How to host from home for fun

Im happy to type an IP in my browser ..

[irishaff]

Hi,

Id like to host from home to play with windows server. I want to see more of what happens on the server side. I am completley green when it comes to what to do however.

Ive turned the firewall off to the server box ( so no ports etc. are blocked ) but im told that the server is not reachable.

Any morsel of information would be appreciated as a google has produced nothing i can decipher for the moment.

Am happy enough tinkering under the bonnett , just dont really know what im looking at..

:)
David

[bill]

If you don't have a static IP assigned to your server then it won't be routable on the Internet. You could use a service like Dynamic DNS (free & paid) to make sure your machine can be found.

[irishaff]

Thank you. From what i can see my IP is static ( since I started checking to see what it is it has never changed ) I think even my port 80 is open. It is clear to me that this is not a simple ABC job and now know why I pay somebody else to do this for me! Its just for fun though , ( im a hopeless techie and wont rest untill i figure it out. Its configuring the Web server that seems to be causing me the hassles.

[irishaff]

Hi,

It appears that I have narrowed it down to my home. I have a cable router that asks me for the following information:

Host Name
Domain name
( i have the option to renew NAT lease beside here )
Static IP address
Static IP Mask
Default Gateway
Primary DNS ( Static IP Only )
Secondary DNS ( Static IP Only )
Default Gateway
Spoofed Mac Address

Does anybody know if they would of relevance. I am guessing i have to tell the router where to send a request for my pages?

[CaseyRyan]

I run a bunch of sites out of my house over my DSL.

I know that quite a few cable companies block inbound port 80 and 443 connections. You may run into that.

There's an awesome site that has a ton of HOWTOs about hosting out of your house: Cable/DSL WebServer [cablewebserver.com]. The guy running it does a great job of explaining pretty much all the basics.

-=casey=-

[irishaff]

Hi,

Thank you for the useful link. This site is quite comprehensive and gives me a lot of the information that I need.

[midwestguy]

Hi,

I thought about doing this a few years ago with a *nix box. Decided against it (considering my needs).

Via my research on the topic I did find an ISP that DOES allow you to run a server from your home over the DSL connection you have with them. The company/ISP is speakeasy dot net.

I have no connection with them (no pun intended), nor have ever used them, since I have always been on a cable modem, but they would be the first ISP I would consider if I was going to go DSL -- just because of their "acceptable use" policies.

Also, you might want to check out DSL Reports dot com for info on any ISP you consider going with.

Good luck to you!

Hope you learn a lot and that the above helps,

Louis