Have you considered just getting a hefty intarweb pipe to your abode (as much as you can get for $100/month) and a really basic computer - for hosting a website all you need is a processor/m.board/HD/RAM/case, and they don't need to be top notch, graphics, network sound can all be onboard. You can then do whatever you want with it.
You could go with a cheaper connection (say $75/month) and put the extra $25/month that you would be spending down towards the comp, $25 x 12 months = $300.
Quick bit of pricing from overclockers.co.uk:
Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton), retail box set (with 'sink & fan): £55.00
Asus socket A motherboard, no onboard graphics: £29.95
Seagate Barracuda HD, 40Gb, 7,200 RPM £31.00
GeForce MX4000 64Mb graphics £23.50
512Mb Crucial DDR memory £47.50
Asus CD drive £ 8.75
Aopen case £39.95
Floppy drive £ 6.50
Sundries (thermal paste, cables, etc.) £15.00
Grand total £ 257.15
plus VAT at 17.5% (I'm not sure if you'll have to pay this, but I'll add it on)
Total + VAT £302.15
Convert to US dollars: $543.37
So. If you save $25 on what you'd usually pay for hosting, you'd make up the cost of the computer in 22 months. If you consider that you can get some of those things cheaper too (my case cost me £19.99 at a local shop, for instance), it could be less. Oh, and you'll be buying in the US, so just about everything will be cheaper again.
Granted, you'd have to pay for electricity, and have to worry about the technicalities (and worry about power outages, but you can get a UPS for ~£70), security, etc.
Once the computer is "paid for" with savings from hosting cost, the computer will be using 3-4 units of leccy per day. Staying at 4, for a 30.5 day month is 122 units, I don't know how much a unit of electricity is, but 122 units will be less than $25.
Ok. Bandwidth. 100Gb/month. That's 100x1024x1024x1024x8 = 858,993,459,200 bits
----------------------
60 x 60 x 24 x 30.5 = 2,635,200 second
Which is 325,964 bits/S
Which is 326 Kbit/S pipe. Which is puny. (that's the upload capacity [roughly] of my ISP's domestic 1.5Mb down connection at £37/month)
A dedicated 512Kb/S each way connection would see you through fine, assuming constant & even traffic. 1Mb/s should get you through peak activity. Just make sure that you get a commercial line which allows you to host servers. And get a static IP.
Hmm, although those might be more expensive. I have spent almost an hour trying to find some prices, but not a single website wants to tell me prices without me giving them a phone number to 'check availabilty'...
However, 1.5Mb/384Kb seems to be going at around $69.95, although that is ADSL rather than a 'proper' connection, like cable. (I have cable, so I like to think that it's the only proper connection. Humour me).
Now, remember that my 326Kb/Sec was based on 100Gb transfer/month. Like you said, it's rare for us to get anywhere near that, and it's closer to 25Gb/month. That's about 83Kb/Sec. 384Kb/sec should cover peaks in that nicely. And overall the connection can still pump the 100Gb/month that you want, it'll just be slower during peaks with that demand.
Ok, so it'll be hard, not much cheaper & a good reason to tear your hair out.
But don't dismiss the idea out of hand, afterall, you started the lounge for a learning experience with HTML.
-Bob
edit: a) the formatting on my maths is messed up, I didn't type it that way
B) I spot that someone else has posted my idea before me. I started writing this post at 3:30 PM, went to watch TV for a few hours & finished it at 7:20. That's why the idea has been 'reposted' an hour later.
You could go with a cheaper connection (say $75/month) and put the extra $25/month that you would be spending down towards the comp, $25 x 12 months = $300.
Quick bit of pricing from overclockers.co.uk:
Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton), retail box set (with 'sink & fan): £55.00
Asus socket A motherboard, no onboard graphics: £29.95
Seagate Barracuda HD, 40Gb, 7,200 RPM £31.00
GeForce MX4000 64Mb graphics £23.50
512Mb Crucial DDR memory £47.50
Asus CD drive £ 8.75
Aopen case £39.95
Floppy drive £ 6.50
Sundries (thermal paste, cables, etc.) £15.00
Grand total £ 257.15
plus VAT at 17.5% (I'm not sure if you'll have to pay this, but I'll add it on)
Total + VAT £302.15
Convert to US dollars: $543.37
So. If you save $25 on what you'd usually pay for hosting, you'd make up the cost of the computer in 22 months. If you consider that you can get some of those things cheaper too (my case cost me £19.99 at a local shop, for instance), it could be less. Oh, and you'll be buying in the US, so just about everything will be cheaper again.
Granted, you'd have to pay for electricity, and have to worry about the technicalities (and worry about power outages, but you can get a UPS for ~£70), security, etc.
Once the computer is "paid for" with savings from hosting cost, the computer will be using 3-4 units of leccy per day. Staying at 4, for a 30.5 day month is 122 units, I don't know how much a unit of electricity is, but 122 units will be less than $25.
Ok. Bandwidth. 100Gb/month. That's 100x1024x1024x1024x8 = 858,993,459,200 bits
----------------------
60 x 60 x 24 x 30.5 = 2,635,200 second
Which is 325,964 bits/S
Which is 326 Kbit/S pipe. Which is puny. (that's the upload capacity [roughly] of my ISP's domestic 1.5Mb down connection at £37/month)
A dedicated 512Kb/S each way connection would see you through fine, assuming constant & even traffic. 1Mb/s should get you through peak activity. Just make sure that you get a commercial line which allows you to host servers. And get a static IP.
Hmm, although those might be more expensive. I have spent almost an hour trying to find some prices, but not a single website wants to tell me prices without me giving them a phone number to 'check availabilty'...
However, 1.5Mb/384Kb seems to be going at around $69.95, although that is ADSL rather than a 'proper' connection, like cable. (I have cable, so I like to think that it's the only proper connection. Humour me).
Now, remember that my 326Kb/Sec was based on 100Gb transfer/month. Like you said, it's rare for us to get anywhere near that, and it's closer to 25Gb/month. That's about 83Kb/Sec. 384Kb/sec should cover peaks in that nicely. And overall the connection can still pump the 100Gb/month that you want, it'll just be slower during peaks with that demand.
Ok, so it'll be hard, not much cheaper & a good reason to tear your hair out.
But don't dismiss the idea out of hand, afterall, you started the lounge for a learning experience with HTML.
-Bob
edit: a) the formatting on my maths is messed up, I didn't type it that way
B) I spot that someone else has posted my idea before me. I started writing this post at 3:30 PM, went to watch TV for a few hours & finished it at 7:20. That's why the idea has been 'reposted' an hour later.