Wanting to create a simple html/file server...

[DrumminBoy]

My mom rarely uses her computer (P3 933 256mb 40 gb Win2k pro) for anything besides ebay, and im wondering if i could set up some kind of simple html/file server to host a small website on it. I have the computer connected through a Linksys Router w/ 4 port switch, which has my Cable Modem hooked up to it. Security isnt a big issue seeing as though only a few of my friends will even use the site. Which software would you recommend to do this? How would i configure my router to allow the hosting? Keep in mind my mom still needs to be able to use windows regularly, so i need something that will run in the background.

 

[ozone13]

Well for starters be aware the many cable companies block port 80 (standard web server port) & 8080, but if your friends are really the only ones to use it, you can set it at a different port and have them go to http://<yourip.com>:<alternate port> (eg: http://207.207.135.25:8989). You would need to forward what every port you picked within the Linksys router to the proper computer.

Additionally (and probably most importantly) you have to get some sort of web server software since I am assuming your mother is not using win2k server (which has web serving built in). Do some searches on the internet and you'll find some software.

Hope this helps to start you out....

edit: if you are just really wanting to host a file server, you can find many software ftp programs (serv-u, warftp, bulletftp, etc). You would need to forward port 21 to the fileserver within the Linksys....but be aware that Linksys sometimes has problems with SOME ftp programs in that not all ftp clients can access the ftp server through the Linksys router. Again, if you do a search on google you'll find some more answers.

 

[mikecel79]

Or you can just use IIS that is also included with Win2k Pro. Since only a few people will be accessing the site the limit of only 10 concurrent connections to the PC won't be a problem. IIS has html/ftp services. Check on Linksys's site for more information on port forwarding.

 

[dszd0g]

Originally posted by: DrumminBoy
Security isnt a big issue seeing as though only a few of my friends will even use the site.

First off, this thread belongs in software or networking not in General Hardware. As you don't seem to be asking what type of hardware is needed to run the Web/file server?

Yes it is. Do you know how many WORMs are running around looking for security holes? You better keep up on security patches.

[dszd0g@toeclaw]:/var/log/apache> grep "cmd.exe" error.log | grep "Dec 1" | wc -l
138

That is 138 hits thus far today on my Web server looking for one type of security hole. I would guess I get around 300 or more probes a day for security holes on my Web server. Even if one doesn't publish your Web server, if it is running on port 80 or 8080 it will be hit hard. If you don't run it on port 80, you will still get hit with port scans.

How annoyed do you think your mom would be if you forget to patch the machine one week and the hard drive gets wiped by the latest worm? Not saying that it will happen, just that it does happen. I had a couple customers hit by a recent worm within two days of it being released.

Now I'm not telling you not to run a Web server. Just don't do it behind your mom's back and keep the patches up to date.

Now days, one really needs some form of firewall otherwise one doesn't know who has stuff running on ones computer. After installing Windows the last time it was hit 12 times looking for exploits within the first hour I put it on the network.

 

[numark]

One other thing to note is that most cable providers specifically prohibit servers in their use policies. You might want to check that out and make sure that you won't lose service over the server. That being said, I like Apache for Windows myself, but that's just because I'm an Open Source guy 🙂

 

[DrumminBoy]

thanks for the info, ill check with my isp to make sure i can even do this.