From owner-freebsd-isp Fri Apr 11 17:49:13 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id RAA05110 for isp-outgoing; Fri, 11 Apr 1997 17:49:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.MCESTATE.COM (mail.MCESTATE.COM [207.211.200.50]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA05100 for ; Fri, 11 Apr 1997 17:49:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost (vince@localhost) by mail.MCESTATE.COM (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA17636; Fri, 11 Apr 1997 17:49:03 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 17:49:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Vincent Poy To: Neal cc: isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: TS Holy War (was Re: Some advice needed.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-isp@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Neal wrote: > On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Vincent Poy wrote: > > > On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Neal wrote: > > > > > My general impression of Annex has been a screamed NO. But bear in mind > > > that's just an impression. > > > > Hmm, any reasoning behind this though? > > Not really, just a "feel". I probably should have thought more before > typing that. The jury is instructed to ignore the remark. Oh okay, I thought you knew something bad about it that I didn't. > > > Now, a couple little thoughts just from me: > > > > > > 1:If you're strapped for cash, don't even try to start. You need to be > > > able to count on anywhere from $100,000-300,000 to run. > > > > Does it really take that much? How does the money break down? > > Yes. Easily. I believe we're at $500,000 now. The problem is that it > takes forever(we've been going to >2 years, and we're just now "close") to > break even. Hmm, seems like your costs are a lot more than what we need to pay.. > Breakdown: > > $3k/month T1 to net $1.45k/month T1 to the backbone > $325/month per PRI(or $410 per 23 analog lines) Not sure about this one. > $1000/month office space, etc.(rent, utilities) We don't need this since it's already a audio business. > $5k+ employees. You save on this if you go with no help, but it sucks. > = $9k/month expenses without leasing equipment. Everyone who works is part of the company's ownership so this eliminates that part. > Startup equipment: > > $17k Max 4000. What is a Max 4000? > $1500 Cisco 2501. Doesn't a Cisco 2501 cost more than $1500? A FreeBSD based PC with a ET card costs about the same I think or should be less. > $???? computers/servers(at least 1, call it $2k per) > = $20k startup. You really need more, i.e. seperate news/mail/web. Hmmm, can't the mail, web be the same machine while news is on a dedicated machine? > Of course, I _might_ be inflating the number here. It was actually > considerably more expensive to do this two years ago. But I'm not > considering startup costs for the T1 or PRI. Oh okay, are the costs of T1 lines going up or down these days? > > > > Doesn't it actually cost for incoming for ISDN lines? > > No. We pay $325/month/PRI with no "per usage" pricing. The hitch is it's > incoming only, but I think we'll live. Outgoing is $.05/minute. So it works more like a business analog line then, paying for outgoing but incoming is still free. > > Hmmm, what about if you wanted to start out small and then expand > > as business grows? > > That's my argument about using BSD boxes. They're cheaper to start up > with. When you get to the point that $14000 doesn't phase you, THEN you > get the big boxes. How much cheaper are BSD boxes compared to the big boxes? > > Hmmm, you're talking about the router or the terminal server or > > their modems? > > Yes :). I've used their "terminal server". I did some work with a > University that had Telebit modems that locked up about 8 times a day. > I wasn't aware they made a router. I never knew they made a terminal server. The router is called the NetBlazer. > The terminal server was a 386sx-16. Now its a 486dx2-66(I believe). > Their tech support was miserable then(it might be better now, this was 1.5 > year ago). They had a callback system. They would "try" to get back to > you within three days. They did make the best modems at one point and their tech support was good when they were just modem only though. Cheers, Vince - vince@MCESTATE.COM - vince@GAIANET.NET ________ __ ____ Unix Networking Operations - FreeBSD-Real Unix for Free / / / / | / |[__ ] GaiaNet Corporation - M & C Estate / / / / | / | __] ] Beverly Hills, California USA 90210 / / / / / |/ / | __] ] HongKong Stars/Gravis UltraSound Mailing Lists Admin /_/_/_/_/|___/|_|[____]