Hosting web site locally

[davearia]

Hi,

This is not strictly a code question, it is more regarding setting up my local machine to run my website/s.

I bought a domain from http://www.123-reg.co.uk/. As I have a dynamic IP address I downloaded DynDNS Updater from http://www.dyndns.com/ and also set up a dynamic DNS with them for the domain I bought.

I installed Windows Server 2003 on my machine which I got from my MSDN subscription from work. I have get up a website for this in IIS.

Unfortunately something is not quite. Can you please tell me of any online tutorial guides for doing this kind of thing. Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[davearia]

Hi,

Just got it working. I had to put the IP address of the web forwarding URL in IIS.

 

[davearia]

Ok so everything is great, with one exception. While I was trying to get this running I removed the router to keep things simple. As as soon as I put the router back the site no longer works, which to be honest is what I thought might happen.

I am using a D Link DI-604 router can anyone suggest how to configure/set up this router to allow my site to work?

Cheers, Dave.

 

[MrPaul]

Router configuration

You will most likely need to configure the router to perform port forwarding on whichever port you are hosting your site on (usually 80). This will typically involve accessing the router control panel by typing the router IP address into your web browser and then entering a username and password. Within the control panel you need to set TCP port 80 (or whatever) to be forwarded to the IP address you are hosting the site on.

Good luck

 

[davearia]

Thanks for your reply MrPaul

Hi,

This is where I have to ask stupid questions.

When you say the IP address you are hosting the site on. In this case I have the domain which I bought which forwards to a dynamic dns service that then goes to my machine, this is needed as my IP is dynamic. So which address do I want to use? The host, dyndns or my machine?

Sorry for being thick, it is just I have never done this kind of thing ever before.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[MrPaul]

Re: Thanks for your reply MrPaul

Your router and your machine will both have local network IP addresses, either set manually or assigned by a DHCP server such as the router itself.

The IP address assigned by your ISP identifies your own internet connection but not individual machines within your local network. This means that when a request is made to your internet connection IP, it will arrive at the router since this is the hardware connected to your internet connection. The router knows your machine by an entirely different IP address, and so you must set port 80 to be forwarded to this address.

This diagram may help:

ISP/INTERNET
|
|
Your internet
connection (dynamic IP)
[89.91.12.23]
|
|
Router
[192.168.1.1]
|
|
Local machine
[192.168.1.100]​

Note that the 89.91.12.23 is the dynamic IP. The routers local IP address and the local machines address should both be static. To find out what these IP addresses are, open a command prompt and type the following command:

ipconfig /all

This will list your IP address and the routers local IP address (Default Gateway). You can then configure the router (at the Default Gateway IP) to forward port 80 to your machines IP.

Good luck

 

[davearia]

Hi,

I managed it thanks to yourself and also this link: http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Dlink/DI-604/VNC.htm. I wasnt all that confident but I managed to set a static IP up from the information that came from the command window you mentioned.

So now I can miss the dynamic dns out altogether. I put my static IP in my domains web forwarding details along with the port number. The only reason I included the port number is so I can and already have 2 sites running off the same box.

Thanks Mr Paul once again, now I can have some more fun!!!

 

[davearia]

Hi,

This is getting really frustrating.

I have removed my router to eliminate this as the problem. So I have a windows server 2003 machine hosting my website. I can access internally from any of the machines within my local network. But I cannot access externally, from my work place as an example.

So it must be something to with how server 2003 is set up. I have not set any domains up or anything advanced like that. Simply put a bog standard index page and put the machine ip into iis.

Please somebody help, cheers, Dave.

 

[PlausiblyDamp]

Does the PC hosting the web site have a valid, fixed IP address that can be reached from the internet?

 

[davearia]

Hi,

Firstly I got it working externally without the router. Then with some help I managed to get it working with the router as well. Its hard to pin point exactly what I was doing wrong.

I will take notes of my settings and read up on this sort of thing.

Thanks for your help once more, Dave.