Office Space

If you’re going to host things yourself, then from the get-go you’re going to need to rent some space. Don’t give in to the temptation to host things at your house or apartment. Why?

1. You really don’t want to commingle business and personal and open yourself up to being personally liable.
2. You’ll need space to grow, and your house is less likely to accommodate that as gracefully as an office.
3. Server equipment is loud, hot, and blinky.

So what will you need?

1. a networked office, plus your own:
   • router
   • switches
   • firewall
2. servers
   • hardware
   • software licenses
   • power backups
   • data backups
3. significant bandwidth
4. physical security monitoring
5. money for rent & utilities
6. insurance
7. time to get there/back home
8. car/public transportation

Cloud and client-premises hardware will keep you more mobile and keep your initial outlay and overhead down, although it comes with the acceptance of your data residing out of your physical control.

Whether you invest in an office or work from the cloud, you’ll need the bandwidth at home, in your office, and on the road. Research the best available bandwidth in your area and whether you can afford it.