Can you be your own server?

[jimkis]

Is it possible to set up my own server at home and not have to access the Internet through an ISP? Would it involve a big investment? Or...could I be my own ISP with the right computer and software. I've tried to research this topic on the Internet, but all I get is web sites wanting my help to re-sell other people's services.
I know quite a bit about computers, but the concept of servers and ISPs is not entirely clear to me...at least how they work.

[Gees]

You may get responses if you post this in the Computer forum here.

But leave it a day or so. A mod may come along and move it for you and if you post the same question in more than one forum, you'll get a warning.

[housepig]

I think for you to be your own ISP, you would have to be buying bandwidth in such bulk it would be prohibitive, so you'd have to sell other people your service to make it worthwhile.

[Solarjetman]

Unless you are planning on starting your own business, you should drop the idea.

There are many things involved. The first of which is you need a connection to a backbone provider. This ranges from several hundred to thousnads of dollars a month depending on the bandwidth needed.

In order to step-up our rig, you would need a few thousand dollars. And several thousand a month in costs just for a small setup.

All in all, it is relatively cheep to start a ISP service, but the problem is there is so much compitition, that odds are nearly all new startups will fail. But expect to pay thousands of dollars per month.

[ChrisX]

Only if you a have a lot of money to be able to run the ISP service for yourself with your own experts to manage it. A small ISP may cost a million dollars and hard work.

A very expensive and a lot of work starting an ISP business and you need the qualifications, the experience and the profession to manage it.

You need lots and lots of money to start it without any guarantee of success.

The cost, the time and the profession required are so prohibitive to an ordinary person and the closest to having a server is your own web site and its tools on your computer.

I wouldn’t advise anyone setting up and running a web site on an ordinary PC using IIS and as such a risky business.

I know you don’t want hackers, viruses, Trojan horses and worms getting into the server. To do this and to be successful running the server requires absolute security and a shield made as stealth and this includes an ISP server as well.

If I were you, I’ll be better off getting the service from a well known ISP to access the Internet and the ISP can host their server to do many things for you including your web site, manage your mail server for you and many others.

In some cases the services can be free with your Internet access subscription.

Lastly, forget about setting up your own ISP.

[RabidDog]

simple answer no you cant becuase you still have to get connected to the inertnet (copyright!) somehow. The isp is just the middleman between you and the wholesaler (BT CABLECO's). They set it all up so you get your small portion of bandwidth and get billed monthly.

[Devanshu]

If you have the money, the time, and the hardware, go for it.

[gmatov]

It's not impossible.

Try this link:

http://isp-planet.com/business/2003/budget_isp.html

Read some more on the same site.

Cheers,

George

Also this: http://isp-planet.com/business/2002/dialup_lives.html

And this: http://www.isp-planet.com/

And if you click on all the links you will find Starnet which handles the entire back end for you.

The funny thing is they claim ( it is a year old article ) there is a call for dial-up, much as we'd prefer to stick to Cable/DSL.

[rallynavvie]

Of course there's a call for dial-up, there's still some of us who absolutely can't get broadband. Well I can if I spend a few thousand to run cable to my house.

DSL = not available on our phone lines yet, may never be
Cable = closest cable line is about 1/4 mile away and the cable company won't run our own line for free (cost is about $2k-3k)
Digital dish = don't have line of sight for the dish through the trees around the house and the DNR won't allow us to cut any down as they're holding the bank together

So I can understand why folks still use dial-up. What irks me is my ISP has very few dial-up users yet I still get accused of "line camping" for leaving my modem connected all the time. Like that still matters

[ChrisX]

Of course there's a call for dial-up, there's still some of us who absolutely can't get broadband. Well I can if I spend a few thousand to run cable to my house.

I can't get cable Internet access here at all as not available in my area.

I 'd rather stick with dial-up for the moment even though DSL is available here as the phone exchange is only a mile away.

Broadband Internet access is too expensive for me anyway. Maybe one day.

[gmatov]

Rallie,

It's not just those who can't get HS who stay with dial-up. I live in a town of maybe 200, and do think I am the only one with cable internet. 'Course, I spend too much time online, they check and send e-mail, they have no desire for High Speed connection.

The ISP my daughter works for was started ina 15 year old's bedroom when he got his ( wealthy ) dad to get him his own T-1 line, and, with 33.6, maybe then 14.4 or 28.8 max, he set up servers and the other parts and sold the excess bandwidth.

They became the largest regional in this area with over 100,000 subscribers.

So, if you want to, go for it. If you can give clients something more that an AOL can give, some "value added" content, you probably can get some clients to share your costs. If you are diligent, and have entrepenuerial instincts, you may even make a living at it.

Don't let the naysayers tell you it can't be done.

Cheers,

George