XP acts like a server?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Rudnick
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J

Jim Rudnick

hello all...
I've heard -- admittedly it was stated as a rumour -- that
if I run XPPro, and use a broadband connection to the web,
that I can "somehow" use that computer to be its own
server? That is, I can do away with a webhost, and run my
site myself?

Please do pardon this 'newbie' question, but this does
intrigue me and would allow me to be self-sufficient....

Can anyone offer if this is true? And a pointer to learn
more about the "how-to" for making this a reality?

Jim
 
Jim Rudnick said:
hello all...
I've heard -- admittedly it was stated as a rumour -- that
if I run XPPro, and use a broadband connection to the web,
that I can "somehow" use that computer to be its own
server? That is, I can do away with a webhost, and run my
site myself?

Please do pardon this 'newbie' question, but this does
intrigue me and would allow me to be self-sufficient....

Can anyone offer if this is true? And a pointer to learn
more about the "how-to" for making this a reality?

Jim
Click to expand...


Well, yes, in principle.
XP-Pro ships with IIS, the WWW, FTP etc. server.

But there are issues you'd need to consider.

Firstly, it is limited to 10 inbound connections.
If you want more, you'd need a server OS or a 3-rd party product.

Also, home broadband connections are usually not as
good as commercial web hosting arrangements.

Commercial arrangements have high-speed connections
direct into a major network.

If your B/B provider is cable, then they may:
Provide limited upload capacity;
Prohibit servers.
If your B/B is ADSL, then servers are usually not
prohibited, but the upload is usually much slower
than the download ( hence the A in ADSL. )
eg: my line is 2MBit down / 256k up.

Finally, you'd still need to arrange for your DNS to be provided.
If your IPs are dynamic, you'll need to use a D-DNS service to
point your domain name to your changing IP address.

If you have a subnet of static IPs, then you can host your own DNS too,
but that's getting a bit involved for this discussion.
 
Windows XP Pro has limited terminal server capabilities. So you can connect
remotely from network to your computer and get access to desktop and
programs. For example you could access your home computer from your office
or vice versa. But you must use firewalls to limit access, because there are
quite big security risks.
 
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