The problem with 486 or even Intel archetecture, is that per unit hardware it's not as powerful as Sun/Sparc. It is cheaper.
You can run a webserver on any machine capable of running Unix or Win95 (or just about any other OS). The rub is how well will that machine perform under load.
Also, "50 gig" a month transfer is pretty good -- unless you stop to think about it. Is that 50 Gig "On demand" or only between 3am and 6am Eastern time?
For serious hosting it's much better to look in terms of "pipe" or "sustained bandwidth" and then "burstable". For instance, the minimum most companies set up (and the minimum probably you'd want) is 1 mbps sustained, 10 mbps burstable. That means you have at least your own 10M Ethernet connection and you are allowed to use 1 MBPS sustained over the course of the month (each ISP will determine at what point your "bursts" equal moving up to the next level of supply).
It's much better to know that between 9pm and 12mid Eastern Time, you'll be able to churn out 1 MBPS sustained (and your server can keep up with it) and if you need 2 or 3 mbps at any given instant it's there. That's _much_ better than knowing if that surfer who hit dead air comes back in 5 hours he'll be able to access your site.
How many "50 gig/month" customers can share a 10mbps Ethernet?? How many of those customers can use it all during "prime" time? a 1mbps line works out to about 8 Gig per day, or 240 gig/month. A 10 mbps line would work out to 2400/month. That works out to almost 50 "50 gig/month" sites sharing a 10mbps line, without being TECHNICALLY oversold.
1 mbps "sustained" customers could only be packed in at _most_ 10 per line, or realistically 6-8 per line due to the "guarantee" of sustained bandwidth you are paying for -- ie: you are paying for it whether you use it or not at any given moment, but it will always be there if you need it. The "burstable" pool is the only part that is "shared". If for any reason you do not get your 1mbps (some other customer is using it) it's up to the ISP to do some load balancing and move you or them to another line -- quickly.
So, it's not only how much transfer they offer you, but how much you are guaranteed to get at any given instant. "200 gig of transfer" is great... but if you can't get it when you want it, what good is it?
24-hour a day, commercial websites need connections measured in "sustained" and "burstable" bandwidth, not monthly totals. And not vague promises of how big the pipe is (since you don't know how much of that pipe has been sold, or will be sold). If you are paying for 1mbps sustained and 10mbps burstable, and you can't get your 1mbps during prime time, you have valid reason to break any contract and move to a new host. What that means is they've sold _your_ pipe to someone else -- or possibly several others. That's not good business on either end, but it's death to your site.
Also, most "NN gig per month" contracts are "up to NN gig per month" and none of that is "guaranteed" to be available. A "sustained" contract defines how much bandwidth you are paying for, and how much you'll have available -- guaranteed -- at any given time.
http://www.postcards.com
FAQ: http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/
You can run a webserver on any machine capable of running Unix or Win95 (or just about any other OS). The rub is how well will that machine perform under load.
Also, "50 gig" a month transfer is pretty good -- unless you stop to think about it. Is that 50 Gig "On demand" or only between 3am and 6am Eastern time?
For serious hosting it's much better to look in terms of "pipe" or "sustained bandwidth" and then "burstable". For instance, the minimum most companies set up (and the minimum probably you'd want) is 1 mbps sustained, 10 mbps burstable. That means you have at least your own 10M Ethernet connection and you are allowed to use 1 MBPS sustained over the course of the month (each ISP will determine at what point your "bursts" equal moving up to the next level of supply).
It's much better to know that between 9pm and 12mid Eastern Time, you'll be able to churn out 1 MBPS sustained (and your server can keep up with it) and if you need 2 or 3 mbps at any given instant it's there. That's _much_ better than knowing if that surfer who hit dead air comes back in 5 hours he'll be able to access your site.
How many "50 gig/month" customers can share a 10mbps Ethernet?? How many of those customers can use it all during "prime" time? a 1mbps line works out to about 8 Gig per day, or 240 gig/month. A 10 mbps line would work out to 2400/month. That works out to almost 50 "50 gig/month" sites sharing a 10mbps line, without being TECHNICALLY oversold.
1 mbps "sustained" customers could only be packed in at _most_ 10 per line, or realistically 6-8 per line due to the "guarantee" of sustained bandwidth you are paying for -- ie: you are paying for it whether you use it or not at any given moment, but it will always be there if you need it. The "burstable" pool is the only part that is "shared". If for any reason you do not get your 1mbps (some other customer is using it) it's up to the ISP to do some load balancing and move you or them to another line -- quickly.
So, it's not only how much transfer they offer you, but how much you are guaranteed to get at any given instant. "200 gig of transfer" is great... but if you can't get it when you want it, what good is it?
24-hour a day, commercial websites need connections measured in "sustained" and "burstable" bandwidth, not monthly totals. And not vague promises of how big the pipe is (since you don't know how much of that pipe has been sold, or will be sold). If you are paying for 1mbps sustained and 10mbps burstable, and you can't get your 1mbps during prime time, you have valid reason to break any contract and move to a new host. What that means is they've sold _your_ pipe to someone else -- or possibly several others. That's not good business on either end, but it's death to your site.
Also, most "NN gig per month" contracts are "up to NN gig per month" and none of that is "guaranteed" to be available. A "sustained" contract defines how much bandwidth you are paying for, and how much you'll have available -- guaranteed -- at any given time.
http://www.postcards.com
FAQ: http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/
