DSL, static IP addresses, and computer servers

[n2ize]

Static Ip is only nessesary... if you need it. If you plan on running a daemon that needs to hold onto a fixed address 24/7/52/365/ year after year then static is worth it. If you only need access to the daemon on occasionally (i.e. not critical) then you might be able to get away with a dynamic ip using Dyn DNS or something similar.

Case and point, I occasionally have enabled a few people access to a daemon on my server by simply giving them my current ip address + daemon port. Unless I shutdown my router for a few hours the dynamic ip lease (allocated via DHCP) stays the same for months on end (or unless I or Verizon changes it).

Every now and then it will get bounced and I'll get a new lease, but that happens maybe 1 or 2 times a year. Not enough to cause any noticeable problems. Then there is always Dynamic DNS.

Also, check your providers service. Often providers will block incoming traffic into standard ports on non-commercial accounts, (like port 80, 25, 110, etc.) For example Vz blocks incoming traffic on port 80. So, if I wanted to give someone access to Apache I'd have to put it on a nonstandard port. In some instances this may be a royal PITA. Also , as suggested above, check your TOS. Some providers may piss and moan if they suddenly see large amounts of incoming traffic on a non-commercial account.

[n6hcm]

Will 1.5Mbps be fast enough?

typically residential DSL is ADSL (where the A stands for Asymetric), so your download bandwidth will be higher than your upload bandwidth. your upload bandwidth will be the upper limit on how fast internet users will be able to get data from your servers. if your blog is low-traffic and you don't have that many readers (and your content is small) then this will be fine, but if you get popular then this will suck big-time.

it sounds like 99main is aiming exactly at consumers like you propose to be ... there is a big difference between providing content and running the infrastructure--most content providers choose, wisely, not to run their own infrastructure for a variety of reasons ... the most important reason, imho, is security: each service you offer this way is, essentially, inviting the public into your home. want to run more services--you're increasing your risk. crackers run software that "walk" through the internet probing hosts which answer at IP numbers for open ports ... once they've identified the open ports (many of which will be on well-known port numbers) the crackers will try to intrude using techniques that are appropriate for the services which are usually open on those ports ...

so: think small now and see how you feel about it all. start with using Dynamic DNS http://www.dyndns.com/ ... sign up for the free service. it's easy to use and, of course, the price is right. this will give you a host name that will (most of the time) map to your dynamic IP address and give you the basis for establishing services that could be used from the internet.

you want a blog site? start at blogspot, blogger, or somewhere similar and see how you feel about keeping a blog in a few months. can you really run a better web server/email server/... than someone who does this for a living?

keep control of the right stuff: make sure you can make changes to your domain name registration and dns service whenever you need to and you can repoint services/names at will.

ok--i've rambled enough.

[N1LAF]

typically residential DSL is ADSL (where the A stands for Asymetric), so your download bandwidth will be higher than your upload bandwidth. your upload bandwidth will be the upper limit on how fast internet users will be able to get data from your servers. if your blog is low-traffic and you don't have that many readers (and your content is small) then this will be fine, but if you get popular then this will suck big-time.

it sounds like 99main is aiming exactly at consumers like you propose to be ... there is a big difference between providing content and running the infrastructure--most content providers choose, wisely, not to run their own infrastructure for a variety of reasons ... the most important reason, imho, is security: each service you offer this way is, essentially, inviting the public into your home. want to run more services--you're increasing your risk. crackers run software that "walk" through the internet probing hosts which answer at IP numbers for open ports ... once they've identified the open ports (many of which will be on well-known port numbers) the crackers will try to intrude using techniques that are appropriate for the services which are usually open on those ports ...

so: think small now and see how you feel about it all. start with using Dynamic DNS http://www.dyndns.com/ ... sign up for the free service. it's easy to use and, of course, the price is right. this will give you a host name that will (most of the time) map to your dynamic IP address and give you the basis for establishing services that could be used from the internet.

you want a blog site? start at blogspot, blogger, or somewhere similar and see how you feel about keeping a blog in a few months. can you really run a better web server/email server/... than someone who does this for a living?

keep control of the right stuff: make sure you can make changes to your domain name registration and dns service whenever you need to and you can repoint services/names at will.

ok--i've rambled enough.

Thank you for most excellent post! You hit on things that I had not yet thought about. Anything I do would be personal, and static IP would not be necessary, such as have my home bound server post a blind page linking back to its current IP, and anytime the IP changed, it can update that blind page to my site on another host. Feel free to ramble, I learned a few things in the process.