making a webserver.....

[AdvanS13]

im interested in making a webserver. was wondering if you guys have any helpful advice, links, recommended software. also what do i need besides a decent computer....what could i get away with using? how old or slow could i go i guess ;)...i dont know where to start :)

thanks

[pik4chu]

I would recommend 2k/XP or linux for the OS (your prefernce) IIS an Apache will run on 2k, Apache for Linux. if its gonna be a small website you wont need too much hardware.. I had a website going for a while until __________ (stupid ISP) on an Athlon XP 1700 with a 30gig drive and 256 RAM with no problem.. and running F@H 24/7. was windows 2K + IIS. though there are several other shareware/freeware webserver stuff those two are the largest. be sure to read the IIS stickie in this forum if you choose to go that route. Im sure there are Apache guru's here that can help you with that if you choose.

[AdvanS13]

i have win2k, so i will be goin in that direction.

what is required though? is there any initial cost...besides the obvious hardware/software end. i have a small domain, just personal, and may have a small php forum later on.

also about the hardware....what is the bottom line? what can i get away with. i have a spare p2 400....i have 2 actually, cant afford a dual setup at the moment though.

thanks i will read the sticky now :)

[JohnnyTheRed]

I use one for pictures and movies of my twin nephews. Haven't had any problems accessing it, or with it being too slow.

It's a 400mhz Celeron, with 384MB ram....it's an old e-machines. Cable connection with 1.5 down and 256 up.

I use no-ip.com to list my comp to the world. The webserver is MS IIS on XP Pro.

[XWRed1]

Most likely your net connection will fill up far before your cpu becomes overworked.

[AdvanS13]

i doubt on this webpage :)....

what isp's are you guys using? i guess my friend was saying comcast will cancel your arse if you run a server? can they really find out?

anyone know more about this...im with verizon right now.

[XWRed1]

Cablemodem isps typically frown on their customers running servers, because people who absorb too much bandwidth will impair their neighbors. I run servers on my cable though, I haven't been shutdown. But in their Terms of Service, they probably have the right to turn off your service if you are abusing it running servers.

My webserver (http://www.modestolan.com) that gets real work is on a free colo'd T1.

[JohnnyTheRed]

I'm with Comcast now, used to be AT&T Roadrunner. Haven't asked what their stand on webservers is, but I prolly should. I'e had mine up and running for just a short time - past three or four months.

[TidyBowl]

Servers are strictly not to be used with your cable connections. The terms of Service are pretty explicit about it.

As a fellow cable modem user I am in full agreement on not letting people hook up servers to thier connections. I'm probably in the minority in this though.

T

[AdvanS13]

so dsl?

[XWRed1]

I'm on Comcast/ATT cable also, and they don't allow servers in their TOS. Still, I run them non-maliciously and they never tried to shut me down. So either they don't perform routine scans of their network, or I'm not an abuser so they turn a blind eye.

[druidelder]

You may very well be able to run a legal server through your cable ISP. This, however, will probably require a business account with them (the price increase will depend on your provider). With these packages you usually get a certain amount of bandwidth per month (dependant on how much you pay on an increasing scale) and a static IP. You will need to check with your provider. My provider no longer has any of these accounts available, as they have a limited number based on the size of the pool of IP addresses they purchased.

DSL has similar options. Most DSL providers (atleast where I am in Cali.) frown on servers that are not on a business account, and they tend to be better about sniffing them out than cable companies.

If your ISP allows small servers (not likely, but possible), you may want to look into a new router (or check to see if yours does this). Linksys has routers that allow for domain registration on a dynamic IP (it checks your outside ip address every so often and automatically updates DNS servers).

Note: You do not need to have a business to have a business account. It just means you get extra features (having a server) and pay more.

Also note that if you only have one site, XP Pro will be sufficient. Be aware that XP Pro allows one web site (and I think one ftp), and 10 simultaneous connections. You can have many virtual directories though. 2K allows multiple sites, but only 10 connections as well. Either should be sufficient for low traffic sites. If not, you will either need to run 2K/XP/2003 server or linux.

[AdvanS13]

my friend up in washington, had run 4 servers with 4 diff ip's at one time. now hes running 2. he told me they dont have a problem with it.

i spoke to a friend in california about it...he has verizon as well...and has had no problems doin it. also this site is a very small personal site. it wont have tons of traffic etc.

now i need to figure out how to set them up :)

im not goin to touch xp pro, i think i will be using redhat...if not iis on win2kpro or server

[druidelder]

If you decide to go with 2K Server, here is a good link to info on the M$ site. Link (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/proddocs/standard/sa_serveradmin.asp)

[AdvanS13]

thanks, i will keep it in mind :)...i have a copy of adv. server here with me.

[JDXNC]

I am running an Invision message board off a P1 200MMX with 128MB of ram, it runs perfectly fine with 4 or 5 people online at once(most I've had, but I'm pretty sure it can handle well more than that).

On the software side, I use apache with PHP & MySQL, its pretty good, better than M$'s IIS. Its also running on Win2k Pro.

[scoobiedoo]

Originally posted by AdvanS13
my friend up in washington, had run 4 servers with 4 diff ip's at one time. now hes running 2. he told me they dont have a problem with it.

i spoke to a friend in california about it...he has verizon as well...and has had no problems doin it. also this site is a very small personal site. it wont have tons of traffic etc.

now i need to figure out how to set them up :)

im not goin to touch xp pro, i think i will be using redhat...if not iis on win2kpro or server


I don't know about your situation, but some verizon customers, me included, cannot run a webserver on port 80 :(

I would check that, i do run mine on 8080 as they don't block that one.

As far as os, it doesn't matter much, i do recommend Apache over IIs only because of the lesser chance of security holes.

scoobie

[AdvanS13]

Originally posted by scoobiedoo



I don't know about your situation, but some verizon customers, me included, cannot run a webserver on port 80 :(

I would check that, i do run mine on 8080 as they don't block that one.

As far as os, it doesn't matter much, i do recommend Apache over IIs only because of the lesser chance of security holes.

scoobie

im glad i want have a problem with a lower end cpu then :)

im not sure on the verizon ports yet...just wanted to get some general info before i get to the technical side. but, thanks for mentioning it.

[JDXNC]

You might also want to check out a free DNS service like http://www.dyndns.org . Most likeyl your IP changes now and then, so this way you'll be able to find your site with any easy to remember URL.

[mbentley]

Originally posted by XWRed1
I'm on Comcast/ATT cable also, and they don't allow servers in their TOS. Still, I run them non-maliciously and they never tried to shut me down. So either they don't perform routine scans of their network, or I'm not an abuser so they turn a blind eye.

same here. i am with comcast and i run a tiny webserver that only hosts pretty small images and my own simple website. they haven't bothered me about it. i read the TOS and it makes it sound like they only really crack down on those people running businesses and on those who hog bandwidth.

i myself have a really poor webserver, but it still works out fine for me... it is an old pentium 233 MHz mmx that is at 187.93 MHz (according the gcpuid) and has 96 MB of ram. it's running windows 2000 server.

if you want, check it out to see how it runs, the address is http://www.mbentley.net/ (probably won't work cause i am resetting my dns settings) or http://68.58.136.117/