14 replies to this topic

[GreyApe]

Hey guys!

I was reading on another forum about a guy who was converting his PC into a web server, so I have a desktop, 300GB, 512MB Ram kicking about and I was planning on using it as online storage which I could turn on and off etc.

It's all well and good browsing other forums and reading topics, but I want advice from people who have actually done this theirself or know what I need to do!

Any suggestions?

Tom

[Donna]

First you should be asking your isp if you can, majority of internet providers do not allow this and will cut your service. It's usually in your terms of use when you signed up.

[CrazedLlama]

You have to decide what you want to operate, Linux or Windows.
For servers Linux is much safer, so i suggest it.

[xXKZ2RageXx]

Like Crazed said a Linux distro would work best for safety,
the impression I'm under is that Fedora is the best one for a web-server..but this opinion maybe outdated by now lol. Though, you may find WindowsXP+Apache\orIIS(Unless you have Windows Server OS)easier if you haven't used linux much and you don't have the time to get used to it.


Another thing, if your ISP just allots you a dynamic IP I'd suggest dydns.com's dns service(I think it's still free, last time I used it..it was free.) so that you won't have to keep changing the link to your stuff when you restart/or the IP changes.
If your IP's static, then nevermind XD.

[GreyApe]

Thanks for the tips guys, going to be giving Virgin Media a call tomorrow!

[GreyApe]

Update: I rang Virgin Media, they told me doing this will be too much of a load for them and they will terminate my service if I was to do it, I can only make a server locally..

[aLiNuSh]

Update: I rang Virgin Media, they told me doing this will be too much of a load for them and they will terminate my service if I was to do it, I can only make a server locally..

I'm sure they misunderstood what you want to do. Maybe they thought you want to open up a webserver for more than one person to access and download data, such as a personal website or a forum. Do you want to do that, or do you simply want a webserver for your own use so that you can access it from remote connections to, I don't know, upload or download some files from your computer maybe? That should be fine because it won't stress/load their network if only one person connects to your webserver from time to time, it's just "normal" internet traffic. If they say it's not okay, find another ISP. That's what I'd do.

[xXKZ2RageXx]

Update: I rang Virgin Media, they told me doing this will be too much of a load for them and they will terminate my service if I was to do it, I can only make a server locally..

:\ sorry to hear that, that sucks.

[tjl30]

Almost all IPS's blog certain ports so that you can not host or remote connect in from somewhere else. With that being said there are ways around it.

If I were you I would not bother but if you really want to have a server all you have to do is call up your ISP and tell them that, then they will charge you like 10x more each month and open up all your ports. As far as what OS you should use, I would use Gentoo, but if thats to confusing almost any other distro will do the trick.

Hope that helps

[GreyApe]

Im fine with all distros really and i don't care what virgin said, I'm still gonna use it to host a few files and a few IRC Bots xD

[vvtopkar]

Yeah, having your own server for hosting is fun, just make sure you have a static IP or you'll have to change the IP for your domain every time, so it'll be a pain for you, and give the users (if any) a looot of downtime.

[Wolphie]

Linux is by no means the safest operating system to run as a web server, or any other server for that matter. In fact, probably the worst. Unless setup correctly, with an in-depth understanding of how everything works. (Usually requires C programming knowledge). During my day, linux was all we had so I had to grow up on it. And for that i am very grateful because it gives me all the understanding I have today.

Linux is the most reliable operating system in terms of servers, it very rarely crashes, gives errors or stops running. The uptime is great. And the security is just as good as any other operating system if done correctly.

Mac isn't very good for servers, even though in terms of viruses it's the most secure operating system. I'd recommend a mac soley for local development.

Windows offers a very good level of security and effeciency. However, reliability isn't so great. But for beginners, i'd strongly recommend windows.


For your needs, you don't need a web server. You should look into setting up an SSH server (Secure Shell), which allows encrypted data to be sent and recieved (inlcuding accessing the file system through it). SFTP is must safer than FTP, it's like entering your card details into an unsecured website (Without SSL which encrypts data being sent to the server) compared to entering them into a SSL secured server (the little padlock you see in your browser). Try OpenSSH.

Alternatively, you could setup a VPN (Virtual private network) and access everything connected to your router (network) provided you have the correct details to do so. VPN is probably the most secure means of data transfer from one computer to another. You can access your filesystem, and every other computers filesystem connected to your network (provided you have the correct credentials) from any computer in the world provided it has internet access. VPN's aren't that difficult to setup, but this method i would recommend the most.


By IRC bots, i think you're refferring to botnets. First you would have to attain these botnets via infecting other systems with the server, and you'd need a LOT in order for any form of denial of service attack to be successul.

Edited by Wolphie, 02 May 2008 - 04:42 PM.

[synn]

XAMPP or HTTPD, are the two softwares that can turn your computer into apache/mysql/php host server.

[JoeyMagz]

Why is everyone agreeing that linux is safer?! It's the most widely used operating system for web servers or database servers, so you could also say it is the least safe since hackers and script kiddiez regularly attack websites and databases. If you're going to have your server on a home network, get a good hardware firewall for all of the initial threats to the network. Then you need a good software firewall to control what goes in and out of the actual server, as well as all of the other computers on the network. You will also need a good security suite for all computers on the network. Be smart and don't put anything you don't want found on the server. Be safe, be smart, and have fun!