Becoming a Server

[dancedevils]

I am a newbie of course (as it says to the right) to networking. I have good knowledge of Web design and I was thinking about hosting it myself. Any ideas on what I would need and how I would get about to do this?

Thanks,
Bon Bon

[fmtroute]

I would seriously rethink this matter. There is a great difference between being a web designer and a web host. Does being married to your computer 24/7 really appeal to you?

[dancedevils]

It would not harm to have a go. I am married to my PC anyway seems as I use it to compose music, create adverts and chat on messenger. It seems fine to me.

[fmtroute]

Are you thinking about hosting your own site or a combination of your site and other people's/organization's web sites?

[dancedevils]

I am having an online services section on my site where I will provide free webspace for newbies making sites and I will host a range of my sites too.

If you have any more questions please fire away with them. I will answer as many as possible in as full detail as possible.

[compusolver]

Hosting is a huge responsibility. Many of my clients (I offer hosting) depend upon their sites being up 24/7.

Being a good host means you understand the technicalities of a good MySQL setup, email programs, OS, etc., etc. Plus you have to stay up with the lastest updates to whatever server-side programming languages you support.

Then too, you have to be able to diplomatically help your customers when they mistake their own user errors for server errors.

Oh, and I haven't even touched the hardware issues yet. I used to own a chain of computer shops where we built and repaired PC's, but no one can really stay up with all fields, so I have others take care of this part of the business for me.

So now you're starting to see that it's a tremendous amount of work, responsibility, etc. but what about the other side of the coin - profits?

Well there are few industries with as much competition as hosting. I offer managed hosting from just $9.95/mo and I'm not getting rich. Support, especially with a newbie who is setting up his or her first site can easily take an hour or more. At least the way I do it it does. I help them step-by-step and the only way it's going to pay is if I keep them as a client for years.

Most web designers would prefer to spend their time designing and not having to figure out server issues, database issues, etc. That's what I do, and that's what makes my hosting a little different.

You might want to do something like that. Find a niche that makes you a little different from other hosting companies. Then be willing to dedicate your time and efforts to be the best there is in that niche.

[fmtroute]

OK. For startup you might want to consider a dedicated server maintained by people that have been in the business for a while. They provide the machine, the software, the backbone hookups, backup power, names servers, etc. This way you need not be concerned with software updates, bug fixes, patches, etc.

They are responsible down the the web root (ie - c:\inetpub\wwwroot.) Below that is your territory. Still requires a fair knowledge of the operating system that the server is running on.

Check www.interland.com for openers.

More questions? Send a private message or e-mail direct.

[dancedevils]

I strongly disagree on my behalf as I know a couple of people who are web designers and host their own site although they are a lot older than me. Cost is not a matter as the budget runs into 100's of thousands of pounds. I was only intending on basic hosting that does not include features like PHP. I could provide support and I have moderators of my group who can also provide support.

[dancedevils]

Thanks for the link 'fmtroute' I will check it out and report back.

[dancedevils]

I was really looking at hosting my site on my own server which I own and providing space for other people who are new to Web design.

I am looking into buying a server and setting it up for hosting and have been looking at a couple of computer models.

I am not really wanting to rent servers but I may end up looking at this as a possibility.

Thanks all for the help,
Bon Bon

[williamjay]

Howdy,

Owning and operating webservers is a terrific occupation. With so many helpful resources online now, all one needs are the time, tools, and inclination to make it work, and most of the tools are free for the downloading. . .

[dancedevils]

Could you please recommend some of these tools then, as I know of none myself which was the reason I posted here in the first place.

Thanks for all the supprt guys.

[adposter]

Running your own webserver is really a great thing. There are of course pros and cons. On the pros side, you have of course total control of the computer and what programs you need to put for your server. The cons of it though is the security issues. Plus, you'll need to keep your PC 24/7 open. You also need to keep on updating your O/S (esp. if it's Windows) for security issues. You'll also need a firewall software/hardware (ZoneAlarm is great) to protect you from hackers. You'll definitely need a fast CPU to serve dynamically to visitors. And the most of it is the bandwidth. The lesser the bandwidth of your ISP, the slower your webserver. That's the bottleneck, so you'll need a really fast ISP that gives you like 1.2mbps download/ 1.2mbps upload speed or more. It'll cost you. Some ISP don't even allow you to serve pages so you'll need to check out some ISP that does allow you to serve pages.

Here's what you'll need:

1.) A fast CPU system. Dual recommended, nevertheless, some people even use an old 486 system as webservers and they're great!
2.) Windows 2000 Server with IIS or any Linux or Server O/S that has Apache or download Apache separately.
3.) Cable connection or DSL connection that serves at least 1.2mbps DL/1.2mbps upload or more and that provide static IP. Check the pricing and policies.
4.) A router with firewall protection like LinkSys or SMC.
5.) A software firewall like ZoneAlarm to protect you from hackers.
6.) Anti-Virus software (Server version) to check your system daily.
7.) Any server-side programs like PHP,ASP, Perl or alike integrated. (www.php.net)
8.) Any MySQL or SQL servers integrated to your system. (www.mysql.com)
9.) A good Mail Server that you can use to send e-mail to customers (I.E. MailEnable, www.mailenable.com)
10.) A good backup software that daily backs up your HDD in case something happens.
11.) A good battery backup system like Energizer in case of power outage like what happened here in Toronto, Canada.

I guess that's all I can think of. Once you have all these equipment, you're ready to run your own webserver. Furthermore, you'll need some expertise configuring your own DNS or you'll have problems. There are of course website that provide DNS for you like EasyDNS and the like. With all the tedious work running it by yourself, it's all worth it! Give it a try, let me know if you get it up running! One last thing, when you're buying connections from ISP, take note of the upload speed and make sure it's a fast one otherwise, you'll have to deal with slow connection when serving pages.

Thanks,
Jon

[ebooks200]

Go for it. It you are doing something you love then the hours or the money don't matter. Along the way you will learn things about yourself and other people. Keep it customer focused and enjoy it. You could also go through www.hostmysite.com where you have the business but are using their servers.

[Kilawa]

I agree with most of the posts on here, it is a complete pain in the butt at times running your own server, if it goes down for whatever reason theres only you to take the blame, clients will blame you and you will get frustrated...a lot :)

However that being said it can also be a lot of fun and you will certainly learn a lot about your servers hardware & software if you don't already.

For plain websites , ie without loads of MySQL databases , PHP etc you don't need the latest greatest hardware.

just do it, take it slow and have fun!

Paul

P.S how's the weather in the boro ;)

[alienzhavelanded]

Currently my company is a reseller for a well known web host. This is the best deal for me since I can do as others said and work on the design end and they can take care of the hosting stuff.
However, on the flip side of the coin, I'm a total computer/html nut and eventually will be investing in a server of my very own. I will likely just have my own web sites on it, but the option to host others is there. I say go for it if you eat,breathe,and sleep this stuff! =)

The Martian

[cyanide]

I have to agree about choosing a reseller plan.

As a web designer, do you really want to worry about hardware/server issues?

Most of these types of plans are upgradeable,
which can grow as you do and, such as in our case, we remain completely anonymous to our resellers' customers.

Even a dedicated from rackshack, for example, you still need to be able to administer it. Can be a headache, unless you've got time to burn and learn.

[netman4ttm]

A good server.

We are running a Comaq 1600 R (500MHz) with 512 megs of RAM, a Mylex RAID card and 6 9gig SCSI drives. Its old but it is reliable.

We use a RedHat variant called e-smith www.e-smith.org
which provides you with the web server, Apache, e-mail,
q-mail, webmail ftp SAMBA and has a nice web interface for a newbie to manage the thing.

We use 2 white box P2's 350 MHz as name servers, RedHat 9.0.

We have 8 IP numbers. (you have to get the numbers to register your name servers)

We use a old Cisco switch.

In other words if this is for yourself, you can start with very little. Get your feet wet and then get that big IBM mainframe to blow away everyone else.

[grahamc]

Lots of books. It's a big subject running a web hosting server. Good luck!

[Steven Glover]

Just curious, Lets pretend that life is easy in Hosting La La land. Have you thought of what type of connection you willl use? You will need a fast one (especially fast on uploading) the average cable modem isn't going to cut it. Have you checked pricing?

[Islands]

As a follow to what Steve said, even if considering a cable connection, check the provider policy; some don't allow you to run a server with their low end service and will require you to upgrade to a more expensive service.

Mel

[samjones]

hi,

im trying to set up my own server. the problem is its on a network connecting to a broadband cable internet connection via a router and all the pc's on the network have the same ip (x.x.41.221)
i need the server to have a unique ip so i can type in the ip and get the servers home page.

anyone know how to give the server a unique ip?

pc is up to spec and running windows xp with ISS for now, windows 2000/2003 if i manage to sort this out.

[Islands]

SamJones

You need to contact your cable company. Chances are they will wnat more money and they may not allow a server connection.

[adposter]

Originally Posted by samjones

hi,

im trying to set up my own server. the problem is its on a network connecting to a broadband cable internet connection via a router and all the pc's on the network have the same ip (x.x.41.221)
i need the server to have a unique ip so i can type in the ip and get the servers home page.

anyone know how to give the server a unique ip?

pc is up to spec and running windows xp with ISS for now, windows 2000/2003 if i manage to sort this out.

Setting up your own webserver on a multiple machine using one IP and accessing via the IP only is just as easy using Windows 2000, provided you have not registered a Domain Name, if you have a domain name then that's another separate issue which I can't discuss here. Its easy to access your page via your static IP. To setup your web page.

1.)Just open your IIS by clicking. Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Internet Services Manager.
2.)If you have not created a new website node on IIS. You can do that by right-clicking the server node on your IIS MMC, then click new website. Follow the step by step wizard.
3.) Once you've pointed the directory where your website is. All you have to do is just type the router IP address of that particular machine where the web pages are. Once everything is done. Test it by typing your STATIC IP address, your router then will direct you to the machine where the web page is located. Make sure that you open port 80 on your router and firewall software (if you have one) or else it will never work.

Setting up your own webserver is very easy. You just need the proper tools and the right amount of bandwidth to serve pages, and a fast computer, i mean super fast especially for Dynamic CGI intense pages.

Easy as 1,2,3! You won't waste your time picking your nose about it...*chukles*

Tata! =0)
Jon