home server

[levemircento]

what do I need to set up my own home server, to host a website?

 

[5abr3]

Do you mean host a website viewable to all on the internet or to host a website as in an Intranet (local network only)?

 

[levemircento]

viewable to all

 

[5abr3]

this site should cover most of it: http://www.diywebserver.com/

 

[colin79666]

If you can dedicate a machine to it:
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu8.04-lts

Also remember if your machine is behind a NAT you will need to set up ford forwarding to the server for port 80 (http) and other ports as appropriate (ssh, sftp, https etc).

 

[levemircento]

oh crikey!! looks a bit too complicated I think

I just had this idea that I could easily run a web server, I already do quite a few websites and thought maybe I could host one of them on my own computer

 

[Argonought]

It's fairly easy if you're into Linux. Set aside a low energy PC (running it 24/7 has a cost overhead) running your favorite flavour of Linux and away you go. You'll need a twin nic setup to secure the internal network and a fair bit of configuring of the server.

You can do a lot of other useful stuff with a dedicated server and hosting is just the start.

If you're not into Linux then I'd stick with shared hosting on a remote server which will give better bandwidth (if you need it) anyway

 

[5abr3]

Alot of the consideration is also traffic, if its a heavy use site then you may have to run a big processor to keep up!

 

[bulldog5046]

if its just for some testing, i'd suggest you try running this locally

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

i used to use it when i was into all that website stuff

 

[kellys_eye]

Don't forget that anyone viewing your website from your server will only access it as fast as your connection will allow you to UPLOAD (which is usually a whole lot LESS than the download speed).

 

[Argonought]

Don't forget that anyone viewing your website from your server will only access it as fast as your connection will allow you to UPLOAD (which is usually a whole lot LESS than the download speed).

Very valid point Often as much as a factor of 32X SLOWER

It's often not realized you don't need a fast machine for the job either - that old PC you were about to through out will often do the job (subject to resources not being swamped and not being too wasteful of energy)

You can see my Apache server running on 80.7.52.96 (doesn't do much )

 

[grimwau]

:idea: Could do a lot worse than asking Ben if you decide to go down the shared hosting route.

 

[mehstg]

Also, you will probably need to set up some kind of dynamic DNS as your IP no doubt is dynamic....

 

[Hellcat]

Another thing to note is your IP address may change from time to time. Suggest you use DYNDNS.org to track your IP. Then you can register a DNS name and point it to your DYNDNS address.

http://www.5vic.co.uk

edit - as above

p.s. my site very much under construction!

 

[mehstg]

Copycat

 

[Hellcat]

Copycat

No, Hellcat

I know netgear routers have DYNDNS capability.

 

[Stu DemonD]

My Linksys router also has the DynDNS facility

 

[BrettBlade]

Abyss Web Server is probably worth checking out, fantastic piece of software...

http://www.aprelium.com/

 

[Hellcat]

Ebay - Windows 2003 SBS or Std Server+5CAL about £60-£70.

 

[Argonought]

Ebay - Windows 2003 SBS or Std Server+5CAL about £60-£70.

Is that a joke

I wouldn't install one if you paid me 10 times that amount :devil: