[Sussex] more broadband questions?

[Steve Dobson]

John

On Tue, Dec 21, 2004 at 12:00:37AM +0000, John D. wrote:
> On Mon, 2004-12-20 at 16:30 +0000, Steve Dobson wrote:
> > I agree it is possible to do, it is easier if you do have a fixed
> > IP address.  Not only do I run my own email/web-server (must add
> > evil porn empire to the plan) but also my own DNS server so I have 
> > almost full control over my Internet face.
> 
> Yes, Yes and Yes.
> 
> that's basically what I'd like to do (you probably set that up in 15 or
> 20 minutes Steve, I'll probably take 2 to 3 weeks).

Oh it took six months for Karl and me to the DNS configured the way
it now is.  It sort of worked from the start.  I knew just enough, but
I've learnt a lot since then :-)   The day I stop learning it the day
they day they put me in a wooden box and sit light to it
 
> One of the reasons that I didn't quote a price for Zen, was that
> compared to the others, they wanted too much money.

Yes, I see that they are about twice the price.  However, from Zen that
is the same price for a single IP or a block or 8 (I got 8; 'cos I can).
Of course I hand enough (old) hardware that I do have more than one machine
that is configured with a static (public) IP address.
 
> The cost for the 1 Mbps via eclipse will up my outlay by about £6 a
> month. I can take the pressure :-P  I also checked out the SDSL prices,
> as I seem to recall that Geoff mentioned about using a service like
> that, but I have to say, I did rather "blanch" at the price for that!
> 
> I also checked out the stats for uptime, customer svc, average speed,
> etc etc but before I actually go ahead and "flash the cash", I'll check
> out a few more things - static IP's and the like. An article in the
> current "PC Pro" mentioned using dyndns.org as it can often save the
> additional cost that lots of ISP's charge for static IP's, personally my
> so called dynamic one hasn't changed at all since I started using the
> service (well since I started using a modem router at any rate), though
> it would be nice to have.
> 
> Thanks very much for the replies everyone, it narrows things down a fair
> bit.

Watch out 'cos the cost can build up.  While DynDNS.org will set up a
free sub-domain name within one fo their domains if you want your own
domain (nugget.org.uk for example, and yes it is available I've just
checked) will cost you $25 a year (from DynDNS.org) to host the DNS
records.  While this will work for a HTTP/HTTPS/FTP server it will
not work for a e-mail server - you'll need their MailHop system which
could cost up to $80 per year.

If you want to set up your own domain for the fun here are my
recommendations (I'm sure others will add any I miss).

1). Make sure you own the domain you register.  Some companies will 
register the domain on your behalf but register it in their own name,
thus locking you in to their services.  You have been warned.

2). Make sure you have a static IP address.  It just makes life easier.

3). You will have to have one system that is always on and running.
No powering down when you're not sat in front of it, no duel boot here.
The system must always be up - you never know when someone will want
to connect, so send you e-mail for example.

BTW: Last week Nik B send me an e-mail while we were on the phone to
one another.  I heard him hit RETURN, the following second it hit my
mailbox - yes it really was that quick, despite routing half way round
the world and back.

4). For DNS you need (a minimum of) two servers, on two different subnets
to act as the authoritive servers.  One of them will can be your machine 
but there other has to be elsewhere - those are the rules.   If you need
a second DNS server there are enough in this group that you should be able
to find someone to offer a second DNS server for free (me for example).
We configure your system as the master, mine as the slave.  You then have
control and any changes to your DNS setup will be mirrored on mine - no
need for me to do anything after the initial setup.

To the other "expert" geeks:  Have I missed anything?

Steve