Most of the sites I help build don't get much traffic. So worrying about a great host wasn't that large of a deal with me. Since my recent interest in the Joomla CMS, I've realized I will need much more space and RAM to speed up any websites utilizing it. Which brings me to the subsequent decision of purchasing a server, or upgrading my hosting account to a dedicated server.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, is it hard learning how to run your own server?

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"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. " -E. B. White

Howdy,

Not sure if this is still a question, but running your own server is not hard at all. All you need to have are a spare computer and an internet connection (preferably with a static IP although dynamic will work too.)

I've been running my own servers for the last 7 years and have tried a lot of different setups. Last year I found a setup that does everything I can want and since I put it up, I haven't experienced any downtime or needed a reboot. It's now on day 167 and has automatically done all updates. For tutorials on setting up a server I suggest http://www.howtoforge.com/ Do a search for "Perfect Server" I personally use the one on Ubuntu Server.

As far as server specs and performance, I have an AMD Athlon 2000+ with 1GB of DDR400 ram and a 40GB and 80GB hard drives. Currently there are about 30 Domains hosted all using php, with mysql databases. All this is running through a 5mbps DSL line. The only problems I had were when I tried to run an AJAX chat room which was causing about 1000 server requests per second. When I checked the server logs and saw 40,000,000 hits in 3 days... I decided that I should disable that script. I do have a few sites with over 1000 users that are used on a fairly frequent basis.

You can get a dedicated server that is managed by a host or you can run one at home. They are costly to buy a true server compared to renting one. If you have the money buy your own server and you will save money over the long run.

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I don't know about you, but I know for me that I seem to have more old computers laying around than I know what to do with.... well maybe not that many, right now I have 7 in my BOQ room and I know a lot of people who have upgraded their computer and have an old one they're not sure what to do with. Well it's quite easy to take that old computer and turn it into a webserver. Once it's a webserver they can use programs like PostNuke, Joomla, Gallery, vBulletin, phpBB, or many others to create their own personal websites. The link in my post above gives all the details in the steps needed to setup a server.