The target system will be contracted for, setup and configured.
Given the relative prices of PC hardware vs hosted server systems, there is very little advantage to delaying setup and configuration of the target server.
This will permit the initial national web site to be online in a sample form by mid-February. The system will be located at a commercial data centre, with 24x7 hardware support, conditioned power, and plenty of internet bandwidth. The data centre charges a monthly fee for the rental of the equipment, and an additional fee should large amounts of bandwidth be consumed.
The cost for the hosted setup is $290/month, with a $700 setup fee for a total of $2150.
The price is $8/Gigabyte (
bytes) of bandwith. Should 35,000 participants visit
the site each of the 5 days, and download 100KB (which is between 10 and 20
web pages) then this results in a total usage of 17Gb/week, or
approx. $200.
The bandwidth charges are not insignificant, but are easily handled in the budget.