Server Question(s)

[Zephik]

It would be nice, but it will still take some time to transfer the files in between places.
If you're looking at more than a cd(700mb), you're looking at hours.

Hmmm, well it's better than nothing I suppose. I could use it for games too though. ^_^

How do you host games on your own server? I don't get how that works, because when you log onto a game, you pick from a list of servers that the game developers offer... So how do people do that? Is it illlegal?

[.Maleficus.]

Download the dedicated server installer for the game you want, and follow the directions the developer provides.

[nil8]

It's entirely legal. Most games have a dedicated server program designed solely for hosting, so you don't have to have the game running on the machine.

You don't have to own the game to run a dedicated server in most cases.

You download the DS, read the readme, find some support/wiki sites, install and configure that bad boy, then see how well it works. The first time you go through it, it will probably be a bit frustrating and take more time than it should.

After a couple of frustrating moments and you get everything straightened out, you'll be happy how well it runs. Just remember 2 things about running a home server.

1. You won't pay nearly as much attention to it as your regular PC. Once a month check for dust buildup, check the fans, make sure it's not making strange noises, normal routine maintenance. It takes half an hour and can save you from failure.

2. Battery backups & routine backups. I know it sounds boring, but it can save your hide. Use a UPS and back your server files up to CD or DVD during your monthly check.

What game are you thinking of hosting?

[Zephik]

I don't know what game just yet, the only two I play is WarRock and WoW.

[b4i7]

not to derail your thread or anything SF...but it runs along the same lines....

im wantin to create and host my own website.... whats the easiest way to go about designing the website and hosting it from my comp?

[nil8]

Sorry I couldn't resist. I'm in a goofy mood. ily '47! The easiest way is to first decide what type of site you want to create. That will help you determine what kind of traffic to expect. Then you need to decide how you want your site to look graphically. That will help determine the language it needs to be written in, or at least how many different types you may need to incorporate. Lastly, make some test pages. Don't make anything live, until you have tested out some things locally to see how they look. And read back a few posts. There was a link to an Apache/something/something (busy here can't remember) combo that you should get, for when you ARE ready to go live with your site.

The last thing is to get a DNS. If you don't have a static IP then you need to get a utility to update your DNS info with the current IP, say... Daily? weekly? depends on your ISP.

Theres a lot more, but thats kind pointing you towards the path

-Jai

He is right about setting up a dns. www.dydns.org has a great little program that can run on your Windows box and automatically update when you tell it to.
I use them for some free work. One of the older dynamic DNS services on the net.

The Apache 2/PHP 5/MySQL 5 combo is called WAMP. It's LAMP for Windows.

There's a ton of info on how to get apache configured and working the way you want. It's free as well. Can't beat free.

[.Maleficus.]

I have a quited advanced website designer that's free. You can find it under Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad .

But yeah, that's how I'm doing mine. Good ol' HTML and CSS. There are things like Dreamweaver and such, but I don't have the time to learn that, though I'll be able to at the end of this semester at school .

[DaJe]

How good of a server do you guys think I could run off a Pentium 4 and 736MB of RAM?

[nil8]

Once again, it depends on what you want to do.
Most dedicated servers can be run on slower hardware.

[SgtM]

When I had my host still up, I had a 2.8 Ghz p4, 1 gig of RAM and 2 x 120 Gig HDD's, and 10mbps connection to the internet backbone. All of this was hosted by The Planet in their data center in Dallas, TX. I had a few sites on the machine. I don't remember all of the stats but I was trasferring about 3 gigs/mo of data from the server to the internet. Never had a complaint about latency.