Book: "Creating a SAAS hosting company for $25"

Hello,

I'd like to get some feedback on the idea of writing a small book on the use of FreeBSD. It should allow a jr. linux/unix admin to learn to use FreeBSD in a very efficient way.

I'm creating a lot of documentation whenever I install or tweak things on my FreeBSD server, and I want to share the most practical information with anyone that is interested. Next to bringing out a book, I'm thinking about sharing this information online.

The reason that I started to work on this, is because I always end up reading 6 books or install guides to get 1 important application or feature to do what I want. And over time, sometimes I forget important details of an install process. Furthermore, because I document so much in detail, I save a lot of time, and this way I learn a lot about hosting on FreeBSD.

The idea is to combine information on the following subjects.

INTRO
- starting a hosting company (short business plan)
- FreeBSD 8 and it's possibilities
- Designing a flexible and secure hosting/development platform

BASIC SETUP
- Using FreeBSD Jails
- Setup PF
- Proxying with Apache, Nginx or Lighttpd
- Setup database systems (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
- Setup SAAS applications (RoR environments, eCommerce, collaboration, etc)
- Use OpenSSL


INTERMEDIATE SETUP
- Packaging software for later use
- System automation (cron, backup scripts, etc.)
- Monitoring your system
- Using Dtrace for various reasons
- When and how to utilize ZFS (optionally in jails)


ADVANCED SETUP
- VIMAGE (network stack virtualization)
- PF block tables and more
- Intrusion detection
- Mandatory Access Control
- Filesystem based ACL's



What do you think? Is it too much for 1 book? Should I focus on certain unmentioned areas?

What book are you missing on hosting various public services?


thanks for your time


Best regards,
Jelmer
 
I'd read it too. One thing I don't understand - the $25. Is that what you would charge for your book? Somehow I think it would cost more than that to set up the business. ;)

But hey, there isn't even a book out on freebsd 8.0 AFAIK, so you'll get people buying it on that basis alone.
 
heh, that reminds me of:

teach-yourself.png
 
I guess I shouldn't have put that title in this thread.

what I meant is that the $25 p/month is spent on a VPS for a startup company.

once you provide some paid services, you could move to a dedicated platform.
 
jdereus said:
What do you think? Is it too much for 1 book? Should I focus on certain unmentioned areas?

What book are you missing on hosting various public services?


thanks for your time


Best regards,
Jelmer

Sounds very interesting. I would also include a lot of information on high availability. This is a rare topic to find in a book.

Regards,

George
 
Thanks George,

HA is well worth describing. I'm just thinking that the issue with HA and the other 'Advanced' subjects, is that this deserves it's own book.

however, I could combine material in 1 book for startup hosting initiatives (with some business goals and a lot of text to help relative newcomers), and produce a 'part 2' with the best possible way to do hosting and networking in larger setups. I'm starting to work for a large hosting company starting next Monday, so this is a great place to see in practice what's best for various setups :)

I'll think hard on this. I want readers to have very targeted and practical information. I have read a book called 'Networking with FreeBSD 7' which is explaining quite a lot on HA and networking. I enjoyed reading it and utilizing it.
 
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