My own server?

[Zohn]

I have 3 comps...2 are super fast good comps and one is a P.O.S. my aunt gave me it has 300mhz and 5gb, and I want to make my own server. First things first: I have DI-604 DLink Router & 3meg DSL, will it work? If it will how can i get my OWN domain name since im using my own hardware, i can make my domain name like www.myname.com right? Also wut server software do you'll recommend? Windows server is obtainable from my dad...and i know apache is free...any and all advice is welcomed! Thanks in advance :cool:

[snapple]

Hardware, not a problem, in fact it does not matter what your hardware capabilities are, well, it depends on the traffic you think you'll receive. As for your domain name, well, if your providing the space, then all you need is http://www.dyndns.org/ simple! You cannot have whatever domain name you like, just because your hositng it. You are taking over the job of the a hosting company, not a domain registration company.

Regards, snapple :)

[CyanBlue]

First thing first... Check with your ISP to see if they allow you to run your own server... If not, they could literally cut you off...

[Zohn]

I am still confused as to why i can not make www.myname.com...int there a way where i can tie my ip address to a specific name w/out any outside services?

[shawn_t]

If you have a static IP address from you ISP, then you can do this. However, most residential setups assign you a dynamic IP address that changes maybe every few hours or maybe every day. Roadrunner doesn't offer static IP addresses to their residential accounts at all. You have to buy a business account which will cost you a minimum of about $100 per month (including the $10 static IP charge!)

This is why you can't just buy a domain name yourself and point it to your IP address as the IP address may change.

The dynamic IP address websites out there remap their IP address to your dynamic IP address. There is a small piece of software that runs on your local machine and sends updates to their website telling them what your current IP address is. This software is also available for *NIX variants so you can run a LINUX server as well.

Most of these sites offer premium services that can use your own domain name, but that costs a monthly charge. Maybe $5 or something. I know No-IP (http://www.no-ip.com) offers the premium service.

So those are your options:

1) Use the free service where you get to pick from a list of website address. For example: shawn.no-ip.com FREE
2) Buy your own domain name and sign up for premium service ~$5/month + cost of your domain name
3) Get a static IP address from your ISP

After you get this resolved, you have to make sure that your router is setup to forward the ports from your server machine to the outside world. There is usually an easy way to do this in your router setup.

[Zohn]

Thanks, that helps a lot...I will call up my isp and ask for static IP, lol again thanks now it makes sense :p