[lug] Hosting Question

[dio2002 at indra.com]

> I use:
> 1) a hosted Xen VPS server for my email server (smtp/imaps &
> webmail/https) and primary "stealth" DNS.

who is this hosted with?

> 2) EveryDNS.net (free/donation) for my DNS slave servers and RDNS to my
> home Comcast ip.

Where does the home comcast box come into play.  I thought you were
hosting sites with dreamhost?

> 3) Dreamhost.com for my WWW hosting.

fwiw.. i just tried bringing up www.mcferrin.com and it was down..
hope this isn't a function of your described setup above :-)...

> I enjoy this setup for several reasons.  First, using the VPS I have
> flexibility to design my email and whatever other "always on" services I
> want w/o having to worry about the infrastructure or security concerns
> of running it from my home server.  My VPS host also provides a simple
> web interface for me to download regular "snapshot" (tar.gz) backups of
> my VPS to allow for instant restore if there was ever a catastrophic
> failure (or closure) on their end.  I currently use Debian but there are
> several distros available.

-like the backup snapshot via interface.. again who is your vps provider?
-how is running DNS privately outside of your host provider a benefit for
you?

> Second, using EveryDNS I can configure whatever DNS needs I have using
> Bind on my VPS and then set EveryDNS to provide slave servers; which is
> where I actually point my domains so that my VPS doesn't have to handle
> public DNS queries.

- can you explain the benefit of this.  i'm not sure i see it?

> Third, I use Dreamhost.com as my webhost so my VPS doesn't have to
> handle the load or security of serving public www.  It's actually
> cheaper to pay for separate webhosting than it would be to beef up my
> VPS service to handle decent public web services with http/php/mysql.
>
> Overall this runs me around $40/mo.  $32/mo for the VPS (256 ram, 12GB
> disk, 256GB monthly bandwidth and 3 public IPs) and $8/mo for the
> webhosting (20 GB diskspace, 1 TB monthly bandwidth, unlimited # of
> hosted domains, etc).  Plus I also try to be a good netizen and donate a
> bit annually to support EveryDNS.

i'm trying to wrap my head around your setup but i'm having a hard time
with the benefits of just letting your host provider handle those same
services.  something tells me you have many website clients. if it's
possible, could you provide an example site and how the pieces are fitting
together.. if not that's ok too?