[plug] DIY hosting - worth it?

[Gavin Chester]

DIY hosting - is it worth it?  

There are a lot of pros and cons to running your own web server at home,
so I'm hoping that initiating this thread will evoke a lot of opinions
both ways from those that have actually done it/doing it here in WA :-)

I can think of some pitfalls:  need for dedicated box with UPS, chewing
power having it 'on' all the time, constantly checking its logs,
hardening its security, etc.  Other than the technical challenge of it
all, the reason I am thinking about hosting my own web site (or three)
is to have greater freedom and control.  Another factor in favour is the
cost savings involved from being able to host my 15 domain names,
instead of having to park them at registrars ATM.  It is uneconomical to
have them hosted commercially when the business concepts for which they
were registered are still in development.

One factor mitigating against home hosting is that I have _terrible_
phone down-times.  They don't give a toss about servicing us, being
classed as remote regional here in Dwellingup.  For example. twice this
year I have had faults that took _SEVEN_ days to be repaired, and would
have been more if I wasn't agitating them all the time.  In that event,
I have read that some commercial hosts offer a mirroring service - I
presume that would takeover when my server was 'offline' due to phone
faults.  Other ways around this is that I've considered the greater
reliability of two-way satellite - albeit at greater cost.  Anyone have
experience of either of those things.

Another factor to consider is speed.  Is the DSL 512KB service the
minimum?  Or, would 256KB be enough?  I expect very low traffic.  I was
going to tinker with VOIP also and have read that 512KB is the minimum
for good quality IP calls.

There's a lot to be considered there.  I hope some have the time to
write of their own experiences and with their advice.

OH, and did I mention ... I have practically NO money with which to do
this ;-)

Gavin