Local Site Hosting Put a website online from my computer

Hi, guys, please help me out here, i have built a number of fuctional sites, and am hosting them on my local machine (my computer).All of them are accessible from across the network in the office, everyone can see them. Now what i want to do is put these same sites on the internet (as compared to the intranet). what am asking is, how can i archieve this? how i can have the sites sitting on my computer but accessible from the internet.They are call currently sitting in an apache webserver and use mysql for a database...

Apache does this automatically. If you have Apache running, then your site will be accessible by anyone who has the IP address of your server. If any firewall is blocking port 80 (or whatever port Apache is using), then people won't be able to access your site. If the IP address is dynamic, then you'll have to give out the IP address whenever it changes. If you want people to visit the address with a domain name, then you'll have to purchase your own domain and link it to the IP address of the server.

I would recommend removing any OS you have now and installing Linux instead, as it's a much more compatible server operating system. Ubuntu Server Edition (  www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download/)is probably a good distribution to use, if your computer can handle it. This comes with all the software you need for a basic Web server. First we need a a computer, an operating system, a domain name, a name server and an IP address. You can acquire all the above using your myCENTS from XISTO. If your ISP has the use of static IP addresses then you have to connect your domain with your static IP address. This is done using a name server. Some domain registration services will provide this service for you, such as XISTO. If your computer can not handle static addresses, you can create a free account at https://www.zoneedit.com/ and have their nameservers direct your domain name to your static IP address. Next, we gotta install APACHE ,this can be done using the from the command-line (cmd) or by the Synaptic Package Manager. To operate the Synaptic Package Manager, click on the System menu, select Administration and click on Synaptic Package Manager. Enter your password if it asks for it. Click on the Search toolbar button and type in for apache2 and search for it. After the search completes, the Apache 2 Server should be listed in the Synaptic window. Click on the toggle next to the Apache server and select Mark for installation. Finally, click on Apply in the toolbar to begin the install. To install Apache from the command-line start a terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and run the following command at the command prompt:

sudo apt-get install apache2

Now we have to check if this all works out. To verify the web server is up and running, do this: *Open up Firefox *Type 127.0.0.1 in the address bar If the browser loads up a page, it works! Congrats on making it this far! Now we have to configure the Apache Web Server for your domain. Which can be found on the internet, anywhere basically. But here is one that is very easy to follow : http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Sorry, i couldn't help you out on Skype early, but have any problems? Just PM me or post a reply on this topic and I'll be glad to help or add me on Gtalk . Links that might help you out a bit more: Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions : http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/misc/FAQ.html Windows XP Home Networking: Turn a Desktop Computer into a Server : http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Turn an old Computer into a web server!: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

If you want to make server in Windows, try Wamp (click Wamp to visit their website). Wamp is a free webserver for Windows OS. It's very easy to use... After you install Wamp go to your drive C:/ and there you will see folder named WampSever. In the folder you will see more folders but you will go in the folder named www.
And there put your website (html, php...). To run the server you need to have the Wamp tray icon next to your clock.

hey deadman7!!! thanx a gazzilion times man! that was quite informational!!!