Servers

[Ben]

Well me and my bro are looking into getting our own server but we know nothing about them, so :

What do we do with them?
What do we need for them?
How to install?

Give as much info as possible please, we think we know some nice places for servers but if you know any cheap/good ones available in the UK then thats cool :P

Cheers,
Ben

:unsure:

[Tyson]

Why do you want one if you don't what there for? ^_^

[Ben]

Because my bro wants his own server for his business' and i ant him to get one so i can steal some web space for free ^_^

[Samuel]

Heres sun-micro system's servers.

http://www.sun.com/servers/index.jsp


Heres IBM servers

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/


Dell servers.

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/c...sd&cs=04&~ck=bt



Come on, just look around ben it's not that hard. =P

[Ben]

OMG, i dont mean thayt.

I need to know what to do with them etc.

[Samuel]

http://www.howstuffworks.com/web-server.htm

[unit_number_43]

A) You'll have to check with your ISP. You'll probably need to buy a business account. Most ISP's (all that I know of) block the ports commonly used for a webserver (especially the HTTP ports). So, expect to pay an extra $30-50 a month on your broadband bill.

B) You'll need a computer, any computer will do. You don't need a super fast system if you're just serving a website or ftp server. If you've got a 800Mhz+ machine laying around that will probably work.

C) You need to set it up to be a server. That means getting a good firewall either software or hardware. I suggest you setup a linux machine using Apache (server software). Redhat would be a decent distro to go for if you're not familiar with linux. If you had a choice though, I'd go with SuSE, Slackware, or even FreeBSD.

Apache is free for linux, and i believe the have a free windows version as well if you can't handle linux. Apache will actually do all the work as far as turning your desktop computer into a server. Google "apache webserver" and read all the instructional material you can find. It's actually pretty simple. After that it's all just setting up your firewall to allow access on the ports you want exposed and closing the ports you don't want open. It's not that hard, but it is dangerous. you're basically openning that computer up to attacks.

[Ben]

Cheers 43 big help like usual ^_^

[OpticoN]

id like to believe 43 is a god in many countries but im not sure

[tacoX]

I don't think it'd be the wisest idea to buy a server off the bat. What are you trying to do?

You'd most likely wan't to host it at a datacenter (known as colocation). Hosting it on your home connection is too slow, and could only handle a few people.

As a webmaster myself, I suggest against getting a server if you're going to host a site. Buy one from a host for 5$ a month and save the money. Or rent a dedicated - it's a lot easier.

FreeBSD is where its at - it's powerful software. If you're new, you may wan't to aquire a licence of cPanel so you can easily manage your site without having to run SSH comman - which is a bitch.