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<p>Hi Mark,</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestion about using a raspberry pi to host it
myself. I hadn't really considered it.</p>
<p>On the one hand, as a software developer by trade, there's
something appealing about not having to deal with the hassle of
hosting everything myself (the devops side of things).<br>
</p>
<p>On the other hand, I feel like I'd probably learn a lot by
configuring everything myself, which wouldn't be bad in the long
run. Plus, it'd be setup exactly like I'd want it, and maybe even
be cheaper in the long run.</p>
<p>Do you have any recommendations, in terms of firewall? There's
(obviously) a software firewall built into my cable modem. Would
you consider that as sufficient, or would you recommend getting
another piece of hardware?<br>
</p>
<p>Thanks again,<br>
</p>
<p>~Peter</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/20/21 10:40 AM, Mark D. Hamill
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAB22ZO8SgF=poPybJm0vBpLs4UyKUNG8qcorXB_SX5GC8zYsyg@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="ltr">If this is strictly for use by friends and family
and you expect low usage there may be a low cost alternative and
host it yourself but make it publicly available. It's amazing
what you can do with a static IP, a Raspberry Pi and a network
firewall. This video talks about putting a website on the dark
web hosted in your house but it would apply as well if you don't
want it to be on the dark web. Food for thought:
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bllS9tkCkaM"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bllS9tkCkaM</a><br>
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<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Dec 20, 2021 at 10:29
AM Peter S via Hidden-discuss <<a
href="mailto:hidden-discuss@lists.hidden-tech.net"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">hidden-discuss@lists.hidden-tech.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>Hello Hidden Techers,</p>
<p>I want to apologize up front for what is a serious
'newbie' question.. but I was hoping to draw from your
collective wisdom, if possible.<br>
</p>
<p>I've built a small website that essentially aggregates
all of my home utility data (from the various utility
websites) into one dashboard. It's been a personal
project of mine for the past few years, written in Django,
that I've essentially developed/hosted on my home Linux
server. Its written to be scalable, so that it works for
any US State/City, assuming the web crawlers were written
for the utility web sites. I see this as a hobby venture
(that could grow to be more).</p>
<p>I'd like to go live with it, and make it available to
some of my friends/family, if they were interested in
using it.</p>
<p>While I've been buttoning up things from a security
perspective, I've also been researching the associated
costs of actually running a website. <br>
</p>
<p>Specifically:</p>
<ol>
<li>Purchasing/Sustaining a domain name via Namecheap</li>
<li>Web hosting (maybe multiple nodes... one for main
Django app, one for Redis Queue workers, one for Splash
Javascript rendering support) via Digital Ocean, Heroku,
or AWS.<br>
</li>
<li>Email Hosting..<br>
</li>
<li>(Possibly) SSL Certificate purchase</li>
<li>More?</li>
</ol>
<p>I haven't yet decided on which hosting services etc to
use (multiple topics for other conversations). My
assumption is that in the short (and most likely long
term) this won't turn a profit, and would just be a small
money hole.<br>
</p>
<p>I thought it might make sense to at least capture these
costs under some sort of 'small business' umbrella. My
naive hope is that maybe it would have positive tax
implications.<br>
</p>
<p>I've never started a business of any kind before. <br>
</p>
<p>So.. what do I need to do? I need to get an EIN from the
IRS. I've heard an LLC may be more than I need. What
would be your suggested approach? <br>
</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your time and wisdom (and patience
for my newbie question),</p>
<p>~Peter</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
</div>
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