[vox] providing services from a broadband connection

[Marc Elliot Hall]

(Listening to hold music at Verisign) :^|
David Margolis wrote:

> Like a lot of you probably have done, I have forsaken my Comcast cable
> internet acceptable use policy by running a small
> web/mail/file/ssh/smb/etc. box out of my home network.
> 
> This is all experimental and fun, and I don't expect 100% uptime or
> anything, but every once and a while my network connection just flakes
> out.  It's not enough to complain about or bother calling tech support
> about as it doesn't happen all that often, and when it does it's no more
> than an hour or two.  

<snippage>

> My question is this.  If I want a bit more consistancy for my Web pages
> and personal mail accounts, should I have to pay for monthly hosting ON
> TOP of what I pay for broadband?  Part of how I justify my $50+ a month is
> by telling myself that I'm basically getting free hosting out of the deal.
> Sure Comcast provides Web space, but it's not very big, doesn't support
> PHP/MySQL, doesn't support my domain name, doesn't come with a shell
> account, etc.

<snippage>
I have DSL through Direct Connect (www.directcon.net). Although I can't 
say my service is flawless (their router reconfigs due to nashi and 
blaster worms wreaked havoc), I am reasonably pleased with what they 
provide for the price. Terms of service are quite reasonable -- No 
restrictions on servers, static IP provided, home networks supported 
(for an additional fee if you mention it), etc. -- and I've been running 
my web, shell, and mail servers from my home network for well over two 
years now with only minimal downtime (a couple of minutes every few 
months and *three*straight*days* during the nashi worm boondoggle -- 
yes, I did get a service credit) due to connectivity issues. Direct 
Connect is Linux-friendly, too, although I wouldn't characterize it as 
"supported".

As for cost, it's $49.95 a month. I think they run specials from time to 
time, too, so ask 'em about that.

Downside: They primarily serve western El Dorado County. I don't know if 
their service will be available where you are.