Running own servers

[Brian Clapper]

On 21 December, 2004, at 23:12 (-0500)
RL <rlurman at gmail.com> wrote:

> What's the most popular option? Is it buying a business DSL or T1
> service or is it to colocate it?  All of them are pricey. :(

Depending on where you are, you may have other options as well.

I'm in the Philadelphia, PA, area. I have a somewhat non-standard DSL
arrangement that works very well for me. Verizon supplies the wire and the
DSL signal (as well as my local phone service), but I use someone else--a
so-called Verizon partner ISP--as my ISP. My ISP handles all the billing,
and they will give me up to 5 static IP addresses. (I currently use 2.) I
provide my own forward DNS, SMTP and HTTP services. My ISP has no problem
providing me with DNS PTR records for the assigned IPs; doing a "dig -x" on
the address returned for my domain's MX address yields a PTR record that
refers back to my domain. If, for some reason, I want to change the PTR
record, I simply drop them an email; they usually take care of it within in
hour or so. If I want another static IP address, the procedure and
turnaround time are comparable.

There *is* a small price for this extra functionality: I pay about $10-$15
more per month than if I were to go with a "native" Verizon DSL set up. I
pay $44.95/month for 1.5Mbps/384Kbps ADSL. For native Verizon, a
month-to-month plan is $34.95/mo, and a plan with a 1-year commitment is
$29.95/month. But Verizon will not give me static IPs for that price; the
extra monthly cost is worth it to me.

I have had this arrangment for almost 5 years; 5 years ago, the monthly
cost was higher and the bandwidth was lower. The cost and bandwidth have
only improved over time.

Shop around, if you can. There may be other providers of DSL service in
your area who provide more "enlightened" service options.

Regards,

Brian Clapper, http://www.clapper.org/bmc/