Starting my own server for hosting

[Eden]

How would i go about hosting my own server? I don't mean a soldat server specifically, i mean like my own physical server.

For instance this site is hosted on a server (Well Duh).

Basically what im asking for is a guide, or an outside link to a guide on how to set up a server from start to finish, for hosting soldat, websites and other games.

I'd also like info on what OS to use, where to buy the server, how to get people able to connect to it via the internet, how to setup a website and so on (Basically ALL the smal details imaginable).

I'm sure a guide like this would help lot's of people, not just me.

Any help would be appreicitaed Greatly, thank's.

[Denacke]

This site is hosted by FliesLikeABrick who also owns several soldat servers.

These servers are mostly located in a datacenter where they have a very good connection (100mbit or more) with the internet. Renting bandwith and a spot in one of those racks is very expensive (Not to mention buying the server itself).

Mostly those servers are hosted on a distribution of linux. Unix and FreeBSD are also commonly used on servers.

if you are interested in having your own server, I'd recommend fiddling around with some linux distributions first (A very popular one would be Ubuntu). You could try the normal desktop environment first and learn the basics of linux there. You can also try to set it up on an old computer and dedicate it to hosting websites and other things.

Remote connections are usually through SSH (secure shell log-in) which provides only the command line (no graphical environment, get training those commands ).

Guides on how to set up apache (a webserver) can be found everywhere on the web. It is very easy with ubuntu (if you try ubuntu, check out the ubuntuwiki!).

[digitaldeath]

Some good advice there. As suggested start small, turn an old PC into a server and get your practice there. Some internet basics would come in handy too, eg. your ISP assigns you an IP address, which may or may not be dynamic. If you want your friends to be able to access your home server without always having to know what your IP is, I suggest using a service such as www.dyndns.com/ which  will basically allow you to access your server no matter if its IP address is forever changing.

For a very basic setup, you could at least run Apache on your Windows PC. Not recommended though, unless you restrict it for local access only (for testing purposes).

Also, if you are using a router, you should look into port forwarding to make sure that requests for port 80 get sent to your server.

Regards,
Digi.

[FliesLikeABrick]

If you don't know linux, spend 6 months learning that before you try looking into hosting.  Also save up some money and buy a server if you're really serious about this.  Here are some numbers for you:

Hours per week I spend working on the server and working for my customers: 25+
Pricetag for the server I bought: $5000
Monthly cost for the connection and bandwidth in chicago: $140 (again... thats per month)

If you don't have the money to spend and the knowledge to get into this, learn it and save up a bunch of money first.  This isn't something for you to try and do before you know how to do it very well.

[digitaldeath]

But of course, there's no reason why you shouldn't  setup your own server at home for the experience. Get Apache, PHP, mySQL running, maybe even try Tomcat too for some JSP development.
Install something like Mambo/Joomla, Wordpress, phpBB, dedicated servers of some of your favourite games etc.
You will definately have to get comfortable with a command line, so learning Linux starting with the basics is worth the effort. Then maybe move onto setting up stuff like Samba, Dansguardian, Squid etc. You'll learn alot this way and it will definately help before splashing out any big money!

Regards,
Digi.

[bja888]

It warms my heart to see a topic where people are being helpful. I have a question for you Eden. Is it really worth the years required to learn the techniques to set up a really good/efficient server? Or should you bail before you invest too much time and money into it? Time seems to be more important than money these days and most successful businesses don't see profit till their second year.

[jrgp]

try reading the articles at: http://www.dslwebserver.com

I have a server hosted at home, and i chose Ubuntu LTS 6.6 server linux as the os.

[Eden]

Thanks for all the help on this, I have Ubuntu 6.06 already, and i plan on reading all the links you guys posted, and reading thorugh the posts too thoroughly.