Wednesday September 15, 2004 (02:00 PM GMT)
By: Tina Gasperson
If you were a musician who decided to
start an
Internet business, but you didn't know a thing about running a Web
server, what would you do? Some people might farm it out, but for Tom
Kramer, who found all his cash flow sailing toward his colocation
vendor, the cost was prohibitive. His only option was to learn how to
do it himself, on Linux.
Thatdoesn't have to be a daunting
task anymore, in part because of the maturation of all-in-one Linux
server products.
Kramer runs 440music.com, a Web site he
created to help independent artists highlight their work. It is also a
showcase for his other business, Tecnet
Internet Maintenance Service. He said he sends potential clients to
440music.com to give them ideas about "what they can do with the
Internet."
A guitarist from Chicago, Kramer
had big dreams for his
music back in the late '80s and early '90s. "I traveled about six and a
half years," he said. "I'd stay in a town for four or five months
trying to get my music exposed." He found himself playing in nightclubs
around the Midwest, as well as picking up a traditional gig now and
then working with family members' businesses.
Later, he settled back in Chicago
and began running
nightly jam sessions that were fun, but didn't produce the kind of
money or recognition from record labels that Kramer had hoped for. "I
always felt that if I could have gotten together with a record label I
could have made it. I could have filled stadiums," he said.
He decided to give up and go for a
career in an
industry that would provide a more reliable income. Still, Kramer never
forgot about the plight of independent artists like himself who just
wanted to be discovered. As he learned more about the World Wide Web,
he knew he could provide an Internet site that would provide needed
exposure, without the expense and time commitment of traveling the
country trying to pick up unfruitful nightclub gigs.
At the time he was reselling
colocated server space and
paying about $400 a month for the privilege, which was just about all
he was bringing in. Common sense said he needed to find a more
economical way to manage the business. While he was out browsing a
local computer shop one day, he stumbled across a returned NetMAX
Network Server that was marked down from $79. "I saw this orange box
and it said 'Web server.' It had this kind of GUI interface, and I
said, 'I gotta try this.'"
Kramer said it took less than 30
minutes for him to set
up a Web server on his home ADSL line with a static IP address. He put
up a test site to see if it the NetMAX product was as easy as the
instructions promised. As he realized he really could handle it, he
started to change all his clients' colocated Web sites over and
increased his bandwidth accordingly. That was back in 1999, and that's
when 440music.com came online.
NetMAX's Network Server product
runs on Red Hat Linux,
but there are other all-in-one Linux server products out there being
used by the "little guys." Nitix,
for example, is a custom-built flavor of Linux produced by Net
Integration Technologies, Inc. Nitix is specifically geared toward
all-in-one server applications for small- to medium-sized businesses
and organizations, like Maple
Ridge Community Church in Lafayette, Ind.
Maple Ridge was outgrowing its
office space and its
computer power. Bill Ooms of Business System Solutions recommended a
Nitix server to the church leaders. He helped them install and
configure the server, and the staff is happy. They're hosting their own
Web site, sharing calendars and schedules, and viewing email online
with Nitix's Web mail feature.
As for Kramer, he's been a loyal
NetMAX Network Server
customer for five years now, even referring his clients and friends to
the "server in a box."
"One of my clients, Lee Street Apartment Rentals,
had been having trouble with his Microsoft server," Kramer said. "It
was crashing on him all the time. I told him about the system I was
using -- I gave him my old one. He started doing everything I was
doing."
As for 440music, it appears that
Kramer hasn't totally
escaped the financial paucity of the musician's life. A blog entry
dated August 25 reads, "On Aug 24 we were off line for 24 hours due to
lack of money. If you want to make a donation to support Indie Music
and 440music.com we will not refuse."
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