[Coming late into the conversation] I worked at an ISP for nearly 10 years, and the reason is twofold: the behavior of a few bad apples causes administrative headaches, and because servers (and strangely, sometimes clients) turn a machine into a shinier target for other bad apples on the Internet.
(And you can argue all you want about whether it *should* be this way, but that's how it *is*.) -- Brian C. Merrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Sun, 9 Oct 2005, Christopher Conroy wrote: > I bet it's cuz totallly l33t [EMAIL PROTECTED] use IRC for pwning mad victims > with > their skillz. :-) > > On 10/8/05, Derek Juba <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > matt fowle wrote: > > > > > Yo, hello! I've got a long info session below on server hosting. > > > > > > > > > Mathias Stearn wrote: > > > > > >> My general advice is that unless you have a VERY good reason to host > > >> it your self, don't. If you are trying to make files available to > > >> other people you have a whole host(pun intended) of issues to worry > > >> about. Also a lot of ISPs place a limit on outbound traffic and > > >> discourage you from from running your own servers. for a nominal fee > > >> you can get professionally hosted webspace and not have to worry about > > >> any of this. > > > > > > > > > Your own DSL, cable or campus connection is not the right way to host a > > > webserver, for anyone or any purpose. The internet is a web, but as the > > > consumer horde we are the outter reaches of that web- a fact > > > necessitated by our sheer numbers. We reside at the outter edges of > > > that web. Actual hosting providers remain close to the core of the > > > internet and provide responsive quick service. > > > > > > After having ran my webserver off high grade DSL for a number of years, > > > I'm swithcing to a real webserve myself. I'm heavily considering using > > > Linode or Unixshell. > > > > > > These systems provide what I presume to be known as Virtual Provider > > > Servers, or, factually merely VPS systems. They use server > > > virtualization technologies to allow many people to all share a single > > > system, while giving each person the impression that they have root > > > access to their very own linux system. There's three different > > > technologies used, Virtuozzo, UML and Xen. Virtuozzo is proprietary > > > software which runs one kernel, subdivides the system and performs > > > other hackery to make each user think they own the system. UML and > > > Xen actually run multiple kernels on the system. UML just runs each > > > copy inside of a central linux system-- costly since everything has to > > > go through the core kernel, whereas Xen allows each kernel free romp > > > within its memory segments-- aka almost no overhead. The effect is > > > the same for all three, everyone thinks they have their own system > > > even though there are a number of linux/bsd installations all sharing > > > the same box. > > > > > > So big hosts buy powerful computers and dump a bunch of users onto it. > > > Everyone gets their equal share of the machine, than any leftofers are > > > divided up in like. Odds are almost everyone is barely using the CPU > > > so you basically get some big iron to play around on for pennies on > > > the dollar. Plenty of bandwidth is included on very large pipes. > > > > > > A lot of it depends on who you go with. Some people stuff 50 people > > > on a dualie with way underpowered I/o and everyone dies because the > > > disc access is locked up. Xen addresses this horrible problem > > > immensely by quota'ing I/o operations as well (whereas people with 2% > > > system allocation can shut down the whole box on Virtuozzo or UML by > > > axing the hard disc), but if there's too many people on a box, there's > > > just too many people. Whether you suffer death by not having enough > > > internet connection, disk io or cpu, its still death. > > > > > > > > > Unixshell has some hot shit. They're running Xen, its definately the > > > fastest of the three technologies, on dual opteron systems. Their > > > plans offer amazing monthly bandwidth limits, more than you could ever > > > use. "The 192" plan is amazing, definately the best buy. Its > > > seconded closely by "The 96" plan. The other's arent as good of a > > > deal, but they're still better than almost eveyrone elses deals. > > > Plans start at $8/mo, which is more than sufficient if you're just > > > hosting static web content. Unixshell has reportedly fantastic > > > performance. However their tech support is pretty minimal, and they > > > do sometimes suffer down times, announced and unannounced. The big > > > limiting factor with them as with most people is how much ram you are > > > allocated. Trying to run java enterprise apps will get a little hairy > > > with 192 mb ram. > > > > > > > > > If you want your own high performance linux system for the internet, > > > go VPS or go colocated. > > > > > > Matt > > > > From the unixshell TOS: > > > > 20. IRC: It is absolutely forbidden to host IRC servers, run IRC > > clients, or IRC bounce programs on unixshell# accounts. Accounts found > > running these programs will be subject to immediate cancellation without > > refund. > > > > Could there be some technical or security related reason for this, or do > > these guys just have some sort of philosophical problem with IRC? > > Banning even the clients seems a little extreme. > > > > -Derek > > > > > > -- > Christopher Conroy >
