newbie to Apache, just a few V. basic Q's

[Oxymoron]

hi all.
I've been using red Hat 7 for a few months, and it's great!
I decided I wouldn't mind testing my knowledge with apache, as I have a fair grasp of Linux now, and am eager for new challenges (boughta huuuuuuge book too, so no-one can tell me I should have reasearched it first)

-So, the furthest I have got is managing to display a page on '

http://localhost.localdomain'

that is an acheivement, but past there I am stuck.

-There's just one very basic Question I'd like answering though:
How do u put your server on the web? Do I have to buy a domain first?? or what.
I've been looking at Virtual servers etc in httpd.conf can I simply add a domain name I know to be free in there.

Please help, I know these must seem like such dumb questions, but my so-called beginners book neglects to mention any of this.

-ANY & ALL comments/suggestions very welcome!
thankyou all!
JoE

 

[frozenpeas]

You can access your server via your IP address. That way when someone hits

http://123.456.78.9

they will hit your machine.

If you do want a domain to point to it, you can't just add that to your httpd.conf file. You have to register the name with a company like networksolutions.com, getdomain.com, etc. The virtual hosts section comes in handy if you want to serve more than one site from your server, using different domain names (that you have registered).

When you register a domain name, you will pay a small annual fee. Also, you will need to know your DNS information (assuming you aren't running your own). There are free services on the web, like mydomain.com for example

Hope that helps.