Re: domain name

[shimpei@example.com]

> Jim Tittsler (jwt-tlug@example.com) wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, Sep 25, 2000 at 03:58:17AM -0600, halimaw@example.com wrote:
> > >       I've got a problem I dont know if ti's possible or not but here
> > > goes. I own www.k0n.org and I my my computer to do its webserver my
> > > connection to the net is modem connection
> 
> > Yes, there are several companies that will provide you with
> > "dynamic DNS" services.  You run a client program when you
> 
> Another question here is *why* you would want to do this.
> So, you have a modem connection.  I have 128K ISDN at home.
> If I access your web server, how much bandwidth does that
> leave for anyone else.  
> 
> It gets better - I have fast switched Ethernet to my desk at work.
> What happens if me and a few other people with fast connections are
> surfing your site?  Yup, your bandwidth is hammered.  

That's what a throttling server is for. 

   http://www.acme.com/software/thttpd/

Not that you'd *want* to run servers behind a thinband line, but sometimes you
have to. As recently as four years ago, the entire nation of Turkey reportedly 
had a 64KB line going out to the world. I bet that some countries in Africa
and central Asia aren't doing much better even today (if they are on the net
at all).

> Now, if your site is known only to your friends and they also
> have low speed connections, it's probably not too much of a worry.

Nah. Who cares what the other side's connection rate is? With a modem line
or 64KB, you're saturated after one or two connections anyway. The number of
simultaneous users does matter, though.

BTW, just because running a server behind a thin line is absurd doesn't prevent
people from trying. perl.com (yes, CPAN's home site!) was run for years on Tom 
Christiansen's modem line. That is not what I'd call "known only to your 
friends."

If all you want to do is to have your own domain name, serve web pages and
host an FTP site, sign up with a hosting service. They are dirt cheap these
days, especially if you're willing to live with an American server (I'm
getting mine for $13.95 a month), and at least some of them do offer shell
access. [1]

Shimpei.

[1] This is potentially a security nightmare [2]. The good thing about hosting
companies, though, is that basic security becomes Somebody Else's Problem.

[2] Possibly the worse problem is that every web hosting company I've seen
requires you to type passwords in the clear to get to the web-based "control 
panel." Gee, guys, why do you even bother running sshd if you're gonna do that?