Web Server help needed!

[new2web]

Hi to everyone who read this post,

First of all, i would like to setup my own web server on the Internet. I having some problems because only ppl inside my university network can see my server.

My OS is XP professional and i using Apache web server. My computer is in the university network which i think is behind firewall. Can anyone tell me,if i can really set up a web server behind a network firewalls?Do i have to have my own DNS server or something? If so where what DNS software is the best to be used as server?

If i can settle my problems,i would like to register a domain. Can anyone tell me whether i can link my web server to the domain or not? hmm, from my understanding,my web address would be something like [(my...] ip address).
Does this mean i really have to register a domain in order to publish my web server on the internet.This is because the LAN ip is not same as the WAN ip.I am headache for this kind of problems. Can i direct my web server to normal web site like geocities(example my own website registered at geocities)?

That really a bunch of questions but i really hope there someone who can help me to sort it out. It's trouble me for the past 1 month in setting up the web site.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Lisa]

This simple answer is, consult your IT department. They will be able to brief you on the rules of the system. From my college days, my university didn't allow web servers. It was technical impossible because of the firewall. Unless you can get someone from the IT department to help you out. If people from the internet can't directly connect to your computer then it will not work.

I would suggest you find a hosting company and just get a web site that way.