server

[Muddy]

Im sick of crappy web host reliability and outrageous prices for dedicated servers.

I have a dsl connection that is always on and supplying internet access to several boxes through a router.

I have a static ip with my dsl account.

Could I host my website on one of my own computers? Would this by any better or worse than a dedicated server account with a web hoster? How so?

btw, I am not concerned about periodic backups ... nothing mission critical on this site

[Cander]

You dsl will pale in comparison to the dedicated sever which will have much higher speed broadband connection.


And you need to ask you providers permission. Many Cable and DS providers do not allow any type of servers being run.

[parksie]

It is perfectly possible. Things I can anticipate causing occasional headaches:

Speed - your DSL's upload will probably be a lot less than anything a hosting provider will have.

AUPs - your ISP might not want you running a server; you'll probably get away with it.

Domain name - Register a domain, whack your IP in, you're sorted. With a static IP that's just a minor one-off to do.

Security - This is the kicker. You are exposing your machine to the internet, requiring you to take almost paranoid care over what goes on it.

You say you use a router, in this case, you can have port 80 forwarded through to your internal web-serving machine...I would recommend OpenBSD and Apache, since securing IIS seems to be a lost cause.