Setting up a web server

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi, is it difficult to set up a web server to host a HTML page running
ASP.net? I've never hosted before. I've locate the 'Web sites' folder in IIS
& can run webforms locally from folders within this folder, but how can I
expose a URL to the WWW from this area? Thanks for your help in advance
Ant
 
Hi,

Sure you can, but "how" depends on the type of connection you have, whether
it be a dial-up, dsl, cable, and whether the IP is static or dynamic. Also,
I would need to know if you are behind a router, or are using a software
firewall, or both - usually will need to open ports and/or use port
forwarding. Generally, your URL will be http://yourexternalipgoeshere
(likely to be numerical unless you own a domain name already) and there
needs to be a default or index page in the web folder.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Ok, so I guess my question should be, how do I set an external IP address or
is it set for you. I'm quite happy to use a numerical one as I can assign an
domain name to it at later stage. I've got the index page thing sussed.
Thanks for your input.
Regards
Ant
 
Hi,

How you do that depends on the type of connection you have. If it is
dynamic, like a dial-up account, most cable connections, or PPPoE, then you
will need a pointer, or to regularly change your address. You can use
something like dns2go (www.dns2go.com) to point to your system all the time
regardless of the assigned IP. If you have a static IP (one that never
changes like you find in some DSL connections), then you can simply use the
numerical address assigned to you by your service provider.

Example: When I used a static IP, the address to reach my home web server
was http://12.107.147.141 (doesn't work now as I dropped that service
provider, but the IP never changed in the 4 years I used it). Right now I
use a cable internet service and the dns2go utility, and you can read my web
pages at http://rickster.myip.org (this is the web server on the same
machine I am writing this from). The dns utility runs on my system here, and
regardless of the IP assigned by the service provider always points people
to this machine using the above address - basically works as a redirect. It
tracks the IP for me and does all the work.

Keep in mind also that if you use a router or firewall, you will need to
open port 80 for anyone to reach you.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Hello Rick, thanls very much for your ongoing help here. A bit more narrowing
down is needed though...

So given that I've got a static ip address & that my ports are turned on etc
& I don't want to use an alias (happy to use the numerical URL), how to I set
the path to my default.asp file if it is in:

WebSites/DefaultWebSite/myFolder/default.asp

& my preset numeric URL is (for example):
111.222.33.4

Is it :
www.111.222.33.4/websites/DefaultWebSite/myFolder

Thanks again Rick
 
Hi,

If configured correctly, it would just be http://numeric_ip_here - no
leading www or ending .com. IIS handles the requests and directs them to the
designated folder housing the default or index page (must have one or the
other).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Hey Rick,

Thanks very much for your advice. I tried it & it works fine....... Well,
almost!! It's knocking on the door so the IP # is fine but I get message box
asking for user name & password. The trouble is I've never set any passwords.
I type in my user name (running on XPPro) but password?
Where would I find the settings for these? I've checked in my user accounts
folder & even tried giving my user account a password, but it doesn't seem to
be looking for this. Do you know what it could be searching for; like is
there a seperate 'permissions' section for IIS? Anyway, apart from this small
hitch, you've really helped me understand what's goinf on here so thanks very
much for all you've done so far.
regards
Ant
 
Hi Rick,
I lost the thread & just found it again. I just want to say thanks for your
help on the web server Q. Thanks for your time & patience. It's not
completely ironed out but it's fine for now.
Once again, cheers
Ant
 
Back
Top