[cd34]

I think what he was saying, which is usually the case is that your DSL or cable connection will normally have something like 256kb upstream, 1500kb/sec-4096kb/sec downstream.

This means that no matter what, one person downloading from your connection will easily max your upload capacity. They will only be able to download from your site as quickly as you can upload to a webserver.

Second, the security issues with running a windows based webserver are more than just protecting members areas. While you could run Apache and php & mysql, unless you know how to lock things down completely, you can run into problems. Even some of the larger IIS hosting companies have problems securing windows servers from time to time.

Besides the fact that one day, your DSL provider could just snip your line for violating the Terms of Service, I believe in 99% of the T&C for broadband providers is a provision for not running servers. I don't think they care about the guy running a few pageviews/day -- but, hosting galleries will easily get caught and probably clipped quite quickly.

With server/bandwidth prices where they are, buy yourself a cheap box somewhere.