[thelist] Self-serve

[Daniel J. Cody]

elkay wrote:

> "We will not be requiring hosting services, I will want it to reside on my
> local server. We have a DSL Internet connection running at 144K and would
> want the site to operate efficiently for customers. In addition, we would

If they want it to operate efficiently for customers, they shouldn't
have it on a DSL line.(and as that 144K(1.4Mbs) or 144k(14.4Kbs(not to
be confused with 1.4Kps which is a 14.4bps modem :) )) speed?) Now that
I've thourghouly confused you, lemme tell you why DSL isn't good for
hosting purposes. The speed they're being quoted isn't a true(lets just
go withthe high end) 1.4Mbs connection. You may, at 4am in the morning,
achieve a download speed of greated than 1Mbs. However, that spead will
be limited when the ISP you're going through has its own traffic
spikes(normal users, other DSL users). Although you may be getting
1.5Mbs to the ISP, from there on out, its limited to what amount of
bandwidth that ISP has and how much you're sharing with other customers.

Bandwith aside, DSL isn't guaranteed to have a static IP address. It
often can and does, but can be changed at the whim of the ISP. That
said, name resolution(DNS) also becomes an issue. If I wanted to host
foo.com on my DSL line at home, not only do I have to maintain a DNS
server of my own, I also have to make sure that www.foo.com points to
the IP address that my ISP has assigned me this month(for example). If
that IP address changes, you have to change your DNS server to point to
the new IP address. In the meantime(about 6 - 24 hours) no one else on
the Internet will be able to find www.foo.com

Further, most ISP's have some sort of policy about running commercial
websites on your DSL line. They often offer hosting as a service
themselves, and its more money they can get off customers, so why let
them have it for free?(not that i'm agreeing with them, but the fact
remains)

Security is also in the hands of your client as well then. I'm assuming
they're not a security expert, yet they'll have to have a good
understanding of security and the Internet if they want to host their
own site. What if the power goes out? Does your client have a couple
uninteruptable power supplies for their servers?

Lastly, and sorry for rambling :), is quality of service. The ISP can
simply say, 'we are taking customer DSL access down between 5 and 9 am
on Sunday for maintence' and basically, you're hosed. Most cable service
is flakey at times, DSL isnt any better. What if a tree falls on your
telephone wires? All are worst case scenerios, but they're scenerious
none-the-less.

> like to provide customer access to our SQL 7.0 database. They should be able
> to view their order information and submit new orders that we can verify
> then ship on.  Security is a major concern..."

Thats kind of an oxymoron. No one that has a concern, let alone a
'major' one, would sit a SQL Server box on an unprotected DSL line. 
Thats a script kiddies dream come true.

Oh, and I'm still assuming you meant 144K - if they only have a 144k
line it just wont happen. Thats filling the line with 4 33.6 dialup
customers downloading.

Sorry if thats not what you were looking for, hopefully it helps a bit
:)

.djc.