IP Address

[kris87x]

I am wanting to set up a website on a computer which is part of a network where the main internet connection is run from another computer.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to use a computer on the network as my web server. I can do it on the computer that is linked directly to the internet but I would like to know if it is possible to run it from another computer on the network, without having to install Apache on the main internet server.

Thanks!

[MattyMoose]

Hi kris87x! Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

Here's an ASCII Rendition of what I think you're trying to do:

INTERNET ---> ¦ "Internet Server" ¦ ----> Local Network ----> Apache server

It's a very common setup, but there are several things to consider.

Is this website going to be accessible to the outside world? (Internet) If so, you need to enable Port Forwarding [en.wikipedia.org], and forward HTTP/HTTPS traffic to that server. You should also consider setting up a DMZ [en.wikipedia.org], where you can have outside-facing services be sequestered.

What kind of setup is your internet server? Is it Linux/FreeBSD/Windows/Mac? You may want to look at getting a Linksys (or similar) router that does NAT [en.wikipedia.org] and enable port forwarding. Much easier to manage, and doesn't need nearly as many patches and updates and management as a "regular" server.

If it's not going to be accessible to the outside world, then you're good to go and do whatever you need to.

I'd suggest getting a spare machine, and setting up a UNIX/Linux system on it and learning by doing. Preferably find a friend or a book that you like and you can rely on to help answer any questions you have along the way.

With most *NIX systems, they will come with Apache as an installation option, as well as things like PHP,MySQL,Perl, etc.

There are lots of options such as:
FreeBSD [freebsd.org]
Slackware [slackware.com]
RedHat [redhat.com]
And Many More [linuxiso.org]

[kris87x]

Yes, thats what im trying to do.

I have an internet server with an internal and external ip address. this connects to my network computer via a wireless adapter hence the internal ip address. Both computers are running xp home edition.

I have no idea how to do port forwarding at all.

I hope you can see from this what I am trying to do.