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Thread ID: 53415 2005-01-16 23:53:00 Web Server design/Architecture/System Requirements etc Brad H (738) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
314918 2005-01-16 23:53:00 Hi all,
I kind of know what im talking about here and kinda don't

I have a friend who owns a backpackers hostel in central auckland and he is trying to set up a website on the internet with information about the backpackers hostel and (if possible) take online bookings. (as well as on the side he would like me to think about a way of designing a database on his computers to be able to handle bookings etc at the moment they are using excell)

Now a little about me, Im very clued up on computers and web design, as well as a little bit or programming, I'm starting a computer science degree this year so I don't have much time on my hands to constantly be sorting out his problems.

So the best solution that I can think to this, is instead of him paying a company for hosting and domain name he just pays for the domain name and I set up a seperate computer to operate through a router as the webserver. Now this gets to the parts that I don't know much about, I know how to set up apache, php, mysql etc but running it from a jetstream business connection can it be done? Im on orcon ubs so I have a static ip so hosting my own site is no problem, but does jetstream use static or dynamic ips, i can't seem to find much info on the xtra pages (his current isp, hosting etc)

also what sort of requirements would you need to run apache mysql and php on the same box. It needs to be less than $1000 to build (as this would be about the same as 2 years basic hosting) I was thinking of 1Ghz processor 512 Ram 10 - 20 GB hard disk in a shuttle xpc or something similar, but what os would you run xp home is $200 oem and I know this like the back of my hand but would it be better to go with linux because it is free if so what one is there a distro that comes with apache, mysql, php already set up and configured (ie i just have to change few settings upload website through lan etc)

Anyone got any help or ideas or is it better for him to just stay with xtra hosting or what, he doesn't want to spend much money and I want the system to be low mantience

thanks
Brad
Brad H (738)
314919 2005-01-17 00:00:00 Xtra do static IP's but they are like $35 per month.

The specs mentioned would be more than ample.

I'd use Debian if I was building a server for it.

Though staying with pro hosting might be a better idea in terms of maintenance etc.
ninja (1671)
314920 2005-01-17 00:24:00 Aren't the costs going to be outrageous for bandwidth using Xtra's business adsl?

It would be so much simpler to just use a pro hosting provider. (not mentioning any names :D )
Greg (193)
314921 2005-01-17 00:33:00 That's what I found Greg.

I'm having to move (not at all reluctantly) to a dedicated server in the US.

10GB just goes so fast, and 192k is not enough.

Business Jetstream is not a good way to host a site unfortunately - in fact most types of connection in NZ suck for it.

This hotel/backpackers I think will make too much traffic to be practical on your own connection. And the upside is you will get a nice fast connection rather than like 320Kbps upstream.

Just remember though, for it to show us as an NZ site in search engines, it must be hosted in NZ or have an NZ domain name. Pretty obvious I think though.

Go for a decent hosting solution overseas - dedicated server if you need it.

But your needs could probably be covered by much less than that. You should find something for under $10 per month.

Hth George
george12 (7)
314922 2005-01-17 00:37:00 Hi all,
I kind of know what im talking about here and kinda don't

I have a friend who owns a backpackers hostel in central auckland and he is trying to set up a website on the internet with information about the backpackers hostel and (if possible) take online bookings. (as well as on the side he would like me to think about a way of designing a database on his computers to be able to handle bookings etc at the moment they are using excell)
There are lots of excellent php & perl scripts for hotel reservations with dbase setup included, I've used a couple & they are easy to setup & configure
Most are easily customised to suit your looks & needs
A quick google will find heaps of them


It needs to be less than $1000 to build (as this would be about the same as 2 years basic hosting)
My hoster charges $16.88pm for an excellent service with everything provided
I have 6 sites with them at the moment & the service & support are excellent
24 x 16.88 = $405.12
No maintenance costs, no ISP fees, can't really see the advantage of the hassle of running your own
bartsdadhomer (80)
314923 2005-01-17 00:38:00 Google for LAMP = Linux Apache Mysql Php

Gentoo Stage3 installations are good for that sorta thing!!
Chilling_Silence (9)
314924 2005-01-17 04:15:00 There are lots of excellent php & perl scripts for hotel reservations with dbase setup included, I've used a couple & they are easy to setup & configure
Most are easily customised to suit your looks & needs
A quick google will find heaps of them

My hoster charges $16.88pm for an excellent service with everything provided
I have 6 sites with them at the moment & the service & support are excellent
24 x 16.88 = $405.12
No maintenance costs, no ISP fees, can't really see the advantage of the hassle of running your own

Even I can do cheaper hosting than that.. ;)

One thing to be very wary of with hosting overseas (and in NZ) is overselling. 50gb traffic, 2 gb space for $10 a month sounds great until someone else uses up the bandwidth through overselling and you get kicked off the server. Generally most basic websites are lucky to break 1gb of traffic a month. One of mine is an online game that is quite heavy on hits and usage, and that barely does 5 gb on an average month. And the only good thing about having more than 100mb in space (unless you are using a lot of MySQL databases or really need it) is online storage and email :)

so yeah - personally it would be easier and cheaper just to get hosted :)

wizzer
wizzer (6742)
314925 2005-01-17 05:41:00 $1 per week for 10MB space and 1GB bandwidth per month or, more likely, $14.95 per month for 100MB space and 4GB bandwidth per month at kiwiwebhost.co.nz NZ hosted with NZ based servers and plenty of tools to meet your friends needs. Murray P (44)
314926 2005-01-17 06:04:00 $1 per week for 10MB space and 1GB bandwidth per month or, more likely, $14.95 per month for 100MB space and 4GB bandwidth per month at kiwiwebhost.co.nz NZ hosted with NZ based servers and plenty of tools to meet your friends needs.
This is the one I use & it's excellent, got 6 sites with them & about to add another tomorrow



Even I can do cheaper hosting than that..
Yep, & I can paint your car with a brush, you want cheap you get cheap
bartsdadhomer (80)
314927 2005-01-17 06:08:00 Setting up and maintainting a server can be a fair bit of work. For what your setting up a hosting account with a reputable provider will be more than enough.

Forget Xtra hosting, do a google search or search some NZ search engines for NZ web hosts.
Webbase (265)
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