i want 2 setup a web hosting service???

[snipa]

i have a windows98SE PC running a dual AMD K7800 Athlon and 256 Mb Ram, I am in the process of getting a 512k cable modem.

I really want to setup up a server that I can host web sites on how do i go about it? also how would i point urls to the relevent sites stored on my hard drive?

I may not be understood by alot of you thats probably because i am very new to this but im a quick learner, so please help

[mosquito]

If you want to serve websites you have to understand a few things. [list=1][*]You don't want to use Win98 as an operating system. [*]Most providers do not allow you to host websites on a normal cable connection.[*]You have to check if upstream is 512k too.[*]You need a good webserver[/list=1]

1. Windows 98 is a totally inadequate operating system to store websites because the memory management is absolutely crap. If one process crashes, usually the complete os crashes. And it's easier to hack win98 than to walk through an open door. To host a webserver you need at least Windows NT, Windows 2000, linux, unix or any other business oriented operating system.

2. Most providers don't want you to host a webserver on a consumer cable connection and therefore they use some tricks to prevent you from doing this. They usually block port 80 and 8080 (the ports used for http). They give you 512k downstream and only 128 or 256k upstream (and you need high upstream values because that is the traffic going to the clients). And they assign you an ip address using DHCP, so you don't have a fixed ip address. For the first and the last problem you have fixes (dynip.com provides a dns service that routs to a dynamic ip address. And you can assign another port too)

3. Already handled in topic 2.

4. Good webservers are Apache, IIS4 and IIS5.

To host websites as a business you need a leased line (We pay our 256Kbit leased line 2000$ per month. In Belgium). You also need a firewall and a webserver and a UPS to prevent power failure.

To have multiple websites on the same ip address, you need to install a dns server.

I don't want to scare you away from it, but I think you should be well informed before you take this step.

Good luck.

[snipa]

thanks for the help but r those my only options?

[glc]

If you want to host websites, why don't you just register a domain name and use a hosting service? They start at $9.95 a month plus the domain registration fee ($30 a year or less).

Every residential cable provider that I know of has a strict "no server" policy and you have to sell a lot of websites to be able to pay for the dedicated line that you would need.

[mosquito]

I agree, you need a pretty solid business to be able to afford a leased line.

[Dave22]

Do you want to set up your own site or create sites for other people?

If you're hosting sites for others (and charging for it) then you'll want to have a robust setup. You may want to look into coloaction facilities. This way, all you basically need is the hardware instead of worrying about leased lines, UPSs, backups, etc.