Becoming a server...:S

pablodelapena

Just a thought recently Ive had that I might quite like to invest in an old (ish) machine, PIII 900MHz or something along those specs and run it purely as a server for my files and websites. Would this be a good idea rather than renting space?

Id have next to unlimited space (i could stick in an 120Gig drive) and itd be all my own with no fees to pay.

Now how would i go about doing this? I know that id need to install Apache/PHP/MySQL but is there anythign else?

ALSO could i run this off my own router for the personal home network or would i need to buy a seperate direct connection to my ISP.

Do i need to contact my ISP rgarding bandwidth issues etc?

So many questions but it's just something that tickled my fancy recently and Id like to know others opinions on the matter.

tekky

Well most ISPS have AUP's in place (Acceptable Use Policies) that cover hosting services/servers through your connection, that would be the first place to look... regarding what you would need, I would recommend some flavor of Unix/Linux to run on the box... and your router should cover the connection to the internet, and would be able to share between your home network.

If you do not get assigned static IP's (and you have a domain name you were going to use on it) you would need to setup a means of having the computer update the DNS to point to your machine each time a new IP was assigned to it....

pablodelapena

My Ip is an odd thing. It stays static for agggges but then changes every now and then. IT seems to change when my modem crashes and stuff. But i couldnt rely on it staying up 100%. Do most IPS assign permenantly static IPs?

tekky

some will charge you anywhere from $1 to $15/month for one.... but most will provide one.... your cable modem reset is pretty common, most modems will hold the connection open even with the computer turned off, so the only time a new IP is requested is when the modem resets or goes into standby

gordonrp

You would be better off buying some cheap webspace, a reseller account.. you can get about 2 gigs for 10$/mo.

AstroTeg

SLA (service level agreement): You'll need one from where ever you get bandwidth. It means if you don't have bandwidth since some guy down the street took a backhoe to the fiber backbone and your server falls off the Internet, you have an agreement that the bandwidth provider will get you hooked up within an agreed amount of time.

Running from a DSL/cable connection will not be acceptable for anything bigger then a couple low bandwidth sites (plus, do you actually intend to use that connection for your own browsing?)

Then you have the whole IP issue. You're going to need a static IP. Period. If it changes, you're screwed. That and you'd have to update the name server. Talking about name servers, you'd have to have a name server running and talk to your ISP about allowing their name server to point to your new name server.

If you're comfy with networking, then you'll know what you're doing. But since you haven't really thought about these things (yet), then I'd just go with shared hosting until you're sure you know what you're doing. In the meantime, setup a box at home and give it a whirl (but don't host paying sites or sites that need 24x7 availability). DSL/cable providers tend to block port 80 so you'll need to change the port your server listens on and may need to fiddle with any routers you have in place.

pablodelapena

thanks guys, it is sopmething which was merely a thought and a plan for the future, definatly not something I plan on doing anytime soon. I do have a limited knowledge of eeverythign you have mentioned but probably not sufficient to host a server.

My ISP are p[retty good about things and they are extremely helpful So im sure they would help me out, but for the time being definatly i am going to stay with a third party company who knows what they are doing! but thanks for shedding some light on the issue and i know what to expet if and when I decide to go all out and run a server from my attic.

PS to answer your question astro yes i would most likely be using the connection for my own browisng aswell, plus the rest of ym family would also be requiring it as it is the single connection which the entire network uses (4 computers) So my guess is that it would be a pretty lame server anyway whatw ith it only being a 512Kb line. haha, ohwell 🙁

AstroTeg

I host a P100 box with a 13gb drive. It has mostly old web dev projects I've worked on and some files I may need every now and then. I also have on it about a gig of racing videos.

My cable bandwidth is about 2mbs down and about 512kbps up. If someone posts a link to my videos from a forum, my bandwidth gets hammered. To the point I (just one person) can't get my stuff done on the web. This has resulted every now and then in me taking the box off the network so I could get my work done.

Videos are a bit more depending then just web pages. So if that's all your doing, I'd say set one up to get some practice. Becareful you don't open up any security holes to the other computers on your network. If bandwidth becomes a concern, you know you'll need to look at the web server logs and see if its getting hit hard or if a family member has figured out Kazaa.

pablodelapena

hahaha, Kazaa, yeah I'm guilty of that one! Alright, well I know some people,a nd my dad has a number of contacts with major IT administrators, so maybe I could see if they could help me set up something small to get a little practice done. not nessecarilly to host a website but tod o the baiscs!