servers

Discussion in 'Networks' started by zxspectrum, Sep 8, 2009.

  1. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    Im thinking of buying a server, to put in my flat so that i could host a site. The site would be like ebay in a sense, people buying and selling etc, but id be undercutting ebay a lot. Anyway just would like a pointer in where to start, like what sort of server should i opt for, spec wise what should i go for as a minimum etc.

    I dont know why i want to do this, but its been eating at me, i mainly think it cos of the pissing about on ebay, through fee charges etc, but overall i think it would be a great learning curve for me, and id get to tinker with stuff, which is what i like doing??

    Ed
     
    Certifications: BSc computing and information systems
    WIP: 70-680
  2. zimbo
    Honorary Member

    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    First of all have you thought about how the this site will work first? Before you go and shell out on expensive servers and what nots I suggest you get a pc and install Apache on top of a Linux Distro and get a web page going first. People are going to want to sell stuff - you going to have to implement an SSL webpage (that is a mission and a half securing sockets in Java - I dread to know how it is in HTML) for payments - then im sure you going to buy some sort of licence of for secure payments? Ebay wasnt built in a day.. but seriously if you want to setup your own webpage ( to get the monkey off your back!) do something simple so you can learn from and leave the Ebay stuff to 50 or so programmers who can do this stuff with their eyes closed! :biggrin

    Try this link:
    http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_lamp_for_newbies
    It installs whats called a LAMP setup (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - now those are three separate "components" you would need to learn
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2009
    Certifications: B.Sc, MCDST & MCSA
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  3. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    Cheers for the link zimbo

    Been looking on ebay and servers are pretty cheap, but ill have a bash with that link you gave me cheers

    Ed
     
    Certifications: BSc computing and information systems
    WIP: 70-680
  4. UKDarkstar
    Honorary Member

    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    Have you thought about bandwidth ? Your ISP may not be able to provide for you on a "home" adsl connection.

    You would be better of rentinga hosting package somewhere like http://uk.layershift.com who can also deal with the SSL side of things etc.
     
    Certifications: BA (Hons), MBCS, CITP, MInstLM, ITIL v3 Fdn, PTLLS, CELTA
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  5. Shinigami

    Shinigami Megabyte Poster

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    The above gave me a slight chuckle :wink:

    Yeah, servers can be had on ebay for a decent price. Are you really looking for a "true" 1U, 2U or higher server? Be aware that these things warm up a fair bit and can make quite a bit of noise. You could be better off buying one of the standup servers instead. They may not have quite the same redundancy, but they're more "desktop" like in configuration.

    Have you thought about just getting a laptop instead? Reason I say this is that you can get a decent second hand laptop which can do the same thing, but takes less space, uses less electricity, and has a keyboard, mouse and screen all-in-one making it easier to just set and forget (primarily for development purposes of course... you wouldn't want this to run a major datawarehouse for your operation needs once things grow).

    Anyway, if you want to beat ebay at their own game, don't forget that you may need to aim pretty high, they're not exactly small anymore. It can be fun trying of course, but once you begin to count in the bandwidth costs, advertising your site (making people realise its there), paying for electricity, and then expanding your business, you'll figure out why ebay charges what it does for the priviledge of making business with them.

    Good luck and enjoy!

    (and don't give up, even if my message may seem a bit negative, just trying to look out for you)
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2009
    Certifications: MCSE, MCITP, MCDST, MOS, CIW, Comptia
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  6. supernova

    supernova Gigabyte Poster

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    I would look at a "Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) also know as Virtual Private Server (VPS)" service

    then use a dedicated server co-located at a provider if your project takes off.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2009
    Certifications: Loads
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  7. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    Cheers for the input guys

    Luckily i have a desktop sitting around and a spare laptop as well. I think oill opt to use the desktop as its prretty power ful, 4 gig ram, 650 hd and amd quad core, dont know why i bought it really, i still always go for the laptop im on for my needs

    Ed
     
    Certifications: BSc computing and information systems
    WIP: 70-680

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