Question by Alfred: Can I host my own website from my computer?
I would like to host my own website. Most free website hosting sites are not what I am looking for. Therefore I am interested in hosting my own website from my extra computer. How do I go about doing so?
Best answer:
Answer by Pyros
yes, you need a static ip, a domain name registered (www.domain.com) and a web server software package.
Look into either IIS (microsoft) or Apachee (which is free)
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August 31st, 2010 at 6:38 am
Yes you can
you have to forward port 80
Verizon blocks port 80 incoming so you have to use ssl/port 443
you have to set up dynamic ip
There are many web servers. Opera even has one in their browser! http://www.opera.com/
I recommend hosting from a Linux computer or virtual machine
http://ubuntu.com/
http://fedora-project.org/
http://debian.org/
August 31st, 2010 at 6:52 am
First, download CentOS.
Second, you have to buy / rent a domain name.
Third, you have to have an EXTERNAL IP address
next, you need to up your bandwidth to a t1 or t3 connection to handle the incoming / outgoing traffic.
then you have to design your site, and upload it to the webserver (it is your other computer, so not a big deal there).
Good luck with that.
August 31st, 2010 at 7:02 am
Here’s some detailed instructions for doing this:
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creating/hostmyown.html
Keep in mind, this will most likely not save you much money compared to just getting a cheap hosting provider.
August 31st, 2010 at 7:08 am
first decide whether you want to use windows or linux as the extra computer’s operating system
then download either wamp if you use windows
or the linux distro of your choice and install the apache webserver, php and mysql
August 31st, 2010 at 8:08 am
I assume you’re using Windows. in which case you will likely want to run IIS or Apache HTTPD. There are many tutorials on setting up both.
August 31st, 2010 at 9:01 am
u should check with your isp first. some say u are not allowed. but u should be able to in most cases. you can download apache and install it to ur computer. then u have to set up ur firewalls to allow other people to connect. then go to dynamicdns and get a free sub domain to link to ur cimputer. in most cases u will have a dynamic ip address, which means it is not always the same. ur router, if u have one, should have a built in ip address updater. check ur settings and type in the info for dynamicdns
August 31st, 2010 at 9:51 am
If you’re running Windows XP (or other versions of windows), you can install IIS (in add/remove programs), then you’ll be running a web server on your computer.
Next – assuming your are doing this on your home broadband connection – you’ll need to setup a port-forwarding rule on your router, so that incoming requests on port 80 from the outside world get forwarded to the computer that you are running the web server on.
Finally- assuming that you have a domain for your web site – you will need to setep the DNS for your domain. This can be a little tricky if you are doing this on a home broadband connection, because most home broadband services do not have a static IP address, meaning that your router’s IP address can change any time. So, you will need to use a dynamic DNS service, such as DNS2Go or DynDNS, which will continuously update the DNS A-record of your domain as the IP address of your router changes.
Last but not least, you will want to be sure that the computer that you are doing this on is patched and up to date, because you are basically leaving it open (at least on port 80) to the whole world.
As you can see, it’s a bit involved to do this, but it can be done.
August 31st, 2010 at 9:51 am
Be sure to check your ISP to make sure it’s allowed.
If you want a domain name of your own, I suggest godaddy.com. If your home’s IP address is dynamic, which most are today, you can use services like everydns.net which redirect the Domain’s IP to your own as your IP changes.
You need a server as well, of course. You’re probably best off using apache if you can find a good guide for it, but there are many to choose from.
You might have to mess with your router and/or firewall, too. To see steps for doing so, and the above information, see http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creating/hostmyown.html
You could also try looking at more free hosts. Maybe awardspace.com?