Can I host my new website from my home PC?

[mini]

Hello

I plan to buy a domain sometime in the future.

In the meantime I would like to take your help to find answers to my questions :

1. Can I run my website from my PC? I am asking this because I have heard a lot about 'server is overloaded with traffic' and also 'proxy servers and third party servers meant for security purposes'.

2. I have heard a lot about WAMP and wampserver and I have tried it. I found wampserver's mysql part to be easier than the traditional mysql.

Will it be a good idea to use WAMP?

3. Any good website you know that provides such info?

Thanks

[edited by: engine at 11:02 am (utc) on Jan. 24, 2008]

[dbdev]

Depends on what you know...

Depending on the type of "PC" you have, Windows Server 2003, Internet Information Server, Microsoft SQL Server & .net is a great way to go if you have the knowledge and funds.

Some will debate this, and tell you to go the free route of LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)...

Your asking about WAMP (Windows Server, Apache, MySQL & PHP).. my advice (and I'm a die hard MS guy) is to go with linux in this case. Trying to configure apache and php to work on windows is a bit of a task... again not my fortay.

I'd never thought I would say this but, get a ubuntu server install which installs LAMP automatically.. there are a billion tutorials that explain how to "tighten-up" the security issues and deploy your web server.

DYNDNS is free and will allow you to maintain an IP address pointing to your home based web server.

[jtara]

Can I run my website from my PC?

You can, but you really don't want to, unless it is a low-volume hobby site, or just a test (say, to demonstrate a site under development to a customer.)

Sever overload is not the problem. Any PC made today is unlikely to become overloaded given the bandwidth limitations on the typical home Internet connection.

Most home broadband connections have limited outbound bandwidth. In most cases, it is insufficient for running a website. And it is cheaper to host at a data center than to buy the additional bandwidth.

[dbdev]

jtara is correct... only good for hobby sites and test servers.

When my hosting provider told me a dedicated server would be $600/month I nearly chocked on my chicken soup.

I thought for sure I could setup and maintain a production web server. Yeah right...

The TCO of a web server is huge! Maintenance is huge as well. It's not a set-it-and-forget-it type of deployment. And what happens if the server goes down.

25 clients on one webserver = 25 calls that need to be answered, calmed and remedied, everytime a blip occurs.

Professional grade hosting companies with massive data centres, redundant power out the ying yang, foundry switches, dns servers all over the place, OC+ fibre connections...

... you can't do that at home.

These guys/gals do this for a living. All day. Every day.

Put it this way... if I knew that you were setting up an home based web server there is no way I would sign on. But then again, I know exactly what it takes to run a web server and I know better than to go it alone.

[adwatson]

Years ago I hosted some sites off a computer at home using Linux. The computer itself worked fine, but the infrastructure was less than idea - my DSL wasn't reliable, power flickers, etc.

If it's your first site you'll probably do fine with a low-end shared hosting plan. Let the professionals worry about security, bandwidth, power, etc. You can get a good plan for less than $8/month.

If you want to get a dedicated server, you can find those relatively cheap ($600 seems awful high) - just google for promos and see if there are any deals out there.

[senthil sivanath]

Good answers really help ful...........

can i host my site using any free public ip............. but i need to use asp.net or jsp or php it should be my favour........ is it possible?

[mini]

Thank you so much for such useful information and suggestions.

[GaryK]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this. Make sure your ISP permits you to run a server at home. Most don't unless you have a business class account. :)

[mack]

It can be done, and I have done it in the past..
[webmasterworld.com...]

A web host is the way to go though!

Mack.

[goodsite]

Better go to Yahoo! They are the best host. Trust me.

[lammert]

Hosting a website from home can be a good alternative in particular circumstances. I am actually now considering to host one of my new sites from home because of specific hardware requirements.

Reasons to host from home:

• Learning the process. With a server at your hands, it is easy to tune and test things, become known with all the features and problems and learn from it. Definitely FTP-ing your files to a remote server and go to sleep is easier, but there is no knowledge gain.
  
• Full control over features. Sometimes you want make a website which needs specific software installations which are not standard available at hosting companies. Your own server in the basement gives you full control of that.
  
• Hosting of sites with low traffic, low ROI, but high hardware costs. The price of dedicated server configurations at hosting providers increases almost exponentially with needed hardware features is my experience. Low-end systems are provided at near cost level, but as soon as you ask for faster processors, large amounts of RAM, diskspace etc, you often receive a quote where the monthly payment will pay back the extra hardware costs in just a few months. With the exception that you have to pay that bill every month.
  
• Hosting of sites on specific hardware not available in normal data centers. This is my problem. I have a specific web application on a piece of hardware which is not supported by hosting companies.
  
• Full control over backups. Don't under estimate this. Good quality backup services at hosting companies are sometimes more expensive than the hosting contract itself. Many sites eventually disappeared from the web because the server crashed and there was no good backup available. Others (including high profile sites like DMOZ) suffered months after a crash to get back at the level they were before.