I started on dialup. I hand typed in documents back in the day because I only had a 5MB webspace and couldn't afford a scanner lol. I then went to DSL in time, and thought that was the greatest thing ever (I'm old). Once I went to Cable internet once that got big, Ive stayed ever since then and have just seen the bandwidth capabilities grow and grow and get cheaper. True fiber is not available in my area, so I've never had that.
The webservers that run The Black Vault is a different story. I went to dedicated servers in 1999. A tv appearance (Confirmation on NBC) made a major web hosting provider cut and refuse service to me due to the traffic being immense that night, and my backstory played a role in their re-defining of what the word "unlimited" meant. I was on one of those "unlimited" bandwidth / "unlimited" web space providers, but that quickly changed. I started with one dedicated server at that time, and now have 4 all serving various tasks to make the site possible.
The space is terrabytes of data. Last I checked it was roughly 5-6 terrabytes throughout.
So when the Black Vault was first getting off the ground, did 15 year-old John have dial-up, ISDN, or were you one of the lucky in an area that had already deployed broadband via your local cable tv system? Or did you have a rich benefactor gift you a T1 line to your home? (kidding, but you never know.) Just curious.
