[Webdev] Web Hosting

[Adam Beecher]

Robert,

Peer-to-peer rather than supplier to consumer. And note that there's no conflict
of interest here - I don't do dedicated machines (yet), and I doubt I'll ever do
co-location. Just honest feedback, tell me to get stuffed if you want.

> Would anyone have their box hosted by a cybercafe, even one that promised the
> physical security of the box?
>
While I would much prefer to have my box sitting somewhere in Ireland - which as
you know is close to impossible - the comparison when it comes to security just
doesn't stand up. Most of these multi-million [currency] NOC's have *serious*
security measures - the server room is underground and monitored around the
clock, and entry is only possible through multiple protection systems - keypad,
card-entry, and of course more advanced methods.

Of course, serious security isn't always required, but you would have to target
your market very accurately, and make no pretensions about the security level.
If people want to store personal data or - god forbid - credit card data on
their machine, you should simply tell them that they *can't*, rather than
telling them it's at their own risk. Particularly with the new policies Visa
(and so MasterCard, *koff* antitrust) will be bringing on this year, namely,
"Your machine better be secure, or else".

So the answer to that is, "Maybe (very maybe :) a personal server, but nothing
else." So it seems like a pretty small market. And I'm not sure that you could
compete on price with the UK and/or the US. "Compete" is probably even an
understatement - with the cost of bandwidth in Ireland, "come close" would
probably be a better term.

> Would they be happy with the fact that their box was sharing a 512K leased
> line with 40 (or more) PCs? (The line capacity may go up to a meg some
> time soon).
>
Not me anyway, not even for a personal box. Again, we're down to comparison - my
server in the US is sitting on a 100 megabit LAN, which in turn sits on 4 OC48
pipes from 4 different providers. That's a hell of a lot of pipe - 5.2 gigabits
all-in. I haven't an idea what my machine in the UK is connected to, but I know
it's pretty fast for the UK. 512k is quite a lot for a cybercafe, granted - some
of the cafe's that I know on are basically using dual-ISDN - but it's still not
a whole lot. Even a megabit ain't a whole lot, particularly if the cybercafe is
busy. In all honesty, I don't think I'd be happy with either, if it was my box.

> Assuming anyone was willing to pay for such a service, what sort of funky
> services would be expected as part of the package?
>
Errah, what can you offer really? Free reboots? Big discounts for a year in
advance? The only important thing here is SUPPORT. Support, support, support -
24 hours at WORST.

> And, of course, what would be a *reasonable* fee for such a service
> be? I've no desire to overcharge (not to mention undercharge) anyone.
>
Can't answer that anyway - I have no idea how much co-location costs.

HTH,
adam