running my own server

Where do you buy larger connections from?

[musicales]

Anyone in the UK know where I can look into getting a >2Mbps connection so I can run my own server?
I'd like to be able to run it from my garage, is it possible to get a connection/leased line to do that? BT offers 2Mbps max with no guarantees it won't be a lot worse during peak times.

[UDaMan]

BT, or you may want to contact your local cable provider, they tend to try and undercut the prices of BT. If you see a reduction in speed for the leased line I would log it as a fault call with the provider, the main affect on speed will be from bottlenecks up/downstream of your leased line. The other option (with a much lower initial cost) of course is to co-locate your server. The larger cities have data centers that you can rent space in for your server and amongst other benefits they supply all the necessary power and manage the physical security of your server. The downside of co-locating? Well the server isn't in your garage so when you need access to it is further than a stagger across the driveway.

[jason77]

How much traffic do you get per month?

2MBits would be 648 Gigabyte/month!

[musicales]

I get 3-400 GB a month, off a number of sites. There's a daytime peak for a few hours. On my current hosts if they limit me to 2Mbs the sites visible slow down, so I need it to be burstable more than that.