Hosting a Webpage from my PC

[bigal40]

Is there a way for me to host a webpage using my computer as the server so I don't have to pay some company to do it?

Note: I don't know if this is in the correct section, if it is not mods please move it.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Sure you can as long as your ISP allows it. Most of them don't and will block port 80.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Yes it is possible. Site will be down if you turn your computer off though. Will probably be a little slow so file hosting is kind of out of the question. If it's just a static text page though, perfectly possible.

I don't have any software recommendations though.

As stated above though, some ISPs don't allow it.

 

[bigal40]

Thanks for the replies. Can anyone recommend some software to do this with?
Also how can I test to see if my ISP blocks pott 80?
Thanks

 

[vegetation]

If this is going to be for any real website, then pay the money for a host. I guarantee you wont have near the bandwidth or uptime that even the cheapest reliable hosts have.

 

[necine]

Apache

 

[Chosonman]

Yes it is possible. I have mine running off my laptop at home:

Once you have a server installed you'll need to forward all your http requests to the server machine in your router configuration. You will need to set your network IP addresses to static. And if your ISP doesn't provide a static IP address you'll need to install an IP forwarding service. I use no-ip.com to forward DNS requests to my my home IP.

So this is how it works.

DNS Request ==> no-ip.org ==> home IP ==> Router ==> Server

Once you picked out a domain name and have the no-ip client installed, the software can remotely send your dynamic IP information back to the DNS server so it will forward requests to your IP.

 

[Mesix]

Apache

 

[imported_Beavis]

Read your TOS with your ISP

If your on a Residential Plan, you will have a dynamic IP address, then no, they won't allow it.