amuck-landowner

So, I got a 14U server rack that fits in my closet...

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shovenose

New Member
Verified Provider
Next step is to put something in it. I would not use this for anything important nor would I sell these under the ShoveHost name. Basically just dirt cheap dedicated servers. Strictly unmanaged, of course. Heck, I wouldn't even pay for WHMCS - just use something free for the 9 servers I'd be selling.

Here's my idea:

-1U (well, not really) Comcast Business IP Gateway

-1U 48-port managed switch (already have)

-6x Atom 1U Supermicro short servers with dual core atom, 4GB RAM, and 32GB SSD

-3x Intel i3 short servers. I've already got the components for the first one, i3-2100, MicroATX mobo, 4GB RAM, power supply, 500GB HDD, just need a 2U case and that is cheap. I can get more of those parts.

Now, would you pay $20/month for those atoms?

And $40 for one of those i3 servers? Perhaps $60 with a 1TB HDD and 8GB RAM and a slightly better i3? Might not be the best place to ask since a lot of people here are from LowEndTalk and thus notoriously unreasonably cheap, but I'm confident I can get some answers here.

Unmetered shared bandwidth with a fair use policy - don't hog the whole connection 24/7. I'd have one of the fastest Comcast business plan, which is 100Mbps down, 20mbps up, but in my experience with other people having that you get more than that. Each server would include 1 IP.

Just brainstorming, nothing set in stone. Might just scrap the idea of selling services out of it and use it for personal hosting with a couple of the i3 servers if nobody is interested.

I found a way to buy 6 new old stock APC 1200VA UPSs for $20 each and 1 used but with new batteries APC 1500VA UPS for slightly more, plus my old APC 1500VPS UPS, so that would provide the power. Quite a bit of it, in fact, so if the power goes out here (which it's only done once in the more than I year I've lived here) the servers could stay up for quite a long time before there are any issues.

When/if I move out into my own place I'll simply take the rack with me, have a "planned network maintenance", and take 50% off that month. Would be fair.
 
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HalfEatenPie

The Irrational One
Retired Staff
Maybe you should also add if people would get dedicated IP or if it'd be NATed or something.  Looks interesting at least!  
 

shovenose

New Member
Verified Provider
Maybe you should also add if people would get dedicated IP or if it'd be NATed or something.  Looks interesting at least!  
Yeah, each dedicated server would come with 1 dedicated IP. Thanks! My friend who is Cisco certified and lives nearby would set up the network to make sure it's done right, so no worries on that. Also, forgot to add that I'm in Fairfax, California, if location matters. 
 
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SkylarM

Well-Known Member
Verified Provider
So you want to host clients out of a Closet? Who in their right mind would ever pay for that?
 

clarity

Active Member
The upload speed is too low to be shared with that number of servers. You are talking about 2mbps per server not including what you use at your home. 
 

qps

Active Member
Verified Provider
I wouldn't count on Comcast being very agreeable to allowing you to use your connection for hosting servers.  They don't intend their connections to be used like this - they are intended for web browsing.
 

365Networks

New Member
laughing-lol-crazy-l.png
 
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clarity

Active Member
I wouldn't count on Comcast being very agreeable to allowing you to use your connection for hosting servers.  They don't intend their connections to be used like this - they are intended for web browsing.
He says that he has the business plan. They are a little more flexible on that.
 

shovenose

New Member
Verified Provider
Its in a closet, He can just shut the door and theyll eventually shut down due to thermal protection. :) Easy way to shut down your servers if you have them laying in a closet.
True. But Atoms and i3 servers with decently efficient power supplies and single SSDs or hard drives, don't use much power and thus don't create much heat. The atom servers can run fanless or at least minimum fan speed so I'm not too worried about noise.
 
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manacit

New Member
9 servers sharing 20mbit up (and 100mbit down for that matter), hosted in a closet on Comcast business? And you think anyone is going to pay $60 per month?? 

L O L
 

Aldryic C'boas

The Pony
The logistics here don't seem to have been planned out at all.  To break it down:

Power: Your parents would be pissed to see their electric bill with that gear running.  Even if you live on your own, the electric costs would be far more than you could make from trying to sell out the gear.

Heat: You want to put this in a closet?  I have a small rack in my office that runs most of our networking, VoIP, and misc network storage at Coke.  And even this small bit of gear puts out enough heat that my office has it's own dedicated A/C unit to keep things cool.  Closets have zero air flow.

Noise: Pretty obvious.  And if your plan on eliminating noise is to 'close the door', then see the above.

Redundancy (Power): You would need fairly massive APC units, since generators are obviously out of the question.  These tie right back into my first point.  The alternative is _not_ having backup power, in which case any time your house has an outage, all this gear goes offline.  I hope you like fscking.

Redundancy (Network): A single business line?  Absurd.  Residential/"Business" ISPs are finicky at the BEST of times.  Not only will you likely never be able to deliver what you promise on network speeds, but you'd be very lucky to actually hit 90%+ uptime any given month.

This isn't even touching situations such as professional hands-on tech work, parts shipping, or the fact that nobody is going to trust "gear running from my house, yo".  Instead of trying to make a quick buck from it, _maybe_ rack a single 1U and use it for dev/learning.
 

SeriesN

Active Member
Verified Provider
Besides what Aldry said, what would you do when it comes to network attacks? 
 

acd

New Member
Here's my idea: [..]
-6x Atom 1U Supermicro short servers with dual core atom, 4GB RAM, and 32GB SSD

-3x Intel i3 short servers. I've already got the components for the first one, i3-2100, MicroATX mobo, 4GB RAM, power supply, 500GB HDD, just need a 2U case and that is cheap. I can get more of those parts.

Now, would you pay $20/month for those atoms?

And $40 for one of those i3 servers? Perhaps $60 with a 1TB HDD and 8GB RAM and a slightly better i3? Might not be the best place to ask since a lot of people here are from LowEndTalk and thus notoriously unreasonably cheap, but I'm confident I can get some answers here.
My guess is the atom servers are D525 half-racks that you can get on ebay for ~350 fully loaded. Nearest equivalent in north america is twice that price at OVH (bhs), but at least there, you get 5TB and 4 IPs, and they're more than twice the resources at just under twice the price. So maybe if you were low budget and didn't want to pick up a semi-dedicated, that might have some value.

40$ for the i3s, no way; OVH (bhs) is a much better deal even with their crazy network. At 60$/mo, even more no way.

Around 60$/mo, I would start looking at buying and colocating a server because my needs have exceeded "cheap". I would consider fdcservers (40$/mo for 10mbps, but no redundant power and crappy bw mix, don't go there) before I considered your closet/garage/whatever.

Post is provided to reference nearest-priced well-known competitor that isn't in a closet. (ok, you got me, FDC is close to a closet.)
 
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