I read somewhere that you only need a crappy 500mhz pc with Windows on it to create a server. It got me thinking, and so I dug out my old laptop (Pentium 4 3ghz) I figured this would be more than adequate. I downloaded Apache Web Server, Apache Topcat, and a few other programs, but then it all went downhill very fast. Can anyone please give a noob a step by step guide to creating and running my own server? Thank you soooooo much
I think your better off with buying a server. You need dsl with dedicated isp number for server and domain names. Some sites say they give you a dedicated number not sure never tried any. Between the software and security problems i think it is cheaper to rent one. This way you do not need backup generator if power goes out and people checking server to see if someone has hacked into it and using it for illegal use.
You just want to play right? You are not putting this online. Fomat c drive and do a clean install of windoze. Second, lesser choice might be to un-install everything you installed. Download xamp-win32 installer and play. This will give you a production/developemental web server. If you want a real web server download and install redhat. You will have to get better advice than I can offer to do this. 500mhz is more than enough.
Ok, I forgot to mention, my ISP comes with free Static IP. I want it to host my own website and maybe a little file sharing between my home and office, so FTP would help. I own my own website (for the next 2 years anyway) so what can I do?
Check with your ISP if they allow you to host a site on their network. Most do not allow you to do so.
You can file share between the home and office with nothing but xp if you know how to set it up. Putting a box online while it is connected to your LAN opens the entire network to hackers. I really suggest a cheap hosting account for your site.
Thanks for this advice everyone, ive been reading up on Apache and decided to give it a go. I am starting off small and dropped the ftp need, it will be only hosting my website on a stand alone computer. Im doing this to stop paying others for something I can do myself. I have spoken to my ISP, and as long as I dont abuse it, they said I can use my current service. When I asked her to clarify, she told me I couldnt sell webspace etc.
Read this! http://www.dslwebserver.com/ I also had the dream of having my own server... It is a lot of work, you need to know people to give you personal advice about setting it up. If you have a local college, try emailing the webmaster, they usually host there own sites and will have knowledge in setting up yours.