Making a Personal Home Server

I was just wondering if it was possible to actually use my home computer as a webserver for creating my own website. Is there any way that this is possible?

yes, i use phpdev myself but i wouldnt suggest your pc for any live server though.

Its possible, but there are a lot of ins and outs, particulary security. BTW Windows ex pee home did not come with a built inpersonal web publisher.

However, most Internet service providers, give you personal web space with your purchase of their dsl, or broadband service. (presuming your not using dialup)

You may want to browse over to their website, and see if it is included in your package.

If so, you will be provided instructions on how to use it, and you are relieved of the security issues involved in running your own website on your home pc.

Best of Luck

You can, but with many ISP's it is against the Terms of Service to run a webserver from your house.

You'd have to setup Apache, and configure your router (if you have one) successfully to allow people to access your server.

If you want to run a website, its not too expensive to get a package from a webhost. Usually around $10 a month.

Originally posted by brodband
I was just wondering if it was possible to actually use my home computer as a webserver for creating my own website. Is there any way that this is possible?

weird i was trying this LAST NIGHT!

I tried golden ftp and bulletproof. I had it all setup like i should but people still couldnt connect.

I R noob.

Yes, you can. And there's no need for any fancy programs and stuff. All you need is some sort of Web Server software, which is freely available. XP Prof comes with IIS - Internet Information Services. (I doubt if it comes with home ed.). You need to start the service with a base/default home page. Then you need to open up a port to incoming traffic - port 80 by default. Find your IP address. And you're set.

Easy, yes? Not exactly - I just make it sound easy.
You just opened up your PC to countless attacks from viruses, Bots and all kinds of nasty critters. You need a serious firewall between you and the incoming packets. Linux is the best option, but then you'll probably need a second PC just to act as firewall.
Also, people will have to know your IP address to enter "your domain". Most ISP's use dynamic IP's, so people visiting your home website will have to be kept up to date with your IP sometimes on a daily basis. If you want a stable environment, you'll have to apply for a static IP - and they don't come cheap. Then you'll probably want to register a domain to make access even more stable.
And to top it all, most ISP's don't want you hosting your own little website from home - for various reasons, thus their gateways prevent incoming traffic from visiting you.

In short. The answer is yes, but it's more trouble than it's worth. Err... My personal opinion.

I agree with everybody here.

Many ISPs are blocking server ports 80 and 25 etc. Also keep in mind the more visitors you have accessing your website, you will get billed next month accordingly for bandwidth. For dynamic IP address, you can use DynDNS to point your domain name to the correct IP whenever it changes. Look for SSH to access your server remotely for maintenance, SFTP for file transfer, and HTTPS (SSL certificates) for incoming user sessions to your server.

DO NOT ever run a publicly accessible server from your personal computer! Very bad idea!

Having worked in a web hosting company in the past, I know for a fact that your server getting hacked is not a question of bad luck or being at the wrong place wrong time. Trust me on that one, the internet is rather like an angry mob kicking doors open and smashing windows. When they try breaking into your server, you have to push them back and fix any doors before they loot the place. That's why you never put private data on public servers, you change passwords regularly, and you keep security patches up to date.

Aside from all the other points made, I'd like to point out a side effect that might pose a problem if you decide to do this (and are able to, of course.) If you have a fast computer and a good internet connection, it might be trivial, but you need to keep in mind that running a server will affect your useable bandwidth, and it is an additional program running.

If you have maybe 3 hits a day, it's definitely not something to worry about. If you're just running plain HTML pages, it's probably not something about either. But if you're wanting to setup some kind of server-side processing (like perl/php scripts), setup a database, and you get a good number of hits, your computer will run like molasses and you'll have a heck of a time getting on the internet. Plus, everyone accessing your site will have to deal with slow loading regardless of their internet connection. Just something to keep in mind...