Creating a Web/File Server

Have you ever wanted to be able to access your files from almost any computer in the world? Ever had a big file that you needed to transfer that was either too big for a floppy or too small to waste an entire CD on? One solution is to have a dedicated web/file server that costs thousands. If you do not have thousands to spend, what options do you have left? This tutorial will show you how to integrate a web server into your current system for free. By the time you are finished reading this tutorial, you should be able to successfully serve files to any computer actively connected to the internet.

This article is written for beginners who know nothing about HTTP and its components. However, you should have a decent amount of knowledge about computers, and how they work, to run a web server. So if you don’t know whether your connection is broadband, this tutorial is probably not for you. Please save yourself some headaches and do not run a web server on 56k.


This tutorial is a basic install, setup, and configuration guide. I will go into some detail on how HTTP works, just enough for beginners to familiarize themselves with it.


By the time you are done reading this article, you should be able to accomplish the following things:



  • Setup and Install the AppServ program to work with PHP 5.0, MySQL, and Apache

  • Setup and Install a few http://www.no-ip.com dynamic IP programs

  • Serve files between any web accessible computers

  • Understand the basics of HTTP

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  • http://geelhoed.servebeer.com/MG.html mike

    Not exasctly sure if I did it ok. The website works locally on my router, but firefox has a connection time out while trying to access the website. Any suggestions?

  • kyle

    you need to enable port forwarding on your router

  • http://www.helioslive.net felipe

    Works Perfectly.
    Nice tutorial.

    Once i did this, i also used “Mono” so Apache could take the ASP.NET. And that, is also preaty interesting.
    A tutorial on that would be absolutely great.

    Thanks a lot.

  • albana

    Where can i find this article pls?

  • lukwsa

    need a soft ,upload ,download freely,named ‘web file server’,

  • Jamie

    I have done everything as said but when i goto my subdomain it just takes me to my router setup page. I have enabled port forwarding.

    • Justin

      I can’t say for sure if this is the cause as I haven’t set up my server yet, but the first question I had was, ‘What about the router’s IP and the DUC?” If the DUC queries your computer’s IP then it gets the one for your router as the gateway and would update no-ip with that IP. Again, haven’t set up the DUC on my server so it may have a way around this. All I know is my computer only shows the router assigned IP and not the pubic one unless it is through a third-party website.

  • DrJon

    @Jamie – if you are trying to access your subdomain while you are on the LAN, you will always only get to your router. To access your subdomain by CNAME you need to be on a different network.

    Access your subdomain by its internal IP address while on the LAN.

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