I am in the midst of writing a budget for a website & I was wondering what I might need to run a membership organisation website. Like routers & servers & such. If people have a rough estimate on costs & can plug that in that would be great & appreciated.
Basically, I need to compile a list of things I would need to run the website from a home or small office location.
Could you explain the ISP machine a bit more please?
There's actually a few options:
1. You go for a normal hosting package, where the ISP says 'we'll give you this much space, with these features (database, PHP, etc), for so many $ a month. All you need to do is upload your files and you're all working. You get the ISP's good quality backup, bandwidth and reliability. Example: 75%+ of websites.
2. You go for an advanced hosting package, where the ISP dedicates a larger proportion of a server they own (maybe 25% of it) to your use. This generally gets fairly expensive, but you get much more control of programs that are installed, and a faster server. Example: National mail order company.
3. You go for a co-hosting package, where you install a server you own in the ISP's office and connect it to their network. You'll get total control over your server, and it will be plugged into their fast network. Example: Small multi-national company.
I am in the midst of writing a budget for a website & I was wondering what I might need to run a membership organisation website. Like routers & servers & such. If people have a rough estimate on costs & can plug that in that would be great & appreciated.
Basically, I need to compile a list of things I would need to run the website from a home or small office location.
THanks in advance!
You need to do a LOT more research before attempting any type of budget -
bandwidth: the amount of info that is transmitted over the net (every page that is served, every upload, etc uses bandwidth. more costs more. the busier the site the more you need. this may run $3,000 and up per month)
UNIX or Windows server? UNIX is cheaper, but if you are doing much programming, then Windows will be easier. Based upon your question(s), you will not be doing any programming. So you will need someone for this task. Figure 1 full time pro at $70,000 a year, more or less depending upon your geographic location.
Servers/routers/modems/etc - this goes back to bandwidth. I have a cable modem connection. My ISP (interntet service provider) does not allow me to run a server from my house - unless i pay them for a business account. Win XP and even 98 have server capabilities - see www.no-ip.com for more info on this. After about 5 or 10 simultaneous users though, my 'server' would likely overload and 'crash'.
In theory, you could get 2 IP addresses to your house, and with 2 routers hook up a couple of hundred computers. You would need something to coordinate all this (software wise) and no doubt 1/2 of the hardware would be for back up, and maybe more for development.
This is why you would 'rent' space on someone else's server (there are tons of this on the net - see www.domaindirect.com for some info) - you use their servers, they do the backup and hardware end of things, and possibly some programming or you could still hire someone or perhaps a consultant. the more bandwidth you use, the more you pay - kind of like cell phone minutes. Who ever you currently use for your internet connection may do this - call them and ask.
As for the software that runs on this site ( or any of the hundred other SIG sites such as //www.fujimugs.com/, //www.clubhotrod.com/, //fujigroup.net/forum/, //www.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1012 etc) that one is something i know nothing about.
Seems to me like people are making this out to be TOO hard.
You just need an internet connection (depends on how muchyou FEEL your "web site" will need)... T1 business class $300-500 a month...
Build a computer with Server 2003 on it...consfigure your IIS to point to the directory where your "web site" is s housed..and thats it.
Now if you wanna take payment for something..you need to buy a merchant account somewher..or write a customer application for credit card processing..along with encryption..etc..etc..etc...
Make sure you read up abotu IIS security..along with ROUTER security...maybe VPN if necessary.....
I am in the midst of writing a budget for a website & I was wondering what I might need to run a membership organisation website. Like routers & servers & such. If people have a rough estimate on costs & can plug that in that would be great & appreciated.
Basically, I need to compile a list of things I would need to run the website from a home or small office location.
THanks in advance!
I run one at my house. I use Linux (Redhat 9.0) ADSL connection with 16 static IP address (called a subnet) and regestered domain name. That's all you need really. You don't need 16 address but you will need a static IP. Linux is great and has all the things you need to run a server and the best part of it it's free. I run WEB server, Mail server (POP3, SMTP, IMAP), DHCP for my other computers in the house, Time server, Proxy server, FTP, Telnet and much more. It is lot of work though and if you plan to have a lot of traffic you may need something more. I run a small Photography business and this is all I need and it is a great deal of fun also but that's just me. Others may think it is a real pain to do all of this stuff.
