questions about servers....

I see servers for sale and I wonder what you can do with it..

Can you set up your own website without paying for server space...etc...

How is the server managed.. how do you get all the software onto it... php etc... all the stuff you need...

you can set up your own website, though some isp's frown upon you doing any hosting. Check with your ISP first. You'll also need to have some sort of IP forwarding if you don't already have your own domain name. Static IP helps, unless you want to use software that loads with the server and connects to another to keep it updated on your constantly changing IP. DNS2Go is the first thing that comes to mind.

You install the software. A server isn't really all that different from a regular computer, it's mostly in the software you install that makes it different.

Are you talking about buying a machine to run as a server, or renting one at a colocation centre?

If the former, the software is just different, as mentioned. A distro of Linux or FreeBSD or OpenBSD would be best for this, along with Apache and possibly MySQL, PHP, etc etc.

If the latter, the software comes installed. If you have full root access to the server you can add and remove software as you wish, and you can use SCP or FTP to move data onto the server.

im talking about a server meant for hosting... and running about anything on it... not like a computer.. just wondering what i would need in order to start one..

I dont get it... isps have servers so people can have internet...

what would i need, not saying i am, to start my own "isp"...

are there different equipment, for hosting websites, internet access, and running shells or whatever... forgive me if my terms are wrong... heh

also what type of server load can one handle, what specs... how many people or how many sites can be on one server?

A server is just a computer. What type, and the exact specifications will really greatly depend on the application. Just as an example I have a server as a part of my home netwrok. I picked it up off eBay, it is an old Dell Poweredge with dual PIII's. I use it as an Active Directory server and a file server. This way no matter which computer in my network I log into I will always have the same desktop and access to my files.

The first thing you need is a server OS. That could be Windows based or a Linux distro. Then you just install that, along with any additional software you need on it like you would any other computer. That is of course assuming you own the actual server. What you plan on doing with the server will determin what you will be installing on it. A fairly popular type of server on the cheap is a LAMP server, for Linux Apache MySQL PHP.

Generally you really wouldn't build a single server to do everything and anything. You seem to be more interested in webservers if I understand you correctly. It is possible to pay for space on a server run by someone else, and it is also possible to run a webserver of your own thus eliminating the need to pay for space. What type of equipment you need would greatly depend on how big of a site you are running. Will you be getting 10 hits a day, or 10 million? Getting your own server up and running can be tricky on most residential type internet services. As mentioned most ISPs don't like you to be hosting websites without paying for some sort of commercial package.

ah ok...

how do small webspace companies do it... they pay for commercial type internet...

I was wondering maybe I could setup a server and charge some classmates for webspace for cheaper since we all have to pay right now. that would pay for the server...

I could use the server for storage, or maybe a long render in a 3d application. Or maybe even a CS server heh

Since we have basically portfolio sites there wouldnt be too much traffic, hopefully ic ould have many sites on it..

i dont think i could do all this on one server....?

Obviously it is possible to host more than one site from a single server. You don't think that for the few dollars a month you pay you are getting a dedicated server, do you? No. You get a small amount of space on a larger server.

You need to check with your ISP about the policy the have on running a server. Some might allow it if the traffic isn't to great, others won't. The only way to know for sure is to ask your ISP.

As to if it would be worth it to setup a server capable of hosting multiple websites, doing rendering, and lso acting as a game server is worth it, is another question. I kind of think that getting all the necessary equipment to run that sort of setup, and the associated ISP bill would make it a losing proposition.

so if i runa server it would be running off my isps connection...

so basically all the sites and my internet usage will be slow....

well basically the connection your ISP gives you. So if you have a cable modem or DSL modem it will use the bandwith the ISP gives you. Cable and DSL is designed to give you high download speeds but fairly crummy upload speeds. Unfortunatly what most servers need is upload. If you are hosting low traffic sites, with only a few hits it won't be a problem because there is no way it will take more bandwith then you have. Also if you have dial up, don't even think about it, not worth it at all.

jeez, i had a site that got 10 000 hits a day... the host must have some high speed internet....

geestring said:

jeez, i had a site that got 10 000 hits a day... the host must have some high speed internet....

Click to expand...

When you start talking about professional hosting services, or most any other large business for that matter, you are no longer using cable or DSL for internet access. You are talking T1, T3, or better. These types of service are symmetrical, meaning that they give the same upload and download speeds

So actually hosting a website probably wouldn't really affect your web browsing or downloa much as the upstream and downstream data are seperated. But hosting a site with any kind of traffic on a typical cable or DSL connection (usually under 500 KBps) will be painfully slow.

http://www.rackspace.com/solutions/managed_windows.php

hmm thats 150 outgoing gb... its free incoming...

what would be outgoing data for a website and incoming for a website?