Be Your Own Webhost

[Elegost 0]

**NOTE***

This turorial is not meant to "Put Down" Xisto and its amazing free webhosting. This is meant to me a fun "Weekend" sort of project. Any either way, any webhost you make can never be as relaible as Xisto

 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WEBSERVER

In this tutorial you will learn how to make your own web server using an old computer.

 

What you will need:

1. An old computer (Or a new one, your choice"

2. Network adapter (If the computer doesnt already have one installed)

3. Network Cable

4. Router (to connect computer to web)

5. Software (See below to download...)

6. RAM Upgrade

 

Heres how:

 

1. You will need a computer with atleast 115mb or ram (The more the marrier!) If needed, install the networking card, so it can be connected to the internet. If needed, install the RAM upgrade, so the computer will be faster.

 

2. Connect it to the internet either through a router, or directly to your modem.

 

3. Boot up the computer, and open your browser. Now heres where youve got some options. There are many different programs that will turn your computer into a webhost. One of my favorites is Netserver. This is only for Windows PS's though. Another one you could try is AppServ. I have never tried this one, but ive heard its good. Another one who supports Linux is XAMPP. Again I have never tried it. All of these programs support PHP and MySQL.

 

4. Once you have decided which program is suitable for you, on your machine, go to their website and download their client, and install the program.

 

5. If you have a firewall, i would suggest removing it, other wise it may block people from acessing the computer to get the website, so no one would be able to get to your website.

 

6. And your done! With most programs, the computers IP adress becomes the URL.

 

In order to be able to get to your website, the machine you are using must be connected to the web 24/7, and be turned on, other vise users will simply we shut out.

 

If you need any help, please post below, and we will see what we can do for you

 

Enjoy,

Elegost

[moldboy 0]

I'd like to make one point about XAMPP, it is not designed for the above mentioned application, it simply isn't secure enough, it's based on apache but all the stops have been pulled out. Great for use behind a firewall or to test your php pages before uploading them to Xisto, but certinaly not for use as a web server.

[tuddy 0]

You'll also want a static IP address from your ISP. Also if your going to down your firewall i suggest you don't have any senseitive data on your server. Otherwise you'd have to know what your doing to make your server sercure enough to not run a firewall. Make sure your internet connection also has a high 'upload' speed, as all data being pulled off your server is counted as upload and if its only uploading at 56kbps, its not going to help the end user much, who even though has a 256 or 512 download speed, will get very frustrated with the slow speed.

[shadowdemon 0]

The thing is you still ened to pay for internet to keep it up so i guess a site were people can mkae there own websites but make them charge would be the best idea

[BordaForx 0]

How do you get a static IP? Also...nobody wants a site that has a URL like: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ or something like that...How do you get a domain...besides purchasing one from Yahoo Hosting thing...

[moldboy 0]

How do you get a static IP?

Simple ask your ISP, if that isn't an option there is a number of services available, last time I checked one was no-ip.com. They install a small program and every time your address changes it updates their records.

nobody wants a site that has a URL like: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ or something like

agreed but actually the URL is simply the number, no www or .com

How do you get a domain...besides purchasing one from Yahoo Hosting thing

Well you could use a different registrar rather then Yahoo, but I doubt that's what you mean. You can become your own registrar, not exactly sure of the process but it would still involve paying an annual fee to ICANN the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and again not sure how that works, but info might be found at their site. Also you can use the above mentioned service, no-ip they offer a sub domain service, and I believe domain service, but you'll have to check their site.

[jidun 0]

I did this in the past and it worked great, I had a broadband connection with very low numbers of simultaneous hits. I used xitami, and I also tried foxserv, I liked them both they were easy. SMTP mail servers are usually set to port 25 and these are mostly blocked by all ISP's now days unless comming from a node center (another reason to just love spammers). Something like this is fine for brochure type or homepage websites, it's a very bad idea for trying to host even a low end 100-200 active member forum based site .

[Sirius 0]

Many ISPs block many ports so your webserver wouldn't have "Complete Internet Access" As said before, almost all ISPs block the sending of email. Some allow you to recieve it though...I suppose you could easily use a smtp server of some sort and send all of your email through that server but then the email sending might lag a little bit...If you have file attachments and such.Or, I suppose you could contact your ISP. They would probably have a server/webhosting package that accepts all ports but that would probably me more expensive...I'd suggest that only people that have fast computers/servers to use the above way to host sites... I'd think that it would be much better to have a webhosting service rather then hosting your own small site. If you have a webhosting service you might be able to make a small profit, and, so it would be actually worth going through all of the trouble with your ISP...Get a really small generator if your planning on seriously using your computer as a server

[Dooga 0]

Finally, my old computer will become of use again...
Also, http://www.noip.com/ offers a great DNS that supports dynamic IPs. How it works, is that it installs some small software on your computer, that monitors your IP. When your IP changes, it informs the server, so that your URL will be propergated to the new IP. I never tried making a server with a computer because of the fact that I simply can't keep a computer on 24/7. Xerver is also a good program, and you can install php from http://php.net/ and mysql from who knows where, but you can install it. I just prefer getting hosted, because it saves the hastle and saves electricity

[michaelper22 0]

This can end up being an expensive prposition. If you want to run your own Web server, you need (as mentioned above): A) Fast upload speeds decent hardware C) somewhat advance knowledge of administrating servers. Also, if you want to be a host you must have a mechanism set up to allow users to register and for the server to set up their space (cPanel works for this) and you need a pretty big hard drive for all of your users sites.

[Elegost 0]

This can end up being an expensive prposition. If you want to run your own Web server, you need (as mentioned above): A) Fast upload speeds decent hardware C) somewhat advance knowledge of administrating servers.

204530[/snapback]

I bought all my hardware used from NewEgg. I calculated that in total I saved about 100 dollars (Mostly because I ended up buying a new hard drive for the old PC I was using). Whats also a bonus is that most of the software out there for this is free. There is some where you have to pay, but the free ones are simpler, and easier to use. If you have high speed, then you will probably have high enought upload speeds. And for the IP adress, use No-IP like some poeple mentioned above. Its also free, or you can register your own domain with them to work on your IP. In the end, you will save money if you where planing on paying for hosting.

[wild20 0]

This is a great ay if you only want to do a one time purchase. But you needa connection all of its own to keep it running. But at least you control you're downtime I would do it if I had a spare phone line or if I bought a splitter so you can use several computers online at one time. Just depends on your preference. Also, it would boil down to me, that I would shut out other users and just use it for myself But yeah, thanks for the topic.

[snlildude87 0]

I wrote a similar tutorial on xampp once: http://forums.xisto.com/topic/20432-test-your-php-pages-wo-uploadinternet-complete-working-guide-on-how-to-test-your-php-pages/

It's not about becoming your own web host, but it is about how you can use xampp to test your PHP pages so that you won't have to upload them to your server and press F5 repeatedly.

[DreamCore 0]

Realy nice tutorial but unlucky me I havent an old computer. So when I have an old computer then this tutorial is great...

[Elegost 0]

This is a great ay if you only want to do a one time purchase.  But you needa connection all of its own to keep it running.  But at least you control you're downtime

204640[/snapback]

Thats another thing I like about it. You controle when your site is up, or when its down. With lots of other free hosts (Discluding Xisto ) they tend to have lots of down time, and some times at very uppredictable times. Here you have full controle over your website.