To host or not to host?

Question

What are the pros and cons of using a hosting provider for a Subversion repository versus maintaining it in-house? I'm sure there are benefits in terms of ease of set up and use. And it would be nice to have somebody else make sure that our code is backed up properly.

However, Visual SVN Server is dirt simple to set up, and we already have a pre-established set of servers that are maintained by another department and backed up regularly. So with that said, what are the big pros and cons of using a hosted service versus maintaining it ourselves?

Cross links:

• What Are Some Decent ISPs That Host Subversion
• Where Should a Subversion Repository Be
• Should I use software hosting solution for my personal projects

Answer 1

Several previous SO threads have discussed this:

What Are Some Decent ISPs That Host Subversion Where Should a Subversion Repository Be Should I use software hosting solution for my personal projects

I am sure I've seen couple more, but I can't find them right now.

Answer 2

If you already have the infrastructure in place and are confident in your ability to host, backup and provide accessibility to your repositories then I would say that hosting SVN yourself is the way to go. This allows you relatively unlimited growth and total control over your source.

If you have a primarily mobile development workforce that are small in number then the cost and limitations of using a hosted provider might make it far more convenient for you. But this applies to very few companies.

Answer 3

Here's my personal experience with this problem. I ran my own SVN server for 2+ years and CVS 2+ years before that. SVN is dirt simple to admin but over time more and more of my code was making it's way into the repository. I literally have everything I ever wrote from college up until today my respository (work projects of course excluded).

I truly fretted way to often that I had my life's work sitting on some random server in my house. 5 years of code is quite a bit. Occasionally I would get paranoid enough to run a backup and take a CD to work and throw it in the desk. But the time between backups frankly was lacking.

There was also the security concerns of self hosting a server. I was pretty diligent about installing updates (debian is so so easy to that with). But over time I found I had less and less time to admin the server.

Eventually I researched some providers and took a stab at using wush.net. You won't be able to make me go back to self hosting. Wush.net is an incredible host. I've been using them for 2-3 years now and in all of that time there has been a single (yes single) instance that I wasn't able to get my source. They do nightly offsite backups so I feel good about the security of my code. And not having to admin anymore I have that much more time to actually get some coding done.

Answer 4

How important is your SVN repository?

Vital?

Then you do not want to trust it to a host that promises to back it up regularly. Its easy to become a host, you rent a server and you're a host, so its attracted a lot of less-businesslike providers, and you won't generally be able to tell the good from the bad until the bad one goes out of business and you suddenly can't connect, or contact them for those backups, and their host turns your server off because they've not been paid and won't talk to you because they have no business relationship with you.

So, if you do go with a host, make sure those backups find their way into your hands regularly, and you can restore from them. Anything less is simply blind trust that you'll always be able to get at them.