How to use goDaddy combined with your own Apache server?

Question

I've had a website up on goDaddy for almost a year now. Their system is easy to use because all of the html and databases are stored on their servers. I want to start my own server and am learning how to use apache, but how would users going to my website access my server? If people go to www.(whatever my domain is).com, how do i get them to be brought to my own server and not those of goDaddy?

Answer 1

Two ways to do it. One is to use a hosting from another company other than GoDaddy. You would make a backup of your entire site, including databases, download that to (say) your local computer at home, then restore it to the new hosting server. If GoDaddy is still your domain registrar, then you will have to update their domain name (DNS) servers to point to the new host.



Second way is to host it yourself from home. Depending on the kind of internet service you have, the site might be slow to people looking at your page, and you might have to either upgrade or change ISP's. Ideally, you would get a static IP from your service provider (my provider gives one free), and then point your DNS servers to that. Otherwise, you can use the no-ip solution mentioned above. You will also need to configure your home firewall to forward port 80 and any other ports you need.



In fact, I have my own server running at home. It runs on a small netbook, using 6 watts. In theory, I could run it on a Raspberry Pi, and use only 2 watts. If you use a regular computer, or especially one designed to be server, expect it to use a lot of power, as it will probably stay on 24/7. Also, when you have your own server, all the maintenance is on you - making backups, deciding which patches to take, etc. Only do it if you consider this kind of thing fun. My server only has 1 Mbps (100k bytes) of upload speed, so that's about the maximum speed that someone gets when loading pages from it. If the site ever became popular, I would likely have to go with an external hosting service.

Answer 2

Godaddy Dynamic Ip

Answer 3

Sure you can host your own website. Just open port 80 on your firewall and connect it to Apache and your webserver will be visible to the whole world. However you will need to pay somebody like Dyndns to direct that domain to your IP address. Unless you do this you will only be able to connect to your web server by using the IP address rather than a domain name.

Answer 4

You need to gen an IP address from your service provider first. (Be warned: if you're thinking of doing this on a home account, your ISP will probably not allow it. The do not like home users running websites as it takes bandwidth). The you need to register your domain name and IP address with a DNS service (OpenDNS or DynDNS are cheap ways to do this). The set up your site to answer on that IP. You'll need to have a firewall in front of your network to keep from getting hacked.

Answer 5

You will need to do the following



(i) create an account at no-ip.com or DynDns ect and follow the steps to setup Dynamic DNS. Once done you will have a domain name to use. This dynamic domain name will update the DNS records whenever your Wan IP changes (as home networks are usually on a dynamic IP range) using the software provided by them.



(ii) To have your 'main' domain name from goDady point to your server you need to log in to the goDady control panel and edit DNS records.Create a CNAME DNS record with either:



www.MainDomainName.com -> YourDDNSDomainName (eg. Smith.No-Ip.biz)



This will point your 'main' domain name to the IP address found by resolving YourDDNSName which will be updated when your server WAN IP changes.

Answer 6

That's a good observation