At 09:39 AM 12/19/1999 -0500, Tom Neff wrote:
>Keep in mind that instead of groveling to Topica or any of those services,
>you can have your own dedicated server for about $100/mo these days,
Maybe I shouldn't say this, <grin> but this was how I ended up in the list hosting
business myself. It was getting so expensive for my list hosting fees, it made sense
to put my own server online. (The idea of hosting other people's lists came after.)
That being said, a few words (of wisdom?) to those considering this idea:
1. Many web site hosting companies include majordomo lists as part of their web
hosting packages. (Although they generally put caps on the number of subscribers you
can have, many do not include message count. So this generally works best for
discussion lists)
2. Maintenance has to be done to the server and you also should have an excellent
knowledge of the OS being used. So, if you have more time than money, a dedicated
server or a coop server may be an option to consider.
3. Make sure you remember about backups. When I was using list hosting services, this
was the major problem I ran into time and again. Something would happen and my
subscriber list would get zeroed. Then I'd find out that the last backup done was 2-5
weeks previously. Not good if your subscriber base is growing quickly!
4. Connectivity is another issue. When I was investigating somewhere to colocate a
server with, this was something at the top of my list. At the time I put our first
server online, over my assorted lists, I was averaging 30-40 new subscribers an hour.
So every hour of downtime meant that many lost subscribers. Yes, I know many of the
budget colocation companies claim 99% or higher connectivity. But is that really the
case? If any of you do decide to put your own server online, before going forward, use
one of the monitoring services (there are a number of free ones) to see what
percentage of time their own site and/or one of their client's sites are online.
5. Bandwidth charges are another issue. Most colocation companies include anywhere
from 10-200 GB a month. Over that amount and you pay for additional bandwidth you use.
Sometimes you have to pay in lot amounts (i.e. 25 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB etc) whether you
use it all or not and with other companies, you pay based on the actual bandwidth
used. Many of the budget colocation companies have small bandwidth allocations which
is fine for low traffic web sites or list server usage and then you get nailed on
bandwidth charges. So, consider how much bandwidth your list uses on a monthly basis
and whether that falls into the minimum category.
Tom mentioned Skynetweb. After looking at their web site, I found that for colocated
servers, you get included 20 GBs of data transfer a month. Additional is in 20 GB
increments for $150/month. Their $99 monthly dedicated server option includes only 5
GBs.
WOW. Perfect example for this. In the past 2 days, I've given quotes to 3 people for
list hosting that ALL had 100 GB+ per month requirements. Do the math if they wanted
to put their own server online.
5. SPAM & Security issue. For those of you who have never experienced running your own
server who decide to put one online, it will open up a whole new assortment of things
you'll need to deal with. From learning about mail relays and how to make sure they
are not open, to making sure your server is secure, to making sure list messages are
getting delivered, etc. Behind the scenes there is a lot going on with any list
hosting service.
Anyhow, just my two cents.
---------------------------------------------------------
Sharon Tucci
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ListHost.net
Sling Shot Media, LLC 1-613-933-5133
E-Mail List Hosting and Marketing SpeciaLists
