Hello,

Have you considered using a local server to run Windows, IIS and CP while saving all your websites on OneDrive and utilizing its bandwidth and speed? This approach, as opposed to pure cloud hosting, could drastically reduce costs.

Do you have any suggestions for setting up this kind of system? Although my current test site has limited upload speed, I was able to use it through OneDrive achieving speeds higher than 3gbs. With a bit more work, I believe even an old dial-up modem with physical servers from 15 years ago can outperform many well-known cloud hosting services. You could potentially get 5 times better service for 75% lower prices.

I've compared my results with Amazon Cloud using a 15-year-old laptop (not a server but a €300 laptop) and sometimes achieve better performance with my setup. Thank you for your comments.

Although your proposed solution is technically feasible, it may result in slow load times. However, this issue can potentially be mitigated by utilizing local caching. It is worth noting that executing ASP, PHP scripts, and other similar processes would be slow due to the need for IO to go over the network and back again for every file, particularly since scripts often rely on including other files.

 Additionally, static content such as images, CSS, and JavaScript would need to be downloaded to the local machine before being sent to the visitor, effectively doubling your overall traffic for each file. Though local caching can help, even distributed file systems like Ceph recommend a dedicated link with at least 10 Gbps connection to the storage.

It seems like you have yet to test this solution from outside your own local network. If you were to do so, you would likely experience painfully slow results. If you don't require cloud services or load balancing capabilities, using shared hosting may be a better option.

It's important to note that no reputable or well-known provider would ever advise running production environments on a desktop PC or local server connected to the internet. By "hybrid," they typically mean servers hosted in data centers or Microsoft Azure Stack devices hosted in properly managed facilities with limited access controlled by IT departments, usually kept in air-conditioned rooms.

Veeam, a leading manufacturer of tools for ensuring virtual datacenter availability, has announced the availability of a new version (v5) of Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office. This solution allows users to back up and restore Microsoft Office data from the cloud or local Microsoft Exchange, OneDrive, and Sharepoint data.

There are several new features in this updated version, including support for Microsoft Teams. Many enterprise administrators utilize Microsoft Teams to establish a collaborative environment for teams of various sizes, and this solution now enables the backup of these settings using a Microsoft API. With this API, administrators can seamlessly organize backup and recovery of Microsoft Teams environments for SharePoint Online, Exchange, and OneDrive by identifying associated data points with each channel.

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Teams also offers recovery capabilities for channels, settings, access rights, applications, and tabs along with their respective data and components.

Setting up a local server to run Windows, IIS, and CP while utilizing OneDrive for website storage can indeed be a cost-effective approach. Here are a few suggestions for setting up this kind of system:

1. Hardware Requirements: Ensure that your hardware meets the minimum requirements for running Windows, IIS, and your desired control panel (CP).

2. Network Considerations: Make sure you have a stable and reliable internet connection with sufficient upload and download speeds. Also, check if your ISP allows hosting services on residential connections.

3. Install Windows Server: Set up a server operating system like Windows Server to take advantage of its features optimized for hosting websites and applications.

4. Install IIS: Enable Internet Information Services (IIS) on your server, which will allow you to host websites and serve them over HTTP.

5. Install Control Panel: Choose a suitable control panel (CP), such as Plesk or cPanel, and install it on your server to simplify website management tasks, such as domain setup, email accounts, and database management.

6. Configure OneDrive: Set up OneDrive on your server and configure it to sync your website files to the cloud. This will provide backup and remote access to your files.

7. Security Considerations: Implement necessary security measures, including firewalls, SSL certificates, and regular software updates, to protect your server and hosted websites from potential threats.

8. Performance Optimization: Fine-tune your server settings, such as caching, compression, and network configuration, to optimize performance and achieve better speed.

While this setup may offer cost savings, keep in mind that it also comes with potential challenges, such as maintaining hardware, ensuring reliable internet connectivity, and handling security and performance optimizations. It's essential to carefully evaluate the suitability of this approach for your specific needs and consider the trade-offs involved.