Host from your home?

metfan1 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 05:14 PM

Be easy on me I am very new to this. But is it possible to buy server software or somehow run your website from your own computer or home insted of using a host online? Could I not just buy a domain name, then use dreamweaver to create a website and somehow broadcast it from my house using maybe a NAS-200 or something like that? Any insite is greatly apprieciated. Thanks.

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 06:27 PM

You could if you have the technical resources, servers and know-how. Not recommended for a beginner, though. I've heard nightmare stories from people who've tried this and these were people who were programmers/admins.

metfan1 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 06:52 PM

I really thought it would be pretty easy to run from home but I guess not. And theres so many different versions of dreamweaver how do I know which on is best for what I need. Or should I just go gun hoe and buy the best of the best cuase you cant go wrong with that right?

lisa · #4 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 07:10 PM

If you're going to buy it, might as well get the most recent version (CS3) and get the support and license from Adobe.

Lajocar · #5 (**permalink**) 06-08-2008, 01:38 AM

You have to take in to consideration up time of serve, backups etc.

I would rather pay for webhosting and it will be cheaper.

metfan1 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 03:49 PM

Thanks for the help, im still trying to figure out how to put everything together.

Nblufire12 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-26-2008, 01:40 PM

I actually tried hosting a site from home

it was a good idea

i used Abyss Web Server X2

but you have to buy a domain name, which i wasnt about to do

so instead I bought a really cheap awesome web host (Web Hosting Pad)

freeadlists · #8 (**permalink**) 07-08-2008, 06:29 AM

I thought about hosting my own domain, too, on my UNIX box. But then I noticed my utility bills spiked and the added heat footprint wasn't worth it. In South Korea, it doubles and triples after so much usage.

I maintain several web servers at work and it can be a headache.

pranz · #9 (**permalink**) 07-11-2008, 06:04 AM

people whom lisa wrote about, who have tried it from home includes me; and i am a programmer for almost 5 years now doing freelance programming.....so trust me hosting from home is a BAD idea...very BAD idea...unless ofcourse you are larry page and sergy brin and planning to start a google from your garage!!!!

but on a serious note, the server software that you are planning to buy will anyway cost you much more than what ur going to pay for the monthly or even annually for a web hosting plan.

And apart from that you need to have technical expertise, optimization if yours is a popular site and you get loads and loads of trafffic, database optimization as well and ofcourse backups of db and files and many more things.............................

so it gets way too expensive than a web hosting plan. so, my advice, buy a web hosting plan!

slayer1927 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008, 01:43 PM

Its easy to a point . I have ran game servers and ventrilo servers from my house. Its not easy to do when your a beginner. Plus most the time when running a server you dont want you use your internet it takes a crap hold of bandwith. Slows you down .

Its easy to start but its just so much work to keep up and running.

BumbleBeeWare · #11 (**permalink**) 07-16-2008, 11:24 AM

I have to disagree with some of the comments.

For one, the server software is free. You can download the apache web server at http://apache.org and install it on windows or linux, not sure if the have mac.

It is not hard at all to run servers from home, I actually have a bunch with several hundred websites. But I have a commercial accountwith 1meg of bandwidth and dedicated ips. That costs me $150 a month.

But I must add, I run a hosting company and I do server administration and run servers in a datacenter that run dns and client websites. For me, the home network offers floor space that is too costly in the datacenter. Also, the convience of having servers within an arms reach is great when developing applications that require hardware adjustments or additional networking components.

If you are not an expert, then you will most likely have a very insecure and poor performing server. The cost will be high if you have any bandwidth and it will cost you for power and heat up your home.

If you have 100 websites, the cost savings are big. If you have one or 2 websites, it will be very expensive per site to run from home. Much cheaper to buy space from a commercial host.

You still need 2 name servers and a web server, at least 3 ip's and at least a 256k upload which might manage 4 similtaneous connections at best.

You would not be happy with the results and you are not a system administrator monitoring the server activity and patching security holes.

As I said I have a commercial account and I would say in the last 8 months I have been down more than 48 hours due to network issue with my isp. Compared to my datacenter with 0 downtime.

But if you want to play, I highly recomend it.

The market is constantly changing and more and more bandwidth is becoming available. I think in 5 to 10 years many people will be running their servers from home of offices rather than paying datacenters.

It will definetly open doors for you that you don't have with a leased server and you will learn much about managing websites and servers. I have developed applications at home that I could never have done in my data center because of the cost of space and bandwidth.

pranz · #12 (**permalink**) 07-16-2008, 11:52 AM

hey bumbleweeware

thats a new insight! can you please tell us what kind of websites that you have developed....i am just curious...

RockStar · #13 (**permalink**) 07-16-2008, 04:30 PM

Here are some considerations for running a home-server that hosts a small site (max 50 simultaneous connections) running *NIX. These are what I consider to be the minimum required.

1. Hardware
Minimum hardware requirements for CPU and RAM would be a Pentium 2 350-450MHZ with 512M RAM. The more services are running, the more ram you need.

2. Connection
A minimum upload speed of 80k/s is recommended, to be able to serve your site at the minimum acceptable speed. Your ISp must allow you to run servers and not block or throttle important ports like port 80.

3. DNS
A static IP is useful but not necessary in all cases. Use free DNS servers or the one from your domain registrar. In case of dynamic IP use a free dynamic DNS server. If you plan to run your own public DNS server, you will need 2 IP's with at least 1 static for secondary DNS server.

4. Software
From operating system choice to applications choice, you will need to configure, optimize, secure and maintain a lot of software. While the software is free, it takes some time to learn it. It can be fun and frustrating, but worth the trouble once you master it.

5. Other
The equipment will be running 24/7. It will increase your electric bill, produce heat and noise. Dust will eat up fans fast. Placing the server in a remote room, possibly closed clean room with no heating, is important if you plan to live with computers and not go crazy, or have pets or parties at your place.

This is all I can think of right now