ASP newbie : can I host to the Web or just local?

[sputnik]

I just started picking up ASP yesterday and have for the first time set up
IIS on my Win2k machine. So can I host to the web from my home machine using
IIS? I can find my default site via the browser on my other networked
machine by entering http://localhost/foo.htm but this obviously won't work
off the local intranet.

Thanks

 

[spaghetti]

I just started picking up ASP yesterday and have for the first time set up
IIS on my Win2k machine. So can I host to the web from my home machine using
IIS? I can find my default site via the browser on my other networked
machine by entering http://localhost/foo.htm but this obviously won't work
off the local intranet.

You can host a website on your own machine, but you'll have to make sure you
have high-speed broadband internet access, with a static IP address. You'll
have to share your bandwidth with all the incoming connections... and if
alot of people try to see your site, you might not be able to handle it. And
if you use any server-side logic (ASP pages!) then you need a computer fast
enough to handle all the processing of multiple connections. Don't plan on
playing the newest Quake while 100 users search through your online
database. You'll also open yourself to hackers, so you'll need to be savvy
with firewalls etc. to protect yourself.

If you think you have enough hardware and bandwidth to do it, you can
purchase a domain or get a redirect setup to point to your IP address, and
when users type it in it will take them to your site.

It can be very hectic, and why bother when you can get great .NET hosting
for like five US dollars a month? Check out http://hostpulse.com/.

 

[Richard]

I just started picking up ASP yesterday and have for the first time set up
IIS on my Win2k machine. So can I host to the web from my home machine using
IIS? I can find my default site via the browser on my other networked
machine by entering http://localhost/foo.htm but this obviously won't work
off the local intranet.

Thanks

Check with road runner first and see if they will allow you to do so. Many
ISP's will not since it clogs up the resources.
Even with a dedicated IP, you still might want to check into an offsite DNS
service such as dynu.com.
That way, if road runner changes your IP wihtout your knowledge, it won't
matter.
A quick correction will put you back in business.
Now that in home machines are becoming more server like oriented, people
want to do this all the time to avoid paying for the proper connections
needed to keep visitors coming back.
Slow loading pages don't cut it.
That's one of the reasons for having at least a T1 connection.
Which is also online 24x7 which is a requirement of ICANN if you want to
host via a domain name.

Oh and if you have a domain name, you will be required to have two name
servers.
What's the other name server gonna be?

 

[sputnik]

You can host a website on your own machine, but you'll have to make sure you
have high-speed broadband internet access, with a static IP address. You'll
have to share your bandwidth with all the incoming connections... and if
alot of people try to see your site, you might not be able to handle it. And
if you use any server-side logic (ASP pages!) then you need a computer fast
enough to handle all the processing of multiple connections. Don't plan on
playing the newest Quake while 100 users search through your online
database. You'll also open yourself to hackers, so you'll need to be savvy
with firewalls etc. to protect yourself.

If you think you have enough hardware and bandwidth to do it, you can
purchase a domain or get a redirect setup to point to your IP address, and
when users type it in it will take them to your site.

It can be very hectic, and why bother when you can get great .NET hosting
for like five US dollars a month? Check out http://hostpulse.com/.

That is very true and I'd much rather have someone else deal with all of the
logistics and bandwidth and such. I really was thinking of more of a
limited-use area for streaming media and such things. But knowing that it is
possible to do so is what I was after.

Thanks

 

[Toby A Inkster]

That's one of the reasons for having at least a T1 connection.

What bull!

For a personal website, an ADSL connection is more than enough. I host
goddamn.co.uk on my home ADSL connection and so far this month (bearing in
mind that it's the 6th today!) I have had over 15000 hits (about 11,500
page impressions, the rest being for graphics, style sheets, etc) and
served up over 100 MB of content.

Yes, this is just a standard home ADSL connection, not a business one. And
I rarely exceed my allocated bandwidth.

It uses lots of dynamic pages -- mainly PHP backed by PostgreSQL, although
some CGI/Perl, some MySQL.

Whatsmore, the same box functions as my primary desktop machine.

Oh, and it's only a 400MHz Pentium Celery.

I think a lot of people over-estimate the power needed by a web server.

 

[William Tasso]

What bull!

For a personal website, an ADSL connection is more than enough. I host
goddamn.co.uk on my home ADSL connection ...

Yes, this is just a standard home ADSL connection, not a business
one. And I rarely exceed my allocated bandwidth....

Which ISP? Many exclude public sites in their AUP/TOS docs.

 

[Toby A Inkster]

Which ISP? Many exclude public sites in their AUP/TOS docs.

Mine doesn't.

http://www.aaisp.net.uk/

From their FAQ:

"Can I run servers, web, email, etc?

Yes, no problem. Your service includes one or more real public fixed IP
addresses which can be access from the outside world. Make sure you have
the latest security patches on any services you run."

and:

"How many IP addresses can I have?

As many as you need. There is no pre-set limit. It will take longer if you
want more than 128 addresses, but if you have the PCs and you have at
least considered address translation instead, then you can have the IP
addresses for the machines you have or plan to have within 2 years."

They are a very good ISP and I strongly recommend them. They have
good services and intelligent support staff (one of the few ISPs to
officially support Linux), although they don't do hand holding -- they
expect you to know your stuff.

 

[blib]

Mine doesn't.

http://www.aaisp.net.uk/

From their FAQ:

"Can I run servers, web, email, etc?

Yes, no problem. Your service includes one or more real public fixed IP
addresses which can be access from the outside world. Make sure you have
the latest security patches on any services you run."

and:

"How many IP addresses can I have?

As many as you need. There is no pre-set limit. It will take longer if you
want more than 128 addresses, but if you have the PCs and you have at
least considered address translation instead, then you can have the IP
addresses for the machines you have or plan to have within 2 years."

They are a very good ISP and I strongly recommend them. They have
good services and intelligent support staff (one of the few ISPs to
officially support Linux), although they don't do hand holding -- they
expect you to know your stuff.

Agreed, their support is second to none, you actually speak to someone who
has a clue.

 

[Jacqui or (maybe) Pete]

I just started picking up ASP yesterday and have for the first time set up
IIS on my Win2k machine. So can I host to the web from my home machine using
IIS? I can find my default site via the browser on my other networked
machine by entering http://localhost/foo.htm but this obviously won't work
off the local intranet.

This used to be a brilliant site, but it seems to have lost its way a
bit recently. Still lots of good info if you dig around, though:

http://www.diywebserver.com/index.php

 

[Augustus]

I just started picking up ASP yesterday and have for the first time set up
IIS on my Win2k machine. So can I host to the web from my home machine using
IIS? I can find my default site via the browser on my other networked
machine by entering http://localhost/foo.htm but this obviously won't work
off the local intranet.

You might want to check out www.iisfaq.com for more information on hosting
and setting up IIS