Can I use my computer as a server?

[chillbill]

I would like to run a e-store from my computer at home,

with a 10Mb/s connection. How can I turn the computer

into a server, and is there a good guide somewhere so

I can find out about how and what to install.

 

As you can se from my questiones I'm really a novis.

 

Thanx in advance

chillbill

[♥Vger]

Don't want to annoy you - but as you're a novice I wouldn't recommend trying to run a site off a server installed on your computer. What's most likely to happen is that a hacker gets in and not only trashes your server/website but also all of your hard drive. To run a secure server in an online enviironment you really need to know your stuff.

 

Also, you may have a 10Mbits download connection, but what's the upload speed? Usually the upload speed does not vary, 256 Kilobits. That's Kilobits and not Kilobytes. What's the contention ratio, 20:1, 50:1? Your effective upload speed could already be dissipated by others on the same allowance, and on top of that you add 2-3 people online and the site slows down to a crawl.

 

Then you have the matter of setting up ssl, installing certs, password protecting directories, and it gets to be a bit of a nightmare.

 

Far better to host it online (cheaper, that's for sure), and let someone else take care of the server security and setup.

 

Vger

[radders]

Don't even think about running a website from your own PC :-)

 

What you can do though is run your own sever at home for test purposes behind a firewall. That will make testing out changes to your site very much quicker and also provide you with a full backup in case your webhost goes out of business suddenly. Installing Xampps is a great way to set up a development system.