Colocated Dedicated Server - Virtualize & Share

2 points by abyssknight 17y ago ↗ HN

Does anyone have any experience with dedicated server colocation? I had a novel idea today that I could build a nice 1U quad core server, load VMWware ESX on it, and split the machine into virtual machines. The idea being that I could use one or two myself, and rent or share the others with friends and colleagues. Is this something that is possible, plausible, or has been done before? I've run machines in Rackspace and on my corporate network but I always believed the expense to be too high for an individual. Locally, however, I am getting quotes of $60-$100 per month for colocation of a 1U machine & bandwidth. This sounds a lot more reasonable than I had initially projected.

I'm open to any and all thoughts on this, and look forward to hearing some good stories. :)

As for why I'm looking at a dedicated machine, it'd be for web hosting, game servers, and a small business. A friend of mine has a start up of sorts that could use some more horsepower. They've been renting a shared dedicated account at a web hosting provider. I am almost certain they're paying at least $30-$50 a month and are unable to control the installed packages, let alone the OS level settings.

4 comments

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noodle 17y ago ↗

obligatory slicehost post. why reinvent the wheel on this one

abyssknight 17y ago ↗

The issue I have with slicehost is the limitation on operating systems. The whole point of a dedicated box would be for control. If I did this, I'd plan on running a Win2k3 VM as well as any number of *nix VMs.

Amazon is offering the same sort of deal, but at $90 a month for a single 'small' instance, I can't justify that over splurging the $100/mo on a colo.

Slicehost is pretty slick, but it doesn't do everything I would want it to.

jhancock 17y ago ↗

Doesn't sound like a way to make much money. But if that's not your main goal, your plan is reasonable.

A lot of people want their own box simply because it "their own box". Maybe you fit into this category.

Definitely. I'm not looking to make a cent, just break even or perhaps pay out a little more than I do for shared hosting.