Hi I am hosting 3 sites and would like to know how to host them from home rather than paying a third party.
You should google for "LAMP server" or "WAMP server" LAMP stand for Linux APache MySQL PHP or WAMP stand for Windows Apache Mysql PHP These are the basic of a web server, and easy installation instructions exist if you google right. It is psosible to host from home, however, usually we dont have enough of a reliable internet connection to be hosting constantly. As for your 2nd question, it always depends who you choose as your provider and what hardware you have installed.
A very important thing to keep in mind is that your ISP may not appreciate you using their bandwidth to run a server on a residential plan. It's possible that they'll notice an increase in bandwidth usage coming from your home and can either shut down your service, or make you upgrade your Internet package to a business or even higher.
maintenance of a server at home definitely is MUCH easier as remote admin of a dedicated server ! if living in a HIGH tech country, such as central europe or US - then most likely your ISP is as much UP and running as any average host would be. look at the 99% up time or 99,9% uptime and calculate how many hours downtime that would include - then compare to your ISPs downtime 1 year = approx 8760 hrs 99% uptime results in 87,6 hrs downtime 99,9% uptime would result in 8,76 hrs downtime when looking at desired 100% uptime goal remember that for example Google adsense is down EVERY single weekend for several hours .. and G still survives even here in my present country of temporary life my ISP may still be in the range of 99% uptime. if ALL 3 sites you host are YOUR sites - and if your ISP traffic AND uptime history is sufficient for your traffic and site projects, then go for it. however keep in mind that if YOU move around in life, weekends, leisure, recreation, vacation, etc - then you too may want to have a MOBILE option for server control, server reboot, security alerts, etc - else you loose either your freedom by becoming slave of your home-server or you loose your peace of mind by doubting and questioning the proper running of your home server when away from home.
I use WAMP(2) to web dev on my PC/laptop, makes installation of apache/php/mysql so much simpler being you install one thing, also can start and stop apache and mysql, put ur server on or offline (so people can access it via your IP or not, but can always be accessed via localhost providing the software is running). I havn't tried installing any panels or anything, not sure if that would work but I assume it should being it's really no different to "proper" configurations of apache etc. Really only problem would be your internet connection. Probably be a good idea to compare your current bandwidth usage and think would your connection be able to handle it, looking at averages and peaks. I would suggest using another box and connection for your server, so that it has it's own connection and can make full use of the line rather than sharing in your house. I would say not to use the server as a normal PC but that's just my opinion, because I typically will unintentionally do something to make it crash, freeze, die etc. lol
I think hosting at home is fine (do this myself), if you have the right kind of contract with your ISP. You will need some kind of business package as a minimum with guarnteed uploads speed (absolute min 500kbps +), fixed response times to line problems, no restrictions on ports, unlimited bandwith, and a very low contention ratio. And an excellent router that has no problems forwarding on all ports and won't overheat and lock on heavy loads. You can get the basics of this with adsl, then later on consider a leased line with the adsl line as the fallback. You will need a decent quality machine (or two) to act as your server, and you will definietly need to know what you are doing with regards to setting up, configuring and locking down the server. And I would strongly reccomend a large UPS and surge protection. If you approach it in the right way, then it'll be fine. But if your not sure of what your doing, then I wouldn't reccomend it. Also once your up and running you'll need to load test the line and server so you know the max no. of users you can handle, and when you hit that then upgrade. Hope that helps.
interesting topic.. please tell me is it necessary to get a static IP from the ISP to run the site from the home server. I mean if we hav a dynamic IP then how the clients will request the server to view the site?
although there are services that you can use which let you do this (forget the names of them), basically they forward onto your ip address. Personally I think it's pointless as the kind of connections that use dynamic ips aren't the kind that you would want to run a website off, if your ISP even let you.
ISP's don't like it if you are hosting a site on your home pc using their dynamic IP's, they tend to disable any http or https as well as many other ports to their IP's unless you have a business plan that does include static IP.
my host specialized in dedicated root servers and managed servers charges 49 - 99 euro per month unlimited traffic depending of type of server-sertup/HW my own 2 servers are middle range = 59 euro/m top quality HW with a variety of uptodate OS to select from as install images. managed root servers are about 300 euro more per m