Setting up a Small Business
For a long time I have had this dream of having my own small business. I want to provide open source software and services. I can not give out too many details, as I have already had who I thought was going to be my business partner, go off and build the same site. Now, Is it best if I make a server? What do I need to do to build a server? I have not dealt with Servers before. Can any of you other guys with experience in this help out? What would be the best OS for a server?
I'm sorry, but there is no way possible to answer that question with the amount of details you provided. A server is simply something that provides a service. You can use your Ipod as a server, should you feel like it. The hardware you are going to need is completely dependent on the type of services it will be providing, and the load it will be under for providing those services. Generally, Linux is used for servers almost without exception, but beyond that I can't give any recommendations with the details you gave us.
The best OS for your server is dependable on the services and software you want to offer and run. I don't think you should be afraid of anybody stealing your idea right here, at least be a bit more detailed. Because now I have no fucking idea what you're going to do.
And if I'm correct, you had a business partner, but he ditched you and goes working on his own? If so, did you happen to think of "why" he did that?
There are basically three routes you can take.
One, you buy a web hosting package from an online service, and begin building your site from there. You'll have access to plenty of tools and scripting languages, and will be able to spend more of your time actually working on the business end of your product. This is the simplest, cheapest, and probably the option you want to take.
Two, you go for a virtual private server. This will get past most limitations from a basic web hosting package, and will enable you to login with a shell, reboot, update, install whatever you want, have root access, bind other ports, whatever. Also more expensive than the basic web package, but you get a lot more control and will still be online quickly.
Three, you use your own server. Unless you know you need it, you probably don't. It is the most complicated to set up and host from, and your time would probably be better spent actually making your site and product than messing around with Linux and Apache. Once your business goes big, maybe consider this option to help handle the load. Just my two cents.
DigitalFire wrote: There are basically three routes you can take.
One, you buy a web hosting package from an online service, and begin building your site from there. You'll have access to plenty of tools and scripting languages, and will be able to spend more of your time actually working on the business end of your product. This is the simplest, cheapest, and probably the option you want to take.
Two, you go for a virtual private server. This will get past most limitations from a basic web hosting package, and will enable you to login with a shell, reboot, update, install whatever you want, have root access, bind other ports, whatever. Also more expensive than the basic web package, but you get a lot more control and will still be online quickly.
Three, you use your own server. Unless you know you need it, you probably don't. It is the most complicated to set up and host from, and your time would probably be better spent actually making your site and product than messing around with Linux and Apache. Once your business goes big, maybe consider this option to help handle the load. Just my two cents.
Without knowing what you need a server for, i agree with above and would pick point 1 or 2. If you plan to have a "real" company you don’t want downtime. And with a home setup, I guaranty you will have some downtime. And no offence, but if you don’t know much about servers, you don’t wanna host yourself. ;)
what you need to know are few basic things … 1- how much space you need. 2- what OS could run the site (ASP needs windows as an example). 3- what is the approximate load on the server it self wither by visits or by memory/cpu usage by your softwares/website. 4 the need for extra control over the server/website in other forms than http/ftp cpanel related (SSH, run custom services, add extra programs to the server …. and so on).
in general and for common small websites a shared web hosting would do the trick, but if you mean by open source projects things like perl, python, C programs/scripts and you need them to run on the server, a V-Server or a dedicated server is better as shared hosting has alot of limitations.
you could also host it on your own server (own pc) and that is a great idea if you know your way around things, but keep in mind that the downtime would be greater and you should check wither your internet connection is fast and will not let you down.
you could PM me for any help regarding that issue as i have thought of the same and tried all of the options one way or another :)