What equipment do I need to host my own website?

Answer 1

You are better off getting a domain and hosting account with a provider like Yahoo or GoDaddy. The cost of ownership can't be justified when you can get a basic web site for about $10/month....this will give you PHP and MySQL if you are interested.

Otherwise:
-A minimum of a T1 line (about $550/month per T1)
-High end server (about $3700)
-Router ($1200)
-UPS system to keep your system up for a few minutes to safely shut down your server (About $1000)
-If you are concerned about being down during an extended power outage...you will need a backup generator (starts around $8000)
-Disaster recovery plan which includes daily (or more frequent backups) and off-site storage of your data. (about $400/month for starters---this number will go up with the amount of data you need to back up)
-Count on OS and system or infrastructure upgrades every few years.....(Don't have any figures unless you can figure on future costs based on past pricing)


You are better off with a hosting company! You don't need the headaches....

Answer 2

- Internet connection that doesn't care if you serve websites (no port 80 blocking like Verizon DSL does)
- A web server (a PC would do)
- Web server software (like Apache)
- Web server OS (Windows server 2000 or above if you don't care about stability and security - otherwise go with Linux)
- A domain name
- Server administration ability
^^ all above at the very least


or... you could pay some host $5 a month or less (godaddy or bluehost to name a couple) and it's all done for you...

Answer 3

copy and pasted from Lifehacker
click on the link below and follow the links in the article for more information

Dear Lifehacker,

I ran across your article on setting up a web server at home. I already own a web site, and I'm really interested in hosting it myself. How do I go about this?

I figure it's really complicated or else every one would be doing it, versus paying money to a third party to host. If you know how I can go about taking control of my own hosting, please let me know.

Thanks,
Wanna Host at Home


Dear At Home,

It's technically possible to host your web site at home using the How to set up a personal home web server tutorial you mentioned. See also how to assign your own domain name to your home server and how to access a home server behind a router firewall.

However, there are a few reasons why you most likely don't want to go this route for a public web site. First, many home broadband ISP's terms of service disallow hosting a public web site from computers on their network. More importantly, on most typical home broadband connections, the upload speed is significantly slower than the download speeds that you experience when using your connection. This means that with any kind of significant traffic, your web site hosted at home will be VERY slow. The advantages to third-party hosting is fast, always-on connections, backup power sources, powerful machines, often with backup, a support staff and a whole lotta bandwidth that won't infringe on your personal surfing and downloading.

So, if you want to build traffic on your public web site, I'd stick with third party hosting. The best usage of a home web server, in my opinion, is personal access to your own files, and maybe access by a select few friends and family.

Happily web hosting is pretty cheap these days. See this post for a ton of inexpensive hosting provider recommendations by Lifehacker readers.

Best of luck with your site!

Love,
Lifehacker

Answer 4

You need a PC, two shovels, a gas-powered generator, catcher's mitt, and a fondue set.