Web Hosting

[Derek Broughton]

Knapp wrote:

> Just a fun idea but you could host it yourself. All you need is:
> Free DNS, I use them: http://www.dyndns.com/about/
> but there are others.
> server, for a small computer lighttpd seems good.

I'm going to hate myself in the morning, but I agree...

I should explain :-)  I live off-grid, so I don't actually have the
resources to run a 24/7 server - either electricity or Internet access. 
And while I don't like the idea of anybody running any electrical device
24/7 because of the waste of energy, it's quite possible that a person
running their own small and well-designed server can do it for less energy
waste than some large hosting company (_they_ don't care about the resource
use - they're going to bill their customers for it, anyway).

> Maybe a database for fancy websites? Small one is sqlight

lite, isn't it?  I can't remember how many 'l's.

> Maybe you want something fancy for your site? Try Django to make a
> fancy website fast (you need to know a bit for this, mostly python).

Plone.

> Want something bigger try postgreSQL with apache2 and Django.

Postgresql is not very big for what you get.  I do a lot of SQL development,
and I can't believe the difference between trying to do anything in Oracle
and the same in Postgre.  I am sure there are points at which Postgre
becomes too small for the job, but it isn't anything I work with!

> Disadvantages are that your site is only on when your computer is
> online. Your internet provider might not like it, but in many cases
> they don't really care (even if they say they do, your risk) if it is
> just you and a few friends hitting the site. 

Yes.  Some ISPs (my satellite provider included) can prevent you getting
incoming connections, but the cable providers don't usually, and won't care
as long as it isn't a high-bandwidth user or commercial.
-- 
derek