Laptop as a web server?

Soldato
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I'm looking at buying a domain to use mostly for email, and occasionally for hosting files on the net when something like dropbox won't work, and occasionally for hosting a web page temporarily (Nothing huge, a basic wordpress sort of site). Since it wouldn't be a permanent website, rather than paying a monthly fee for more file space than I will ever need, would it be possible for me to hook my old laptop up to my router and set it up to host whatever I want hosted?

And I assume email would still be separate and I could get all that working separately through gmail?

Thanks!
 
Soldato
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but you have limitations on hosting packages, especially cheap ones and nothing wrong with making a cheap webserver just for yourself.

A laptop will work fine, just getting it setup correctly which I am sure someone can help with here. :)
 
Soldato
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The cheapest hosting package is £15/year or so. For the convenience, it's surely better to go with that than run your own server.

It is? Cheapest I found was £3/month so if there is something cheap like that, the convenience, near 100% uptime if required and lack of electric bill would probably make it worthwhile like you say. I must admit to not looking too thoroughly as the first few sites all had that £3 package as their cheapest, so didn't think it would get cheaper!

Who does offer that sort of rate?
 
Soldato
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Elven2 has a 10gb storage/50gb bandwith(monthly for £21) for a year. really good host. (Use benjamin as a discount code). Or £42 for 2 years. Not as cheap as above but you get a hell of a lot more storage/bandwith for slightly more which you'll need if you're transferring files.

It's usually £35 but they always have discounts going on currently 30% off second year.

Much easier than setting up a laptop and more secure.
 
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Soldato
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I host my own WebServers for testing sites. For development use Local Stacks, for testing local web hosts and for publishing use proper hosts.

If it is is something simple, i.e. static HTMl, I don't see a problem in hosting it yourself at all, as you get the flexibility of complete control over it yourself. It's when you get dynamic pages, input fields etc that can be penetrated where I wouldn't host myself because of the potential security risks.
 
Soldato
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Thanks for all the replies, guys. Just got a couple more questions related to it now.

Firstly, is there any danger in getting the domain I want as part of the hosting package? Obviously it makes things simpler with just the one account, but what happens if I decide I no longer need the hosting but still want the domain? As they see there is obviously someone who wants the domain, would they see that and push the price up a bit?

Equally, how does email work if I buy a domain separately without getting a server at all? Is it something where I can put the details of the domain into gmail, for example, and it all gets sorted automatically? Or would I have to have a hosting pack that includes webmail?

Finally, years ago I helped a friend host a really simple website, I don't remember many of the details, but we had to ftp in to upload files and so on. I'm fine with all this, but is there any real difference between a windows and a linux server for someone who only wants to do really basic things? For me it will basically be install wordpress, mess about with it a bit, and occasionally upload a big file to be downloaded by 1 or 2 other people once. I don't see why it would be much of an issue, since the wordpress install will be a case of following a guide, and then if I ftp in it will still have a recognisable directory structure to sort things out with.

Thanks again for all your help so far.
 
Soldato
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Firstly -any decent web host won't hold you ransom for your domain but I Er on the side of caution and buy domains seperatly.

Equally- if you purchase as part of a web host then you'll have access to wbe mail which you can forward to gmail, use the inbuilt web mail or use a client like thunderbird on your desktop. Namesco.com gives free web mail for one client if you buy the domain from them as do most others I think.

Finally-at basic level I don't believe Linux vs windows matters. I like Linux servers myself but until you're getting down to the real low end of server (root access which you won't have) then I don't think it makes any difference. If you get a cpanel based host then its no different from a standard desktop and Wordpress is one click install from softaculous(or similar). As for FTP its hirearchy is no different to a windows hirearchy.
 
Soldato
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Thanks for all the replies, guys. Just got a couple more questions related to it now.

Firstly, is there any danger in getting the domain I want as part of the hosting package? Obviously it makes things simpler with just the one account, but what happens if I decide I no longer need the hosting but still want the domain? As they see there is obviously someone who wants the domain, would they see that and push the price up a bit?

Equally, how does email work if I buy a domain separately without getting a server at all? Is it something where I can put the details of the domain into gmail, for example, and it all gets sorted automatically? Or would I have to have a hosting pack that includes webmail?

Finally, years ago I helped a friend host a really simple website, I don't remember many of the details, but we had to ftp in to upload files and so on. I'm fine with all this, but is there any real difference between a windows and a linux server for someone who only wants to do really basic things? For me it will basically be install wordpress, mess about with it a bit, and occasionally upload a big file to be downloaded by 1 or 2 other people once. I don't see why it would be much of an issue, since the wordpress install will be a case of following a guide, and then if I ftp in it will still have a recognisable directory structure to sort things out with.

Thanks again for all your help so far.

When you use FTP unless you have development software with built in easy FTP features (i.e PHPSTORM,dreamweaver, coda2 ) use WINSCP it is a great tool to save you time.
 
Associate
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If you fancy tinkering with a home-hosted server, you could run a Raspberry PI. I've managed to get Wordpress running on mine. It's not lightening fast, but it is fun :)

There was a good guide on arstechnica on running your own web server.
 
Soldato
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Think I'll go with vidahost. Acutely going to go with the slightly above basic level pack since the 3 years for 2 makes it a better deal than the base option.

Thanks so much for all the help!
 
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