Questions About Hosting Servers

[JDAlphin]

I know the topic in this thread probably isn't anyones specialty, but I'm going out on a limb and asking some questions.

As I've stated before, I have an HP DL385 G1 (Actually an avaya server, but I'm not using it for media.) that I want to use for hosting a couple of game servers (Minecraft and something else potentially). I will eventually start building my collection of servers (looking at a DL360 for our webserver). ANYWAYS...What my questions are:

1) What kind of internet package should I look for the servers? Also, what provider should I look at? I live in North Carolina, TWC and Century Link are the two powerhouses with the potential of Windstream as well.

2) Should I look into a firewall? Who should I look at and what model? I'm leaning towards Cisco.

This is going to be a big project of mine, so the more information I can get the better because I don't want to dump a load of cash into something that won't be worth it.

[axondc]

I will try to explain all the questions, and if they ignite other questions just post them here and I will try to answer them too:

1- It is always best to choose a provider closer to you if you will be hosting several servers since you might need physical access to the servers. You can always go with a provider remote but keep in mind the cost of remote hands and eyes if something goes wrong and you need emergency assistance from the data center. When you have a provider close to you it is just driving up there and taking care of the issue yourself that includes the upgrades too. You can start with a smaller bandwidth package and always grow in the future. Data centers will never oppose you asking for more bandwidth and paying for it Just try to pick one up with a decent quality bandwidth.

2- FIrewall is always recommended. But, if you are setting up just one single server and starting small then you can always enable the firewall on your choice of operating system and set it up. It will be just as good as a hardware firewall when you are starting up and also save you on the power and space requirements in the data center.

I hope I was able to answer your questions, please let us know on the forums if you need more answers.

Good luck with your project.