Ask YC: Has anyone run a website on a home server?
10 comments
I've run my personal site (http://www.guydavis.ca) for years over a server at home via a cable modem. However, my ISP will completely clamp down on bandwidth for any real traffic.
For my own "just for fun" project (http://www.babynamemap.com), I wanted to be able to handle more than one visitor at time. :) I'm hosting the RoR app on the cheapest Slicehost VPS for $20/month.
So, if you don't care about many concurrent visitors and decent uptime, then save $20 and host from your home. However, if you actually want the general public to come visit, then get yourself some cheap hosting.
For my own "just for fun" project (http://www.babynamemap.com), I wanted to be able to handle more than one visitor at time. :) I'm hosting the RoR app on the cheapest Slicehost VPS for $20/month.
So, if you don't care about many concurrent visitors and decent uptime, then save $20 and host from your home. However, if you actually want the general public to come visit, then get yourself some cheap hosting.
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I don't know where you shop if you get 8GHz processors, but usually your internet connection will be the limiting factor. In my neighborhood LAN we had a 800 Mhz desktop PC with 256MB RAM and 1GB HDD (!). It ran a Half-Life Dedicated Server, email, a small PHP/MySQL website, an IRC bot, Icecast, Squid and a few other things. The only limiting factor was the HDD.
For the most of startups you'll be doing fine with some old computer, which you may not consider for desktop station. Once you'll start feeling that it's not enough anymore, it's time to think why your startup makes so much traffic and can't pay a hundred for buying a dedicated server for itself.
If you take into account the bathtub curve ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve ) then using a trusty old computer is a very good way to start.
As other posters have said, it's probably a bad idea to run your site from home if there's any chance of seeing a traffic spike. Most ISPs will cut you off at the worst possible moment.
The biggest counter example I know of for a site that started this way and ended up huge is Markus Frind's free dating site, Plenty of Fish.
"I was running the entire site off my home PC and ADSL connection for the first 8 months." (not sure if this is the original site that hosted this interview, but it's the first one Google turned up: http://www.traffick.com/articles/innovators/01-markus-frind.... )
The biggest counter example I know of for a site that started this way and ended up huge is Markus Frind's free dating site, Plenty of Fish.
"I was running the entire site off my home PC and ADSL connection for the first 8 months." (not sure if this is the original site that hosted this interview, but it's the first one Google turned up: http://www.traffick.com/articles/innovators/01-markus-frind.... )
While back at school, with the 4MB/sec connection:
Ran web app from desktop -> ssh reverse proxied through to cheep $20/month ~unlimited bandwidth server. sshfs on desktop so static files that were uploaded go through the desktop and back up to the shared server so they'd get served quickly to users.
Then I got a faster laptop so I decided to run everything but the database off of that. So it was user->shared host->laptop->desktop with database->laptop and all the way back for every request.
Latency wasn't really that bad as long as the shared host was nearby.
Ran web app from desktop -> ssh reverse proxied through to cheep $20/month ~unlimited bandwidth server. sshfs on desktop so static files that were uploaded go through the desktop and back up to the shared server so they'd get served quickly to users.
Then I got a faster laptop so I decided to run everything but the database off of that. So it was user->shared host->laptop->desktop with database->laptop and all the way back for every request.
Latency wasn't really that bad as long as the shared host was nearby.
"Did anything disasterous happen, like a /.ing?"
I once got on the front page of digg with a home server, but it was before that meant a lot of traffic so I think the server actually survived.
I wouldn't recommend it though. Mine was just a hobby site, and running the server was part of the fun. For anything more than that you are better off with professional hosting.
I once got on the front page of digg with a home server, but it was before that meant a lot of traffic so I think the server actually survived.
I wouldn't recommend it though. Mine was just a hobby site, and running the server was part of the fun. For anything more than that you are better off with professional hosting.
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I've done it quite a bit. I don't recommend it generally though. If you're already going to have a machine at home on 24/7 and you have a fast connection and an IP that doesn't change then it's a great way to get started. Just realize that the cost of your electricity will probably not be so much less than a cheap dedicated server (and probably more than a cheap VPS).
If you want to gain some sysadmin knowledge it's probably the single best way to start learning. It's just like having a machine in the shittiest datacenter possible, that just happens to be very conveniently located.
If you want to gain some sysadmin knowledge it's probably the single best way to start learning. It's just like having a machine in the shittiest datacenter possible, that just happens to be very conveniently located.
I was thinking about this earlier today actually, when weighing the options between a VPS or dedicated box. The problem is finding a connection with a decent uplink. The two big ISPs in my area, Comcast and AT&T limit you to 768kbps, and I think both also block port 80.
And as far as I know, getting SDSL or a T1 is gonna set you back a few hundred a month, at which point you're better off getting a dedicated box.
And as far as I know, getting SDSL or a T1 is gonna set you back a few hundred a month, at which point you're better off getting a dedicated box.
Also, it's against the terms of service for basically all ISPs to let you run a server. They'll probably only enforce it, though, when you start getting a lot of traffic -- this means that you'll be turned off right as you are starting to gain traction. That's a bad time to have 404s. Also, what happens if the power flickers? Internet goes down?
Start with a VPS -- even if 30 bucks a month sounds like a big chunk of change, consider your other overhead (rent, groceries, etc). Not a big price to pay for the benefits.
Good luck!
Start with a VPS -- even if 30 bucks a month sounds like a big chunk of change, consider your other overhead (rent, groceries, etc). Not a big price to pay for the benefits.
Good luck!
slicehost.com is the best I've seen for a VPS so far, $20 beginner. They also say they're negotiable on bandwidth starting at $0.30/GB, which is a bonus if you're running a popular blog and for some reason need more than 100GB bandwidth.
As for power, you've always got UPS'.
Internet is the tricky one as all private hosts use redundancies, although I don't see why you couldn't sign up for regular internet and a cable connection.
I've seen a handful of ISPs that let you run a server (or more correctly, don't stop you), although I think most ISPs prohibit it to force you onto business packages (which you can get in your home too).
I know in the Toronto region there is Mountain Cable, which doesn't have anything in their Terms of Service preventing you, and have unlimited bandwidth (From speed tests I've seen, they're faster than Cogeco, and get an upload speeds in the 1+MB/s range). I think you've just got to settle with DynDNS, however from what I've read this is reccomended for static IP's too. If you did have two ISPs then this would solve the IP problem when you switch.
I'm actually considering going with Mountain Cable anyway as they're cheaper than Cogeco. Although their lack of information on their website freaks me out; I mean their service area map isn't even online. (Edit: They do have a service area map for their internet, however they apparently provide service outside of the area)
As for power, you've always got UPS'.
Internet is the tricky one as all private hosts use redundancies, although I don't see why you couldn't sign up for regular internet and a cable connection.
I've seen a handful of ISPs that let you run a server (or more correctly, don't stop you), although I think most ISPs prohibit it to force you onto business packages (which you can get in your home too).
I know in the Toronto region there is Mountain Cable, which doesn't have anything in their Terms of Service preventing you, and have unlimited bandwidth (From speed tests I've seen, they're faster than Cogeco, and get an upload speeds in the 1+MB/s range). I think you've just got to settle with DynDNS, however from what I've read this is reccomended for static IP's too. If you did have two ISPs then this would solve the IP problem when you switch.
I'm actually considering going with Mountain Cable anyway as they're cheaper than Cogeco. Although their lack of information on their website freaks me out; I mean their service area map isn't even online. (Edit: They do have a service area map for their internet, however they apparently provide service outside of the area)
I hosted half a dozen low traffic websites at home with a very old pentium III with 64 mb of RAM, running FreeBSD 5.3 (that was a while ago) and apache. We had a DSL with a fixed IP.
FreeBSD did a very nice job at distributing the load. The machine was always responsive.
We throw it away when moving out.
I've been interested for a while, as a 'just for fun' project, and I'd like to hear how difficult it is to do. Is it actually a possibility if you run a low/medium traffic website?