What is a Web Server?

Website hosting is little more than providing a directory or folder on a computer that is on the Internet. Not much different than making a folder on your own computer. The stuff you add to that folder is accessible at a designated website address.

So why would pay for space on a computer when you already have one? Why can't you host your own website?

Actually you can. All you need is a connection to the Internet and a computer with some type of server software. Many new windows computers even have a personal webserver as part of the operating system.

However, there are some issues with trying to do it yourself. The biggest being knowledge. You would likely need to learn more than it is worth.

Your computer is set up to send requests to websites and get responses, but not to receive requests.

A website is resolved by an ip address, a number like 192.168.0.1. You would need to identify the address to a name server that will then respond to requests for name resolution with the exact ip of your website.

You again could run the name server from your home. But to have a website resolved to a name server you must have 2 name servers each with their own ip.

Since you can not host a website on a dynamic ip, unless you keep telling your customers your new address each time you get online. You will need 3 static ips, or you can buy name server services, but thats usually more than the entire website hosting.

You will also need a dedicated connection such as cable or DSL. The problem is, most isp's have closed port 80 so you can not host a website, due to the increased cost to them. They may allow you to upgrade and get static ips and the ability to host websites, but it wont come cheap. Most DSL providers will not allow website hosting for plans under $200/month.

Another consideration is, can your computer handle the extra work. If you are running windows, you are unlikely to run your own stuff with out crashing, never mind a website in addition to your own programs.

You also have dependability issues. Will you be able to monitor your computer 24-7 to know if it is online? If your power surges or goes off, your computer will shut down and your website is down. Most websites hosting companies use extensive backup systems with generators for backup power.

You really want your website to be up 24-7. You could no doubt recover from a customer that could not access your website because it was off that night. But you can not recover if google tries to access the site and it is not reachable and consequently removes your site from its listings. So hosting it yourself is not the best idea in the world.

You also have issues with opening your computer to allow people to surf through your pc. Since you are not an expert at security, it likely wont be difficult for anyone to access all the files on your computer.

If you have any information on your computer that you do not want to share freely, do not host your own website.

Some people think having a firewall will help. But that is not true at all. Once someone has accessed your computer on a given port, the firewall is already bypassed. A firewall only prevents the initial access. If you are hosting a website, you must have the port open on your firewall. Without internal software to prevent file surfing by hackers, you are basically wide open.

The other major consideration is hardware. Although you can host a website on a personal computer, most webservers are higher end than average pcs with scsi and raid systems that cost thousands of dollars. A single 300gig ATA or standard hard drive is about $150.00, but a single SCSI drive will cost $1500.00. Raid systems use multiple drives and controllers that cost upwards of $1000.00. In short an average pc is under $1000.00 but an average web server can cost between $10,000 and $100,000.00.

The more expensive equipment is necessary to manage all the requests. If you only have a handful of customers, you could use a regular pc. But since web hosting is usually under $10 a month, it does not make much sense to try it yourself.