Hello, I'm looking to run my own server here at home. Could someone give me info or a URL to where I can see step by step to set this up? Thanks, Greg
That would totally depend on what you want to serve, what OS, httpd etc you favor. For linux: install linux on computer, secure it, setup apache and point a domain to your IP (a permanent one is a good idea).
Thanks, I know next to nothing on this. Which one is the best and easiest in your opinion? I guess I would need to buy a new computer just for a server?
Last post before i go and prepare for Saturday night. If you will use ASP or .NET use IIS If u will be using Java or PHP, use Apache But better wait for the experts to make their comment since i am no PRO
If you know next to nothing about it, I don't think I'd do it. Atleast play around with it and read and learn for a long time before you put something important on it.
Thanks guys but I think I should do it or have someone do it fore me fairly soon. My host just doubled my rate from $29 to $59 per month for using too much CPU. I'm running Vbulletin and auction script (flat file) treasure treasurequestxlt.com Top Process %CPU 31.0 /usr/bin/php index.php Top Process %CPU 25.0 /usr/bin/php forumdisplay.php Top Process %CPU 22.0 perl /home/treasure/public_html/cgi-bin/auto_close.pl I though that having my own server will save me a few bucks. What hardware other than a new computer will I need to buy? Thanks for your time Greg
You need to make sure that people outside can connect to port 80 on your server, how are you connected to the net? Directly or with a router? If with a router, it is proberly NAT'ing and you'll need to configure it to forward port 80 to your servers IP on the internal network.
I'm connected directly by way of cable modem. I was thinking that I'd need to get another cable connection by itself hooked to another computer to run the server from there? I'm wondering why my CPU is so high with just 418 uniques a day.
You need need a separate cable modem, you just use a router. You are going to want a pretty fast connection, though. And if you want a static IP address you will be paying $80 / mo. for a T1 but then you can get like five different addresses for that amount of money. If you want something really easy to set up, go for Suse. I run a server in my home with Suse. If you want more than one website, and don't use static addresses you will have to use virtual hosting as well. By the way, here's a link that should help you: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/fire-up-linux-server
Need: Static IP - you can get a static ip upgrade from most braodband provider, but you will pay more than your current hosting company is charging you. I pay $99 for a static IP connection with 2meg down and 512K up max bandwith per second. If you want more than 1 ip, you will have to pay for that too. I use 1 IP and do host header forwarding on my sites Calbe Modem to Router - you'll need a router if you don't have one, set router to do port forwarding for Port 80 and any other ports you are using (one for DB, one for FTP, etc) DNS pointer to resolve to your web site (I use nettica.com). If you cancel with your current web company, I doubt they will mainain your DNS record A decent machine - how many visitors you have? What's your bandwidth use per day? How much processing power do you need? You're going to want a server with good processing power and memory, as well as at least a RAID 1 for data redundancy. With dynamic pages (asp, php, etc) you will need a more powerful server with at leat 2 gig memory My personal opinion - not worth doing for 1 web site. I run my own server out of my house: Dual processor Pentium Xeon with SATA RAID 1 ($1300) Business class broadband (required for static IP) 2nd out of 4 availabe tiers speedwise - $99 a month Windows Server 2003 Standard 5 CAL ~$450 SQL Server 2000 Standard 5 CAL ~$1200 Router ~$50 DNS Account $50 a year for 100 pointers So my set up for hardware and software was a little over $3,000. You won't have the software cost if you go open source. You would still have to pay for hardware, connection, and dns though. I host 60+ sites. Even if I went with some of the cheapest plans out there - around $5 a month - I'd still be paying around $300 month. I've been hosting for almost 2 years, so I figure I started saving after about a year months.... I like it as well because I can install custom server side components - it's my server and I can do what I want with it; you don't have that freedom with a commercial host unless you lease a dedicated server. I'd stick with what you have, or shop around for a cheaper host and move. Unless you are hosting a lot of sites (like 30-40+ ), it's just not the economical way to go.
If your host has issues with your usage, then you probably will run into the same issues elsewhere. The best solution for you would be to look into getting either a dedicated server or a VDS/VPS If you don't know what you are doing get one with a control panel already installed, such as DirectAdmin. If you want to go down the hosting at home route it will cost you more ... a lot more