Can Verizon FiOS handle a home server?

I'm new to servers, having only used VPS's which was a nightmare, and was looking into hosting my sites at home on a spare old computer rather than paying for a private host somewhere. I don't have a lot of sites at the moment, but was wondering if there would be any decrease in speed compared to paid hosting. Also, how many sites/ how much bandwidth do you think a simple home server could handle in a setup like this? Like 1,000 hits a day max? 10,000? 100,000? I'm a little bit clueless.

I assume if I got a huge amount of traffic, Verizon would make me get Fios Business... but how much do you think I could get away with? Any help would be appreciated.

 

You will most likely have to upgrade to business hosting. Most ISP's, including Verizon, doesn't allow servers from home connections.

With the speed of FIOS you shouldn't notice the speed decrease unless you are hosting tons of mp3s, porn or pirated software... or you get Digg'd. Then your connection will bog down and you most likely we be cut off from your ISP.

I wouldn't worry about the speed though. FIOS can handle a lot.

 

I agree, look into upgrading more ram for pushing work load needed from the many visitors you might get.

 

Yes, ram is good. Specially if you plan on using a database or php, like forums, wordpress, etc.

And I would consider linux over windows server. If you are a linux newbie, you can try out Ubuntu on a livecd to see if you can handle it. It is based off of Debian and with deb's and apt-get, you will be able to setup a server easily.

It is more secure than windows and can handle quadruple the workload.

 

Hi!

Like others have suggested, I'd go over Verizon's terms very closely. Most don't allow servers on the home connections. It can work though, but you run the risk of getting turned off.

As far as the speeds and stuff are concerned, Fios can handle quite a bit of load, but I'm sure it's not dedicated bandwidth. So, there's a chance that you might not be able to use all of the speed that it says you have.

CreatingRevenue is right though, a Linux distro could handle more work than a Windows based server. It really depends on how powerful that PC you have is. I mean if it's not really good, I'd go for linux first. If it's pretty powerful, then Windows would probably be ok. Windows takes a lot more overhead to run though, so a lot of resources that you could have used for your site, would be going to the Windows OS.

 

Okay so according to Wikipedia if I go overboard with hosting they reserve the right to block it. But say I'm just hosting a few small websites: nothing big no mp3's or anything. They won't ban me or anything just because I unblocked port 80 right? They'd just get mad if I used a ton of bandwidth. Am I correct?

 

yup, bandwidth is the main thing they are worried about...

 

I have seen ISP's block port 80 all together so you wouldn't be able to use it. I am not sure about FiOS. I would call their customer support and ask. Maybe they have an upgrade or extra fee for it. Like the business class fios.

I couldn't find anything on their site about it so you would need to call.

Just be sure not to host anything that would violate your TOS and get your service turned off. Some of us can't get FiOS and I am sure it would suck for you to have to go back to cable or DSL and be normal like us.

 

Aren't there ways to get around it if port 80 is blocked? I assume it is, its just not against the TOS to unblock it and start a server as long as your not using a crapload of bandwidth. Am I getting way over my head by doing all this? I feel it would be a good learning experience... and I don't feel like paying $50-100+ for a private server that I could easily provide myself.

 

You can setup the server on port 8080 or something else. You can find dynamic dns services that can forward traffic to your ip and new port number.

I used to do it with my old ISP, but I was hosting my own linux and networking knowledgebase which I would reference from work at Hostgator. So it never received any traffic other than my own.

So you can do it... I just don't know how long it would last with your ISP if you were using it for a lot of traffic. Might need to contact them on that issue.

You are going to need a dns service anyway... setting up and running your own nameservers from a home network is a pain in the butt. Most people think they have static ip numbers just because it hasn't changed in a few months. This is common with dsl, cable and other high speed services but it's not a true static ip. If you go on vacation for a week or two and return, you will most likely find a new ip awaiting you (assuming you turn off your computer equipment and modem when you go on vacation).

I like DynDNS.org and you can use your own domain name with just about all of them out there.

 

No-ip.com is another good one. I've bought a full domain through them before. I had mydomainhere.com pointing to my home stuff. I had working e-mail and everything.

 

Wait so can't I just keep all my domains at godaddy, and point them to my websites on my homeserver? What is the purpose of DynDNS.org? Is that because I have a dynamic IP address at home and not a static one?

 

Yep exactly! The problem with Godaddy is, you can tell it what your IP is at that moment, but when your IP changes, Godaddy doesn't know that. The way DynDNS works is, you download their updater, and when your IP changes, the updater will update the IP. What you can do, although it might be costly, is transfer all your domains to no-ip.com and use their service. I bought a full domain www.mydomain.com and had it going to my homeserver. It worked great, and it was reasonable. I think I gave $30 for a year, for the domain and the service. If you got a bunch of domains, it might be costly, but I think they give discounts on this. If you do decide on going for the no-ip paid route, and if you need help, just PM me. I've used it, and would be glad to help if you need anything.

 

Exactly what Hostingspeak said. DynDNS.org is supported by many routers as well. I use a Linksys WRT54g router with DD-WRT on it and it monitors my ip and updates DynDNS.org for me. But right out of the box, many Linksys and other routers will do it.

DynDNS.org is charging $15 a year for domain name transfers. Might be pricey if you have tons of domains to move over but they are a good company and stable and won't steal your domains from you like GoDaddy.

 

Actually I just checked and you don't need to transfer your domain names to DynDNS.org for it to work. You simply log into Godaddy and change the nameservers to the DynDNS ones.

This is a howto from DynDNS: http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/custom/howto.html

 

Cool, that might be what I would do. I didn't know they did that. That's probably the route I would go then

 

Okay so I looked it over and I've always believed if your going to do something you might as well do it right. So while I don't really like the idea, I think I'm going to put up another $55 a month and get Verizon Fios Business for two years. $55 extra is pretty reasonable, compared to getting a dedicated server for $90+ elsewhere. This seems like the best option, because the more I read about it, the more likely it seems that Verizon has web hosting against its TOS, and would stop my service, if I did eventually get to host a server. Plus since things like DynDNS cost more money per domain, its really just worth it for me to go with the correct service and pay a little more, rather than one that is not meant for it. Hey at least I'll be getting 20mb down and 5mb up for what I'm paying... Thank's for the help.

 

Change your DNS servers to something else and go right ahead

 

I don't blame you, that's probably the route I would take too. The only thing I would worry about is if their line is reliable. If you are business class they should have agreements and stuff for you to have a certain up time.

 

Just hope to god your site doesn't get on front page of digg.com. If it does, you might as well take the day off and goto the mall or something. Hope you dont have VoIP for your phone service.