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[Quinn]

So you want to set up a minecraft server? The very first thing you have to decide is how and with who are you going to host it with. There are three general options, which are:

• Getting hosting from a minecraft "company"
• Paying for a VPS
• Paying for a Dedicated server

Lets start with the first one, paying a minecraft "company" (and I use the term lightly). What's great about this option is the setup, which is often done for you. This (obviously) minimizes your workload. However, you are limited to a certain # of slots, so this may not be the best option for a larger server. Their prices vary anywhere from $4-100/month. Recommended for beginners. A great place to start looking for hosting is the minecraft forum, where you can find honest reviews of hosters.

If you chose a VPS, you get far more freedom as to what goes on with the server. The upside is that you are not officially limited to a certain # of slots (however bandwidth restrictions may apply). Another upside is that if you want to host a forum/blog, you can. The downside however, is quite a turn off to some people, the setup. If you are a beginner, then you may want to stop here. Depending on if you use bukkit etc, the difficulty can increase. There are guides out there on how to do this, so I won't go in depth. However, what I will say is that you will need root access to start/stop the server (in most cases.) Prices vary greatly from company to company. Recommended for Intermediate-Advanced users.

A dedicated server is the most elite kind, where you can fully utilize the raw power of the server. The upside is there are almost no restrictions on how many players can play, it is very fast and you have full control of the server. However, it has one staggering downside; price. The costs for running a dedicated server (without a way of making money off of it) are staggering, often reaching above $100/month. The setup is often the same as for a VPS. Recommended for rich kids and Intermediate-Advanced users (with a MBA )

That about concludes our introduction to minecraft server hosting, and remember, fattwam is awesome