How Do I Setup A Web Server? Web server

I was wonder how i could set up a website from my house. I have a old Dell with a P2 that has been acting as file server for the last year. It runs windows XP Pro, and already has a copy Apache installed on it. I don't know if this would make a difference, but it's got about one Terabyte worth of space on it's four disks. Thanks in advance.

If you have plenty of money and some technical help or can learn quickly here are a couple of links, but it is expensive and time consuming and involves legal issues and business matters.

ISP info
and this one also Your Own ISP

Good luck!

Hey Now we have an edit button, this is great.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Houdini (see edit history)

Well, of possible, I would like to run it out of my house, using my current T1 connection. My house network is all wireless, so I am not sure what i would have to do about that. Thanks for your time and help.

Things that you'll need:

 

Apache installed and configured

Router to forward all HTTP request to the correct computer. (Port Forwarding)

- OR -

Seperate IP Address for the Web server

 

Not Required but helpful:

 

MySQL

PHP

perl

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First, Install and configure Apache. I'd use the default configuration until you learn how to work with Apache. You'll need to set a few parameters in a few places to get things working correctly. Like where to find your web documents.

 

You'll need to route all incoming HTTP requests to the the server by either getting the server it's own IP address/modem/network or with a router that has port forwarding capabilities. Just forward all port 80 (HTTP) requests to the local IP address of the server.

 

That is all that you have to do but your website won't be very useful.

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perl, mySQL, and PHP are all availible to download and install for free. They should come with help files to explain how to configure Apache to use them correctly.

 

There are a lot of other free applications you'll need in order to get your server fully configured for typical use. Email and FTP to name a few applications you may want to add.

 

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You may want to consider using a Linux installation on your server since Windows has a lot of trouble producing a web server like the majority of us are used to using.

Most Linux distributions provide web server options out of the box and is also free. The down side is that you'll need to learn how to run a Linux system. There are a lot of places to find information about running a Linux server.

 

I run a simple web server on my home network to use for script testing and family photos which I set up to read directly from my local photo directory. It runs on Windows XP so I have a lot of trouble securing the server and running certain options.

 

Once I find myself with an extra system, I'll install Linux (probably Fedora Core) on it and set it up as a full web server. Of course, I'll need to learn how to administer Linux before then

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Anyway, I got all of my information for setting up a web server from a book:

PHP - Fast & Easy Web Development (2nd Edition)

By: Julie C. Meloni

ISBN: 1-931841-87-X

 

It included all of the information I needed to get a test server running. I use it to develope PHP scripts without having to wait for uploads after every change. Also saves me the bandwidth I would otherwise use by making so many uploads. Once a script is working correctly (as correctly as it can on my Windows setup), I upload it to the Xisto server and make any required changes to get it working on the hosting server.

 

At the time I configured my local web server, I didn't have acces to mySQL, PHP, or perl so I couldn't learn how to create web applications. I learned all of the PHP I know as a result of setting up my own test server.

 

Not sure that I have given you the information you asked for but I hope it will open your eyes to the general setup and use of such a server.

 

vujsa

I'm not sure if I understood you well, enough, but here is something useful. If you want to put up a web site that would be available from everywhere in the world, and you want to do it for free, there are a few things you can do.

As vujsa already said, use Linux. It's much more secure and a big percent of web servers uses it.
The thing that I found interesting is this. I don't know if you have a static IP address, because i'm not into t1, but even if you don't you can setup a website that would be available every time when you are online.
Anyway, check this out. You can setup a free domain name (something.co.nr) and if your IP address changes, you can run a script everytime it does. A bit complicated to explain.

Do you know you can run your own webserver from your home computer?
Yes, it is possible to run your own webserver from your home computer and host your website there even if you have a Dynamic IP address.

And you can use your Basic Free Domain Name to reach it!

We automatically determine your IP address, and than everyone, who types your domain (http://www.something.co.nr/) in his/her web browser, will be redirected to your home webserver!

Important: Of course, first you have to install the webserver on your computer.

Than, all you have to do is to call the URL below from your web browser every time you start your server (when your IP changes):


http://www.freedomain.pro/dyna.php?domai&pass=something

or

http://www.freedomain.pro/dyna.php?domaiir=sub_dir_name


where "&dir=sub_dir_name" is optional. If you want to point your free domain to a subdirectory of you main server directory then put the name of that subdirectory instead of "sub_dir_name".

e.g. if you want to point your domain to http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ then put mysite instead of sub_dir_name

Firstly, and i forgeot to mention this, but i mostly use linux, and that the server is a multi-boot. Second, for the last year or so, i have been using or neighbor's internet, and she put a password on the settings page, and thus i can't access the ip forwarding. The only other internet in our house is dial-up, which i know for a fact i can't use.

The most easy away I know to Setu a Web Server is using Appserv. If you are a beginner AppServ is the bet you can use with time you will know other more complex applications like phpDev.

isnt there an easy way to run a webpage from your house?

it's got about one Terabyte worth of space on it's four disks

Wow! One terabyte ! I'm pretty sure a lot of people here are interested sharing this disk space!

man u can take help from me mail me mine E-amil is saggi2@gmail.com i having a great expericne of seeting a web server with apace,perll,mysql,python,tomcati am not kiidng i have alot of experince u can just contact mei am sure u will find me sea of knowledge in this field

Well, you could get a proper server OS like Debian and use your computer as the nameserver. I've never got my own personal server so I am no expert. afterwards you could try installing KDE and Perl,PHP,MySQL you know. If you had enough space you could use Windows to design a site and Debian to publish it! But I really dont know about how to set up domains.~souradipm

If you dan't have any way of forwarding incoming HTML port requests, then there is no way that you will be able to setup an externally accessible web server. Unless you can ask your neighbor to change the port forwarding to your local IP address and that only works if your local IP address never ever changes. If it ever changes, then she would have to change the routers forwarding to the new address every time it gets changed. Is there any reason in which you do not want to get your own broadband account which would let you do what you want? By the way, does your neighbor even know that you are sharing her wireless network? vujsa

Well, of possible, I would like to run it out of my house, using my current T1 connection.

whoa!! I'd love a T1 at my house... but download wise, my DSL line is faster, upload wise, I'll take the T1...

[N]F

I have a old Dell Computer sitting around at my house and all its doing is collecting dust. I wanted set ut up as a webserver but i dont know how. It is currently running on Windows ME but I can always upgrade it to Windows XP at any time. I heard you need Wiindows Server or sumthin? I dont know wat i need can some one give me a list of all the things i need to do to set this up? I would really appreciate it. I dont know much about Setting up a server so any help you could provide would be great. I have a couple External Hard drives laying around and i dont really know how much memory im gonna need. I dont wanna spend that much money so i would like to do it the cheapest way. If there is a way to do it for free that would be the best way for me. Just let me know wat i need to get the job done!

If you are looking for a relativly easy to set up and powerful server system i recommend the suite at http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ I've used it in the past and it's great, it gets the job done plus more.
It includes php, mysql, phpmyadmin and a few other features and software that installs via the easy to use install program.

Updating is easy too, just run the installation of the new version and it will update it all for you.

-HellFire