11:53, Tuesday 13 Dec., 2005 Link

Hosting or All Good Things Must Come to an End: These words are held on a machine called www.interconnected.org. It's also called www.schulzeandwebb.com and www.mindhacks.com. Authoritatively, so far as the internet and DNS are concerned, it's really called www.historicalfact.com.

historicalfact.com, created on 23 November, 1999. It wasn't the first domain I bought (that was interconnected.org, created on 15 January, 1999) but it was the first on a server I administered myself. It was also the first on a machine I built from components, installed, looked after, stayed up all night fixing, didn't back up enough, and eventually moved all my other sites over to. The server is my secure host to send mail; it accepts email (with secure IMAP and webmail) and runs websites for a dozen or more domains, is a primary and secondary DNS for yet more domains, runs my databases, holds my email archives, is a host for a few of my close friends, my code repository, a testbed for my public and private projects... and more.

For the last 6 years, historicalfact has been sitting first in a cupboard and then in a fancy rack on a posh datafloor, thanks to the enormous generosity of my friends at Cambro and Don't Stay In. Now they're growing up, and I must move on. But where next?

Ideally I'd like: A whole server (so I wouldn't be scared about bringing down other sites. Maybe a good virtual one would do) which I administer myself (so pre-installed with Debian or FreeBSD), where somebody else looks after the hardware and mirrors the hard-drive nightly. Any suggestions?

Perhaps I should change the way I host all my services. I'm not sure who I'd trust with my email archive, and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my code repository... but it would be good to see some options. Recommendations most welcome.