Running SQL server from home

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Xon

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Hi to all,

I’m planning on running a server from home. This server will be mostly used for running Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and may receive up to thousands of SQL queries daily.

Any help on the following points will be greatly appreciated:
• What would be the requirements for running such a server (for example 4 mb/s adsl connection with static IP)?
• What would be the cheapest recommended internet connection for this use?
• Recommendations on which services (for example online hosts) to use for backing up data on this server.
• Any tips or suggestions especially from people who might have done this from before are welcome.

Thanks in advance for anyone’s help or insight.
 
Haven't done it before but I would imagine you need to check what your kind of data throughput you'll require for the expected load before deciding on bandwidth. Depending on what type of operation you'll be running, remember that most ADSL providers don't offer a SLA unless you're taking a higher-end package: for this reason a lot of larger businesses that are heavily dependent on data take "business" packages with Telkom and pay exorbitant fees but with the contractual agreement that uptime (or extremely minimal downtime) is guaranteed. Generally, assuming there's a front-end (e.g. website), queries comprise a tiny fraction of the total data moved across the wire so the bulk of your costs will be the presenting the user interface. In that respect, you may be better off with a professional hosting company as opposed to doing in on-site (unless you have the money and resources to support it). On the other hand, if this is just going to be a service interface (e.g. web service or similar technology) you may have fairly low data requirements unless your datasets are huge in which case you're back at square one and will probably need a large pipe with (no) or extremely high data limits. In terms of backups, you can probably use any online host but make sure you have contractual agreements if your data is worth a lot and if you're storing sensitive data, will need a secure way (e.g. SSL) of transferring data over public networks. Alternatively, may want to investigate local companies that provide off-site backups.

BTW, have you looked into SQL Server licensing? I did a while back and it's fairly complicated and expensive.
 
Any specific reason why you want to run it at home? Hosting at home can be very expensive especially with high volume / availability and in most cases you can achieve the same through a service provider. Look at for example Microsoft's cloud services -- more specifically SQL azure http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlazure/purchase.aspx

You can also look at amazon, google and vmware who also offer cloud services.
 
why not just host it on a vps with rackspace etc?
no hardware issues, downtime issues, redundancy problems, security issues etc. you get scalable instances, cheap fast bandwidth, and good support.
i'm just not sure that you can do the same thing better than them without the same economies of scale and experience.
 
What are the upload speeds with various ADSL packages there days? This will kill your business case. Leased line cost is gonna kill you. A cloud service is probably a better idea.
 
Sorry for my delayed reply.
To tell the truth I need to set up the server for a client, I did make the proposal of making use of Services like Rackspace but due to the sensitivity of the content of the databases the client must run the server himself. Except for the cost of the hardware, the client wants the cheapest possible internet connection. We determined the amount of traffic the server will receive due to queries will most likely not exceed 2GB a month (over time this value will gradually increase), taking this into account (as well as the monthly traffic for backups) , I believe for now an internet connection with 5-10GB cap will be enough.
I’m using Microsoft SQL Server R2 express, do you still require a license when deploying such a server?
At the moment I am considering a Neotel’s WiMax for R1300 p.m with 1 Mbps peak download and 768 Kbps peak upload and 5 static IPs, would anyone else also recommend it?
Thank you to the people who took time to try and assist me.
 
Recommendation - before deploying wireless technologies, first test for coverage thoroughly.

As for ADSL - check for open port and exchange availability, and line speed.
 
• What would be the requirements for running such a server (for example 4 mb/s adsl connection with static IP)?
You will need to calculate running database size, index size, memory allocation and required sql query queue vs data transmit speed.
What you're looking for it the point where requests for data are arriving faster than they can be transmitted, resulting in the requests being placed into the sql server queue, which will fill up, resulting in the requesting software timing-out.
i.e. Run tests on the actual "equipment" with actual data at about 4x maximum expected load, and make sure that the rate that data is being transmitted is quick enough.
Remember that ADSL is excellent at receiving data, but, the size of the data that ADSL can transmit is a lot less.

• What would be the cheapest recommended internet connection for this use?
A 10MB ADSL line, on a local-only data package if appropriate.

• Recommendations on which services (for example online hosts) to use for backing up data on this server.
Use SQL server's backup command to backup the data to a different disk, copy the disk backups onto a tape device and store the tapes off-site. Remember that you will struggle to transmit a backup to an online service whilst the line is busy.

• Any tips or suggestions especially from people who might have done this from before are welcome.
Change the port number being used.
Consider enabling SQL server secure mode (encrypted), but if things go wrong, this is often more of a headache than it's worth.
Is there a reason that MySQL or another free DBMS would not suffice?
The norm with this kind of service is to build a web interface or web service on top of the hosted sql server that can only answer the correct queries, with sql injection protection, this helps to prevent hackers from getting into sql server (once they have found out the port number) and running a "drop database" command or some such destructive stuff. Is there a reason that you must open up sql server natively to the internet?
 
If the data is 'sensitive' and they are worried about it, I would stick a VPN between the front end server and the DB. The upload and uptime are going to be the deal breakers if it was me.
 
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If this system requires any kind of specific Uptime values... then running it at home on an ADSL line is the worst possible solution.
 
And "security" at home is anything but secure. A hosting facility is far better and do not write off Amazon. We are using Amazon with great success for our applications & databases which we also need to protect.
 
Any of the Cloud services, or professional hosting solutions will be considerably MORE secure than anything you can setup in your house...
 
B.O.F.H. said:
Any of the Cloud services, or professional hosting solutions will be considerably MORE secure than anything you can setup in your house...
Click to expand...

^ What he said. Putting up a database on an ADSL line is asking for problems. Its going to be incredibly easy to hold that data to ransom if any of the ddos gangs out there find out about that server. Which they will after a couple of automated scans. I would go with proper data center. There is loads more sensitive data at these data centers than some arb business`s company records.

If you really want real secure hosting, pm me. I can organize you an untouchable server in Sweden in a nuclear bunker.
 
Xon said:
Sorry for my delayed reply.
To tell the truth I need to set up the server for a client, I did make the proposal of making use of Services like Rackspace but due to the sensitivity of the content of the databases the client must run the server himself. Except for the cost of the hardware, the client wants the cheapest possible internet connection. We determined the amount of traffic the server will receive due to queries will most likely not exceed 2GB a month (over time this value will gradually increase), taking this into account (as well as the monthly traffic for backups) , I believe for now an internet connection with 5-10GB cap will be enough.
I’m using Microsoft SQL Server R2 express, do you still require a license when deploying such a server?
At the moment I am considering a Neotel’s WiMax for R1300 p.m with 1 Mbps peak download and 768 Kbps peak upload and 5 static IPs, would anyone else also recommend it?
Thank you to the people who took time to try and assist me.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind security re the "sensitivity of the content"; something that is both costly and challenging to secure adequately when open to the Internet. If it's really that sensitive then access should be restricted to secured VPN only with a minimum of 2 firewalls (different products).

I still think you're better off with one of the professional cloud services (all which offer a range of security options as well) -- and better yet they provide the data surety not you.
 
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