RSS FeedMon 9 Jul 2007
1. Complete control
Because I own the server that this site is hosted on, I can do pretty much whatever I want to/with/on it. If I decide I want to install some new programs or features or play with an updated version of a kernel, I can do that. While it wouldn’t make much sense to do too much experimenting with a live site, if you have your own server, you can pretty much do whatever you want.
2. Learn a lot more
Before starting this site, I had a fairly proficient knowledge of PHP and website design, so it would have been quite easy for me to get space from a hosting provider or get a blog on Blogger and get right to the writing and content generation. In doing that, I would have still been able to learn a lot of the stuff that I am learning now, but would have missed out on all of the headaches (and gained knowledge) from setting up my own server. Also, I learned quite a bit about how email actually works in setting this server up as well.
3. It’s yours
Now that I have this server, even if I decide to give up on the website at some point in the future, it is still mine. I will be able to use it for just about anything that I might want to use a server for. From setting up this website and being my own hosting provider I have something to show for the experience besides just the knowledge gained. Another thing about this is that you are not paying somebody to let you rent space on their machine. While the initial cost may be higher than just using one of the many hosting providers that are around, over time those monthly payments add up to a pretty large chunk of money that is just “gone” and you have nothing to show for it. By buying your own server, not only will you save money in the long-term by not having to pay more for hosting than what it would have cost to buy a server, but rather than just giving that money to somebody else, you have something to show for the money spent.
4. Motivation to keep going
Setting up a website can be a lot of work and even more so with a blog that requires daily (or multiple times per day) updates and new content. It is said that one of the biggest mistakes that new bloggers make is not updating their site. I have a strong feeling that research would probably show that the more effort that is put in to creating the site, the less likely it will be that the site will stop being updated. While I’m sure there are free blogs that took 5 minutes to set up and still get updated daily and there are those who bought domain names and server space that quit using them after a month, it seems that if one has put lots of effort into a site they will try harder to keep it from failing. With that understanding, why not take it one step further and buy the server that your site is hosted on and give yourself the extra motivation that you have it and it’s running and you HAVE to keep updating.
5. Good excuse to upgrade your internet service
Cable internet is pretty fast, but often times limited by the service provider. While a site can be hosted with this limited bandwidth, if you expect to start accumulating a decent number of regular visitors you will need to upgrade your internet service. The biggest limitation is usually with the upload speeds that are allowed through your ISP. When you are just surfing the net and doing day-to-day activities, upload speeds are not much of an issue because you are generally downloading. When you are hosting your website, and a user visits that site, they are downloading your content which means your server is uploading. In order to keep your site running smoothly with a good collection of visitors you will want to have higher upload speeds that offered in the basic package, but hey who wouldn’t like to have faster internet. With faster upload speeds comes faster download speeds as well.
Because I own the server that this site is hosted on, I can do pretty much whatever I want to/with/on it. If I decide I want to install some new programs or features or play with an updated version of a kernel, I can do that. While it wouldn’t make much sense to do too much experimenting with a live site, if you have your own server, you can pretty much do whatever you want.
2. Learn a lot more
Before starting this site, I had a fairly proficient knowledge of PHP and website design, so it would have been quite easy for me to get space from a hosting provider or get a blog on Blogger and get right to the writing and content generation. In doing that, I would have still been able to learn a lot of the stuff that I am learning now, but would have missed out on all of the headaches (and gained knowledge) from setting up my own server. Also, I learned quite a bit about how email actually works in setting this server up as well.
3. It’s yours
Now that I have this server, even if I decide to give up on the website at some point in the future, it is still mine. I will be able to use it for just about anything that I might want to use a server for. From setting up this website and being my own hosting provider I have something to show for the experience besides just the knowledge gained. Another thing about this is that you are not paying somebody to let you rent space on their machine. While the initial cost may be higher than just using one of the many hosting providers that are around, over time those monthly payments add up to a pretty large chunk of money that is just “gone” and you have nothing to show for it. By buying your own server, not only will you save money in the long-term by not having to pay more for hosting than what it would have cost to buy a server, but rather than just giving that money to somebody else, you have something to show for the money spent.
4. Motivation to keep going
Setting up a website can be a lot of work and even more so with a blog that requires daily (or multiple times per day) updates and new content. It is said that one of the biggest mistakes that new bloggers make is not updating their site. I have a strong feeling that research would probably show that the more effort that is put in to creating the site, the less likely it will be that the site will stop being updated. While I’m sure there are free blogs that took 5 minutes to set up and still get updated daily and there are those who bought domain names and server space that quit using them after a month, it seems that if one has put lots of effort into a site they will try harder to keep it from failing. With that understanding, why not take it one step further and buy the server that your site is hosted on and give yourself the extra motivation that you have it and it’s running and you HAVE to keep updating.
5. Good excuse to upgrade your internet service
Cable internet is pretty fast, but often times limited by the service provider. While a site can be hosted with this limited bandwidth, if you expect to start accumulating a decent number of regular visitors you will need to upgrade your internet service. The biggest limitation is usually with the upload speeds that are allowed through your ISP. When you are just surfing the net and doing day-to-day activities, upload speeds are not much of an issue because you are generally downloading. When you are hosting your website, and a user visits that site, they are downloading your content which means your server is uploading. In order to keep your site running smoothly with a good collection of visitors you will want to have higher upload speeds that offered in the basic package, but hey who wouldn’t like to have faster internet. With faster upload speeds comes faster download speeds as well.
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