Hosting my own site 2

[noellees1]

Hi,
I have an old compaq deskpro with WIN 98SE - PC = 128mb ram, 10GB Hd a cd drive a 350mhz Pentium II Processor and thats about it.
I would like to use this pc as a server for my personal webpages i own a domain i.e

http://www.domain.com

and would like this old pc to host the webpage.
I am running BT ADSL 512kb and have this connection split over a LAN.
Is it possible to have this old Pc work as a server hosting my webpage?
What software do i need to do so etc?

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

There are many other threads just like this one, and there might even be a FAQ. Take a look there, if you have any questions then go ahead and ask. I run my own site from home, so I know I can be of use.

iSeriesCodePoet
iSeries Programmer/Lawson Software Administrator

http://www.koldark.net

See my progress to converting to linux.

http://linux.koldark.net

 

[noellees1]

Cheers iSeries ive been lookin around on google and found this site

http://www.pcmech.com/byos/step/1

Which seems to detail a lot of the setting up process the FAQ seemed a bit dodgey.
Im going to install Win 2000 on it tomorrow got it on disk somewhere im sure (all XP part from this Pc now).
I will be back for more help im sure but it seems like a good idea to me, i could even charge clients to host their pages on my server, which i would administer come to think of it, its a brilliant idea.!

 

[manarth]

I'd recommend serving from linux: leaner meaner and gemerally more stable

RedHat is the usual flavour for web hosting (loads of huge hosting companies use this as their platform) so it might be worth using so that if you move to a outside hosting in the future, you're familiar with their setup.

Apache makes a very good (free) web server (and they do have a windows version as well).

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[ChrisHirst]

The short answer is NO! this PC will not do. Or rather the PC will but the OS won't. Win2k Svr at the very minimum NOT Win 2k Pro.

faq253-3718, thread253-574743.

You will find that charging people to host pages for them very quickly becomes a hassle.
You have to make sure that the connection is up 24/7. BT adsl (Dynamic IP) drops out now and again and sometimes won't reconnect without a reboot. Just keeping up with the latest threats and script attack patterns can be a headache, so you can keep your clients sites secure and make sure your server doesn't become a host for porn videos or warez.
BTW. I did this for 1 year and the hassle of making sure everything runs and stays running, having to make sure someone else can take over if you go away for even a day is not worth what people pay you.



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?

 

[manarth]

Chris, the first post says that noellees1 is trying to host a site for the domain he owns, not resell hosting.

Win 2k Pro running Apache is perfectly adequate for this task (although the machine itself is a little slow, and may not handle a huge number of requests or dynamic websites easily).

I can't remember off hand if 2k pro includes IIS.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[ChrisHirst]

True. but if you read the second post from noellees1 though.

Win2k pro does include IIS as does XP Pro, but both have a connection limits of 10.




Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?

 

[noellees1]

Would i be better going for Linux or using Apache i have no knowledge of either but would like to learn how to do this.

 

[manarth]

My apologies Chris, I missed the second post! You're quite right to say that w2k (and indeed this machine) will not scale up to the high traffic involved in reselling hosting.

noellees1:
Apache is a web server which can run on linux or windows (plus other o/s). It's free, and available from

http://httpd.apache.org/

The advantage of Linux is that it (typically, for a web server) runs without a GUI. No fancy graphics, just a good old fashioned command line interface. This means more resources are devoted to doing the job in hand: serving web pages. You can find more about Linux servers in forum54, but the initial advice is to choose a flavour (RedHat is de rigeur for commercial web servers), install it, play with, read the manuals, and fire off questions when you run into problems.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[ChrisHunt]

Nobody's mentioned it yet, so I will: There's a FAQ about this subject on this very forum: faq253-3718

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[BabyJeffy]

And if I were you, I'd check with BT. Your terms and conditions may stipulate the you not run your own (outwardly facing) servers on their 512k ADSL service.

512k is the downstream speed or the upstream speed (or are they the same for your package)?

Even if it were 512k upstream, and BT had no restriction in your Terms and Conditions regards running (outwardly facing) servers... serving any more than a few connections to a small website will be sluggish for those viewing the website, and it will impact on your own internet traffic for users of the LAN.

Jeff

 

[Wullie]

noellees1

i could even charge clients to host their pages on my server, which i would administer come to think of it, its a brilliant idea.

To do this you would also need to tell clients that you are hosting them on a sub-standard connection, and that if the connection ever dies, it can take days to get it back online. To host clients sites, you need to have redundant connections.

Off the top of my head, I think that BT uses a contention ratio of 20:1 and that the upload speed is actually about 128k or 256k. If this is the case, in the event that 10 users in your area are online at the same time, you will have an upload speed of about 25k and this is split over your LAN.

I beleive BT also forbid servers from their services but most ISPs don't bother enforcing this clause as long as you can secure the machine properly. I used to run a personal server from my home connection (2Mbit) and my ISP said that because I knew enough to block their scanners from spotting the server, they did not have a problem with it.

Im going to install Win 2000 on it tomorrow got it on disk somewhere im sure

As has been mentioned, 2k Server is a minimum, especially if you are going to host even 1 client site, otherwise any spike in traffic over 10 concurrent connections will be refused. Try explaining to a client that because the full server got 10 concurrent hits, the server stopped serving requests.

Don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to put you off the idea of hosting your personal sites or friend's sites, but because 1) you do not know what is required to quickly fix a problem, 2) you do not have the knowledge to fully secure the system 3) you do not have any redundancy, then you don't want to even think about starting hosting sites for clients.

Hope this helps

Wullie

http://www.freshlookhosting.com

http://www.tutorial-world.com

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell