How do I set up my own server?

What are the costs involved in running your own server? (e.g.
connection, and the actual server) I have home cable connection, no
static IP. How do I go about getting a connection that will allow me
to build websites and have my own server?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge here. I have a CS degree but no real
world experience. How do I go about getting my own commercial web
server up and running? Note the traffic will hardly be enourmous, but
it should be able to host an some (more than 1) sites.

Thanks a million!

Shawn

In article <1192735623.002891.239820.DeleteThis@y27g2000pre.googlegroups.com>,
slindsey3000 <slindsey3000.DeleteThis@gmail.com> writes:
> What are the costs involved in running your own server? (e.g.
> connection, and the actual server) I have home cable connection, no
> static IP. How do I go about getting a connection that will allow me
> to build websites and have my own server?
>
> Sorry for my lack of knowledge here. I have a CS degree but no real
> world experience. How do I go about getting my own commercial web
> server up and running? Note the traffic will hardly be enourmous, but
> it should be able to host an some (more than 1) sites.
>
> Thanks a million!
>
> Shawn
>
Shawn,

This is NOT the canonical answer to your question(s), but I have
a similar connection setup: cable, dynamic ip. I'hve had very
good luck over the last couple of years using the dyndns free
registration (www.dyndns.org). You can select any one of their
"canned" domains and, providing the name isn't already taken, the
name of your choice. They setup the DNS record and you're good
to go. Only thing you have to do is to update the record whenever
your ip address changes - and that can be automated by using any
one of several available scripts.

I don't know what your ISP's policy regarding websites, especially
commercial sites, is. I've not run afoul of my ISP in that regard,
but my site is low volume and not commercial. I'd suggest you look
carefully at the AUP and TOS at your ISP before jumping into the
deep end of the pool.

In terms of cost, my setup costs nothing over my "subscription"
to my ISP and whatever time I put in to it. I review all logs
daily to be sure nobody has managed to hijack things and, knock
wood, have been successful in avoiding that so far.

Final thought: you might want to see what your ISP offers in the
way of web hosting services and what that might cost. You can
still develop on your local machine, but having the ISP handle the
rest might make more sense - they're responsible for security, you've
got a static ip address (or, if not, they're responsible for maintaining
the DNS registration,), connection speeds are faster, up-time
more reliable. Costs will vary, so I can't give you anything even
in the ballpark here. Check it out with your ISP.

Bob Melson
http://rgmhome.homeunix.net



--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
"People unfit for freedom---who cannot do much with it---are
hungry for power." ---Eric Hoffer