Servers at home?

I set up old computers lying around my house as servers for development and testing purposes (accessible on internal home network only). I wouldn't run a full-blown production server from my residential internet connection even if I was allowed, because my upload speed is capped to something outrageously low :P
 
hostchecker said:
I think its trouble. People's power goes out several times a year.
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This can be avoided with a generator...
With the right education going into the project of running a server from home has the possibility to be very lucrative. Personally I dont think its worth the effort. Especially with all the affordable options available on the market.
 
In my opinion, It's not worth at all unless you are selling hosting from the server. You need to manage a lot of things to keep the server going good. You need to get a special dedicated line if you want good speed, You need to apply all those software patches, you need to take care of the security ... too much for a lazy webmaster like me.

I would just spend $10 a month and tell my hosting provider to manage all the hassles.

But it would be some good experience to people who want to learn new stuff from time to time.
 
I reside in the UK and have my internet provided through Be, they are possibly the greatest isp in the UK currently. They officially allow you to run your own server in their terms, they allow you to change your sn ratio on your line, apply for interleaving to be turned on/off (greatly affects ping to/from you if your line is good enough to handle it) and I get 2.4meg upload/~18meg download.

I have tested whether this is feasible to run a games server and found it is not. It gave me acceptable pings for some people, but others were awful (all in the UK) This was testing a 14player CSS server.

As a webserver it was acceptable, I was hosting a site getting ~1k hits per day with no problems unless more than one download started at the same time, in which case it all slowed down.

I'd say if you are hosting games, no way you'll do it on standard home broadband, a small webserver is easily feasible so long as its not providing any files. (webpages/images only)

Also although power isnt really a problem in this country (we get maybe 1 power cut per year avg) here you can ebay a decent refurbed 3000va APS for a few hundred quid and that would keep a single server going for several hours without power.
 
In my opinion it isn't worth it. It's a much better idea to go all out for colocation. You are going to get a much better connection as well as a secure location, backup generators etc.
 
Two critcial issues - power outages and the ISP capping bandwidth. You can certainly start from home, but make off server backups regularly.
 
The power and cooling units needed what be tough enough, but you would also have to deal with your ISP and bandwidth needs. It is better to purchase servers at a DC and let them handle the servers. It will be cheaper and less stressfull.
 
To answer your question: it depends on the purpose. If you're planning to use the server to advance your skills in languages like PHP or to test your scripts, then yes, you can run a server at home, preferably on your computer now.

However, having servers and all that at home for a hosting company... not worth it. You should look for a datacenter or some dedicated servers, which will make your life a lot easier.

Having servers maintained by datacenters or dedicated servers will not only make your life a lot easier, but without the need to hire more staff to maintain servers, the cooling systems and all that, you also save money.

So, in short: if its for testing your scripts or learning programming languages, then yup, on your PC you could have a server. For a hosting company, no.
 
Bikster.com said:
So, in short: if its for testing your scripts or learning programming languages, then yup, on your PC you could have a server. For a hosting company, no.
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Highly agreed, home servers and work/network server are usually good for extenal backups (if secured correctly) and the above, i personaly percahsed a quadcore home sever to further my knowledge in php a long while back and it is now currently used along side other newer servers to provide VPN services to my staff that work on both the local network and when not in the office.

but the performance, ignoring the hardware, is pretty poor compared to that of a datacentre due to resedentual and business connections (my area at least) and is not likly to improve for some time yet
 
From what I have read the "friend" is simply trying to test out and learn more about running and configuring a gaming server. If succesful and with intentions of having a server for business use - selling slots on a game server I HIGHLY recommend and frown upon anybody who uses a home based server unless you write that on your web-site and make your customers know. But for what he is doing -- just having a few friends connect and play games that is no different than hosting any multi-player game from home and being the host player. Nothing to worry about and best of luck for personal use. If it gets to the point of business and services offered use the skills and experience from this home test and get yourself a unamanged or semi-managed server.

Good Luck!
 
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