on a DNS would end up costing you about $1500 for the whole year. The upside is that most of these costs are one-time costs and you end up owning an infrastructure that you can build on.
Just my two cents...
