Instead of switching to a new ISP, I'm thinking of getting a bunch of friends together and buying a box and colocating it. Here is how the math works out:
- 1U server hosting: $100/mo. There are a couple places in seattle that i've found that offer this kind of deal. $100 seems to be the starting price.
- 1U server: ~$1200. This all depends on how much you want to spend. Since there won't be someone backing this stuff up for us, a RAID mirroring config is probably best. It looks like iron systems might have some decent machines. I spec'd out a 1.47GHz Athlon w/ 256MB of memory and 2 160GB disks w/ HW RAID for $1200.
- OS: Install something free or step up to Windows 2k3 :) Being a MS employee, I can get a deal. This could be an extra $1000, depending. When the web edition is released it will probably be a lot cheaper.
So, assuming that I can get 5 people together on this total, the start up cost will be $250-$450 each. The montly cost will be somewhere around $20 each. With 6 people, we can get the startup cost down to $200-$360 each. I'd probably want to charge more per month so that there is an ongoing slush fund for machine upgrades and fixes and such.
Adding SQL server is another $5k. Chances are I won't need anything that industrial strength.
So, for a very reasonable price ($450 + $20/mo) you can get your very own W2k3 machine in a data center that you can do anything you want to. BTW, 160GB is a ton of disk space to have on the net. Beyond this, you also have to worry about back ups and applying the latest security patches...
Has anyone out there done this? How is it working out? Words of advice?