home server connect to Internet

[WyllyWylly]

You'll need a static IP address from your service provider, which you can then use as your web server's address. Check with the registrar of your domain name for specifics on how to update this information, they are all a little different. Unless you are getting massive amounts of traffic, you will probably find that your DSL connection servers up plenty of bandwidth. For a single server, a T1 line is not necessary...it would be kind of like taking a drink from a fire hose instead of a garden hose when you were thirsty. You'd waste all that excess bandwidth/water.

From there, it's a matter of installing some security -- a hardware firewall would be a good idea -- and setting up your server with the software you need. Remember that once you begin propagating your IP address change through the DNS servers on the net the current website will cease to exist to the public; make sure you have your server running properly!!

[jujuraf]

How would I go about creating my own server which I connect to the Internet? What equipment and software would I need and what problems am I setting myself up for? We have DSL at our house but his customers are probably connecting to his site from their company who probably have at least T1 lines. I know what type of dedicated servers my hosting company has so I can buy what they have for hardware/software but then what? How do I get that direct connection and 100 other things to consider which I have no idea what the are.

I maintain my husband's company web site and the hosting company we use isn't able to install some server software we need. After reviewing our request, they said it'd take too many resources and might be a security risk (since we're on a shared server). They recommend a dedicated server which we can get from them for $129/month but that's too much $$$ and I'm sure we can do this ourselves for a lot less. We're both computer geeks and so aren't starting from scratch as far as knowing what kind of work we're setting ourselves up for, but we've only networked our printers at home, nothing else.

For those who are curious..... we want to install the Linux run-time engine for LabView from National Instruments since our web site is hosted on a Linux box,
http://digital.ni.com/softlib.nsf/954feaee...63?OpenDocument. My husband is an electrical engineer and creates these virtual instruments using LabView so wants to demo what he has done on his site, but w/o this server-side software, the user can only see static displays.

Thnx, Deb

[JoeP517]

Be sure to check the terms of service at your ISP. Many ISPs do NOT approve of use of a server on 'home' service. They want you to use their business rates (usually higher priced).

Joe

[jhelfer]

After you get a static IP address and a "business" DSL account and a decent hardware firewall to protect it (Watchguard Firebox, maybe?). getting the actual computer shouldn't be an issue at all. Most of thebig server vendors (Dell, Compaq) will have a variety of machines for small business platform.

Don't forget, for business-critical computers daily, verified backup is a must!

[jujuraf]

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I will check with my DSL provider to ask if they allow home-based business servers. Good to know speed shouldn't be an issue, I just figure that most visitors of my husband's biz site will be coming from their own company's super fast line and then hit our dinky DSL line and be turned off by the responsiveness.

I did one of those DSL speed tests on our line and it claims 1255 Kbps download and 317 Kbps upload.

Deb

[mwolfman]

Heya Deb, just wanted to add a few things. This lounge is hosted in my home wth about 30 other, low traffic domains (on a seperate box). I have a DSL line (1.5 x 768). The only thing missing is DNS. You're going to have to let whoever is hosting your website's DNS know what the ip is (static from your provider) Also, are you running email? Do you plan to run it on the same box as the website? Setting up an apache box is quite simple, mail can be a little more complicated. What OS are you planning on running? Windoze servers are very pricey but easier to confgure. Linux (my chose) is FREE but is harder to config unless you know it.

As far as hardware, there's no need to go to a REAL server unless you need the redundancy and stuff. This website (lounge) and mail is on a P4 2.x, 1 gig ram, 80 gig HD. Just a simple frankenstein box.
The other domains with mail are hosted on a Dual PIII 450 , 768k ram, and aprox 700gb HD (raid).

[jujuraf]

Just last night I installed a small, free web server called Abyss http://www.aprelium.com/. It's very easy to setup and within 15 minutes I was able to connect to this home PC from the WWW. <img src=/S/bananas.gif border=0 alt=bananas width=33 height=35> I have a static IP address from my ISP but at first I thought I'd have to use DDNS from someone like http://www.dnydns.org to deal with the name server but I didn't have to (although I'm not exactly sure why I didn't have to do this <img src=/S/scratch.gif border=0 alt=scratch width=25 height=29> )

I'm a software engineer but haven't set up a web server before (and didn't want to spend days learning Apache plus it seems overkill for my needs). After I got Abyss set up, I went to the control panel of our hosted web site and redirected one of the directories to point to this home PC and it worked just fine.

I'd prefer a dedicated PC so will re-install this on an older one I already own and get a RAID. The only services I use from the hosting company is FormMail (which I can do myself) and email aliases & accounts so I might want to work on figuring out what I'd need to do so I can host this site on my own (mostly for my own education, not necessarily to save $9.95/month).

It's encouraging to hear you host so many sites from home (on older PCs) which prove my concerns were greatly exaggerated. <img src=/S/spook.gif border=0 alt=spook width=15 height=15>

I'm mostly a Windows user/programmer but have no hang-ups getting into Linux since it's a cheaper alternative. I have more than full time job so need to figure out what's the min I need to learn to get a basic system up and running. This is a very low hit site (so far) so I have lots of time to experiment.

Any suggestions on how to get started with Linux? Is the initial setup/config sufficient to get me running? What about email, how do I do that?

<img src=/S/thankyou.gif border=0 alt=thankyou width=40 height=15>
Deb

[mwolfman]

When I started out with linux, many years ago, I used Rat Hat. The latest Red Hat release is either 9.0 or Fedora. It has a gui install, lets you pick the packages you want. I'd go to Redhat, download the ISO's and play with it. If you gonna build a web server, do a custom install. it lets you pick what you want and what you don't want. I'd go with a server type install. No need for X-windows, KDE, Gnome, etc. They are for more of a desktop install and take up memory.

Start with that. I check in every day, mainly to make sure the lounge is running smoothly, but I also browse Other OS's. If your gonna play with linux, don't hesitate to post ANY questions or problems. I look forward to linux questions... I don't get too many here...

Just remember, a linux server is strictly command line. No mouse, no gui. But its free, secure, and more powerful then windoze.

After you get really familiar with Redhat, we can move you to Gentoo. Very difficult and time consuming to install but well worth it when your done....

[mwolfman]

Just to add, email is not the easiest thing to setup... I'd register a FUN name, to play with until you get it to where you want it, then move your domain. Maddogdomains.com registers domains for under $9 / year. All my web servers have a primary domain which is something stupid I use to get it running. Multiple domains per boxes VERY easy to setup with apache. Mail is a little more difficult.

[jujuraf]

Great! I was looking for an excuse to learn some Linux. No GUI is fine by me, I mastered VI in Unix to write my Perl scripts and actually prefer command line stuff to mouse for some things (fingers fly faster than the rodent).

Besides with more and more reality TV crap being aired, I'd rather be on the computer learning something new than watching yet another dweeb proove to the world that s/he is the most pathetic.

Thnx,
Deb

[mwolfman]

Niiice, vi is my editor of choice. Lemme know if I can be of ANY help....