> I want to use my mac (with my cable internet connection) as a web server.
First, be sure your ISP supports it- chances are they do, but check the fine print. Many will letyou use port 80 (for web) but reserve the right to kill your port if you annoy them if you don't have a business account (more $$). Many people got bit by this when sircam and other virus's were going around, in order to stop the network attacks (or alleviate them) many cable companies blocked port 80 on all their networks (port 80 is what is used to serve http). > Meaning: I want to be able to serve my web page from my mac...not from some > annoying service that limits bandwidth. Don't count on unlimited bandwidth- I can almost guarantee you that if you are using a =lot= of bandwidth you'll get a call, the main one being that you're killing the connection for everyone who shares your cable block which costs the company money in calls of "why is my service suddenly slow?". If you're trying to serve porn (not saying you are) then you may be violating terms of service agreements that you didn�t realize you signed. > How can I do this? Do I need to register a domain? what else? What software > would I need? You don't =have= to register a domain, if you're just going to be saying, "ok, go to 192.xxx.xxx.xx and you'll see my mp3's listed for awhile", etc. If you want to host your companies website or something like that, then y es, you'll need to register a domain (I recommend godaddy.com for $8 a year). If doubt this will be on your primary machine, or things will get slooow when you're using it. So you'll need a hardware router (you can buy software but I recommend a hardware one for $100-200) which you will need to configure to send all port:80 traffic to the web server. Now that all the traffic is going to the web server, you have a few options: 8.6-9.x: Personal web sharing- it's slow as hell, but you can turn it on, give people the IP address of the mac and put your web pages within the "site" folder. People will have to go to http://192.xxx.xxx.xx, no nice domain name. Simple stuff is easy, just slow. You can also use some shareware things if you're not going to be using too much, but if you're worried about bandwidth caps then it sounds like you'll have a lot of traffic... You have machttp, quid pro quo, etc which you can find on version tracker. You can also buy webstar which is a nice solid web/ftp server combined. The drawbacks to the above solutions are when you wan tto do things that are dynamic, the mac makes it hard- php, etc don�t exist so the tools are limited and kind of pricy. Avoid lasso like the plague. You'll also need a DNS server. A dns server basically keeps track of what domain goes where- you can host this on the same machine as the server, but I don�t' recommend it. There is macdns and a host of others you can find at www.versiontracker.com. MacOS X.x: Much much much nicer. It has apache built in, which is a screamer on OS X. Same as OS 9.x, you turn on web sharing, and put your files I nthe "site" folder. You can even use php, perl, etc if you wan to h ave a dynamic presence. It's all built in, there'll be a good learning curve though. Simple stuff is easy, and fast. :) But if you want to go dynamic, you'll be doing it through the command line. OS X Server: Much more full featured, gives a graphical interface to many of the tools above, as well as eases configuration, but you really need to be prepared to spend a lot of time learning about unix and the tools involved, as well as the scripting/programming languages if you want to do anything more dynamic. Tenon iTools: Awesome product, it attaches to a MacOS X Server box and extends it- you control it all through a web interface but it makes the creation of dynamic sites fmuch easier on a unix box, it really is a good piece of software. A macos x server with itools is really the way to go if you're mildly technically inclined (or just enthusiastic) but it's not cheap. It really all depends on what you want to do- but I have to warn you, I usually recommend that if you're going to be making money on the web, get a good 3rd party providor (I could recommend some) as you can DO it on your own, but unless you need specialized services or are big enough to make it financially worth it, it's expensive. There are a ton of other issues too, like backups, power outages, etc... Like I said ifthe site doesn�t have to be up 24/7 and you're not making money off of it, those wouldn't apply. -- Michael Bryan Bell http://homepage.mac.com/michael_bell/ -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
