Printable View
I'm not sure where this post should go so feel free to move it to the appropriate location.
I think I already know the answer to my own question but just in case...here goes.
Is it possible to host a website/web app on your home laptop/desktop where you don't necessarily need a registered domain name and people can access it remotely? Or, do I always need to use a website hosting company?
I'm pretty sure this can't be done but just wanted clarification.
Thanks,
There is no technical reason why you couldn't host a website on your own laptop / desktop as all a website ultimately needs is a webserver and a way for the client to reach it over http(s), there isn't anything special about a website in this regard.
There are practical reasons why you might not want to do it though, the immediate ones that spring to mind are...
- Without a registered domain name people are going to need to know your IP address to connect and depending on your ISP this might change.
- You would need to configure any routers, firewalls etc to allow traffic into your home network and forward it to the correct laptop / desktop.
- The laptop / desktop in question would need to be on 100% of the time if the website was expected to be reachable all of the time.
- Opening firewalls etc can have security implications.
- You would need to install and manage the relevant software (IIS, Apache etc.) to actually host the content.
I am sure there are others I have forgotten.
If you want to do it this way then it should work, however a low cost hosting provider might be a better option.
Great answer sir...thank you!
I'm sure that I will probably end up going with a hosting provider. Since word of mouth is usually the best way to find something, do you have any recommendations for hosting providers?
Thanks again,
I use GoDaddy for one of my commercial users - they didn't want to have dedicated servers and infrastructure at their location. I pay extra for RDP access - I like to login to a server to manage it. Otherwise you use a web-based management tool.
I'm sure it's one of the more expensive option out there...
I've also used godaddy before. They're not bad. Haven't used them in quite a while though. I need a lot of storage space. Are they decent on price for this?
Storage with GoDaddy is not good
First tier was too small and I needed to pay more for larger disk space. I just shut down to travel back to my office so I can't check for details...
No worries. I've seen a couple hosting sites that have unlimited space for good prices but I've never heard of them either...
Rackspace is another option
I'll check them out...thanks!
I use 1and1.com except for a couple snafus, I've largely been happy with them.
-tg
I was chatting with some guy on 1and1. He was a real DB? But I might check them out again.
FWIW, we're not impressed with 1and1. Support is pretty lame and their site is slow (perhaps because they're based in Germany?) and clunky. I've given up on trying to solve one issue that's clearly on their end since we were getting nowhere. YMMV
I use 1on1 in the UK but only because they are cheap to register a domain name with, never used them to actually host anything - been tending to use either Azure or AWS for that kind of thing these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by blakemckenna
Haha...I got that impression with 1and1 just off the conversation I had. So I guess I won't check them out again...
I had not so good experiences with 1and1 as well, but this is years ago.
If you are still searching, I heard a lot of people use hostgator. Maybe you want to check them out as well.
Thanks germansaram...I'll take a look at them!
There are no reasons or limitations for making your own website and placing it on your home computer. Organizing only in Zannia. You need the server Apache and then everything will be. The rest of the matter is purely technical. Customize, add the interface and templates, I advise online for this. And that's all.