Unix Shell Account or Web Hosting Plan

[Floog]

Hi Folks: I hope this question is not too far off-topic for the LNO. I've been doing some research but still can't get a strong picture in my mind about the capabilities of a Unix Shell Account, as opposed to a regular web-hosting plan. I've been reading stuff on http://net.gurus.com/shell/ and www.risingnet.com. (http://www.risingnet.com.) Since I am using Slackware 8.0, I thought there might be others who use shell accounts and could share some insights.

Issue:
I just registered a domain name yesterday - floog.net.
I don't want a traditional website. What I do want is a permanent email address using this domain name and plenty of storage space for it: 100 - 500 megs.
I want to be able to access stored email and files from any computer in the world that can establish a connection to the internet, and then telnet into this account to upload/download mail and stored files from this site. I am assuming (maybe erroneously) that most Windows OS's can do telnet stuff by using the Dos command screen. Since I am often stuck in a Windows environment due to business and client demands, I need this "storage" and "file-trading" account to be accessible equally by *nix and Windows machines.

I also want the ability to give others access to the site in a limited capacity to upload and download stored data. I guess I want to be able to create "users" and set up parameters for their access.

Can I do all of this with a Unix Shell Account? Or do I need a website with ftp capabilities built into it?

Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Mike Flug

[evulish]

I don't know if you can make your own users in a shell but the rest of the stuff you probably can do.

You can always buy an old 486 or old pentium and stick slack on it...You won't need to pay anyone for it unless you want a T1 or something. Most sites that are starting up usually don't need much bandwidth :)

You could run an ftp, ssh, and sendmail, and apache to do that stuff.

[Unruly]

why would you need a shell account when you already have one?

basically, do what evulish says, and then set up a remote login server, and make sure whenever you connect to the net elsewhere, that you have a proper client for said server...

an example would be...
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/

[Floog]

This sounds good, but am I correct in assuming that I will have to maintain a 24/7 connection to the internet so that I can "login" in to my linux machine?

I have a dial-up account and cannot maintain a 24-hour connection.

Please tell me more, and in the mean-time I will do some reading about remote loging servers.

Thanks for your help.

Mike

Originally posted by Unruly:
<STRONG>why would you need a shell account when you already have one?

basically, do what evulish says, and then set up a remote login server, and make sure whenever you connect to the net elsewhere, that you have a proper client for said server...

an example would be...
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/</STRONG>

[StanLin]

No, you don't need 24/7 connection. Just leave your modem on after having inserted the following to your /etc/inittab file:

S1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -n 3 -x 3 ttyS1

or some other options suitable for you.

At your client's place, login using hyperterminal.

For further reference: http://alpha.greenie.net/mgetty/

[Taizong]

You can ssh or telnet between hosts running diffrent OS's without a hitch. I would suggest using SSH (www.openssh.com) for remote logins. There is a good client for Windows systems called Putty. You can get it off download.com. Communicating with your box won't be a problem regardless of where you are or what you're running.

You are going to have a web hoster handle your domain correct? If this is the case, most web hosters place your site on a server running Apache as a virtual domain, meaning you will be sharing that system with many other users (and in most cases only get one mySQL database). If this is the case, you most likely will never have the type of control you seek. With most web hosters, the shewll account amounts to a csh with the ability to use pine and move files and such around (basic file system stuff), but no real control, as you are on their system with a ton of other people. There are some web hosters that will afford you such control, although none come to mind.