How to set up a personal home web server

A web server is software that continuously runs on a computer and allows other computers to download documents from it. This text that you're reading right travelled over a network connection from Google's hosting web server to your browser. Web servers are usually loud, scary, headless machines in cold windowless rooms, but you can run one under your desk at home.

Why would you want to run a home web server? Maybe you want to download files on your home computer from anywhere. Like, say, your digital music collection. In this how-to, we'll set up a home web server that lets anyone connect to your computer and download your MP3's from it, for a nice way to share your music collection with friends, or play a song from your home machine at the office for co-workers.

Please note: Running a server on your home computer is a risky undertaking, and before you start, make sure your computer has all the latest patches and security updates, and that you've done a thorough spyware and virus scan. This tutorial is for advanced users who feel comfortable editing textual configuration files and exposing port 80 on their home computer to the internet. 

Let's get started.

What you'll need:

1. A Windows PC with  an always-on broadband (DSL or cable) internet connection.
2. Register to  http://www.no-ip.com.
3. Install Apache HTTP server. 
4. Port forwarding in your router.

Step 1. Register to no-ip.com:

Go to the link  http://www.no-ip.com and register in the website. Then activate and login through the username and password. Then go to hosts/redirect tab and click on add a host button, it asks for hosname and select domain name from the bunch of domains provided freely. It has IP address field, if u don't know your IP address then go to www.findmyip.com. copy and paste it in the IP field. An application is also provided by them to dynamically update your IP address, which changes for every connection. download it from here Dynamic IP updator and install and login through your username and password. There is select host button click on it and select the domain which you selected while adding an host.

Step 2. Install Apache HTTP server. 

First and foremost, disable and stop any other firewall or server software you may have running, including Windows Firewall, Skype, Trillian or any other instant messaging applications. This is extremely important, and if it's not done, can cause the server installation and startup to fail miserably. These programs and services can be started and used again as usual once we're done setting up the web server.

Download Apache HTTP Server from here. Start the installation wizard. Accept the license agreement and use the default location for the Apache files, in C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\. When you reach the screen prompting for server information:

Network domain: susheel61@servehttp.com (when you add the host in NO-IP.com, you get a host name and domain name)
Server Name : susheel61@servehttp.com
Administrator's email : enter your email
Select port 80 which is selected by default and install it .

When it's done, open your web browser and go to http://localhost/. If the page you see reads, "some content" then apache is running fine.

Step 3. Congratulate yourself. You've got a home webserver running.

If you are NOT behind a firewall, you can access your web server from other computers by typing your computer's IP address into a web browser's address bar. If you're not sure what your IP is, visit What Is My IP to find out. If your IP is 12.34.567.891, then type http://12.34.567.890 into a browser's address bar.

If you ARE behind a firewall (like a wireless router), you'll need to open up port 80 on the firewall and forward it to your computer.

step 4. Port forwarding on your router:

Go to command promt and type ipconfig/all

Note down the red marked details. Now enter 192.168.1.1 in your browser and your router settings will open. Go to advanced tab and find the port forwarding option. Different routers have different setting, so some how check out and forward the port 80. and enter the inter host ip address as 192.168.1.2 which we noted a while ago.

Now almost all done. Go to the link http://susheel61.servehttp.com ( this is my version of link, you might have created something else from the http://no-ip.com ). Now whatever you have in htdocs folder of apache server locally, will be displayed. It might be a html file, php file etc. You can even give your IP address (dynamic ip address from www.findmyip.com) directly to your friends and it will work fine without using the domain name etc.

Note : Turn off your firewall, so that it works fine :)