Using XP Pro SP2 PC as web-server

[Avatar]

We are planning to host our own websites. Domain names have been procured
and
a high speed upgrade is to be installed to our Internet connection shortly.

We would appreciate pointers on where to get the guides for using a Windows
XP Pro SP2 PC as a web-server. Info on what software to use - IIS, Apache,
other - and how to do the 'pointing' and also on how to do manage the server
locally/remotely would be welcome.

The homebuilt hardware is:

Xeon Quad Core (Kentsfield)
8GB RAM
2 x 80GB mirrored system drive
2 x 1TB mirrored data drive
ASUS/Intel 3200 motherboard
Multi-DVD-RW +/- optical drive
Mobo has no audio
Add on card for data drive RAID
Add on card for 1394B
700W rugged power supply

Regards and thanks in anticipation.

Avatar
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[LVTravel]

First thing is that you will need the 64 bit version of any Windows
operating system to use more than 4 GB RAM.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

We are planning to host our own websites. Domain names have been procured
and
a high speed upgrade is to be installed to our Internet connection
shortly.

We would appreciate pointers on where to get the guides for using a
Windows
XP Pro SP2 PC as a web-server. Info on what software to use - IIS, Apache,
other - and how to do the 'pointing' and also on how to do manage the
server
locally/remotely would be welcome.

The homebuilt hardware is:

Xeon Quad Core (Kentsfield)
8GB RAM
2 x 80GB mirrored system drive
2 x 1TB mirrored data drive
ASUS/Intel 3200 motherboard
Multi-DVD-RW +/- optical drive
Mobo has no audio
Add on card for data drive RAID
Add on card for 1394B
700W rugged power supply

Regards and thanks in anticipation.

Avatar
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Frankly, it's not a good sign that you are asking this kind of question
here.

XP Pro, not being a server OS, is probably not the best choice for this
task. It's likely a rather poor choice.

One of the problems with XP Pro, not being a server OS, is that it allows
only ten concurrent connections, and that just might get in the way of web
traffic.

Linux might actually be a better choice. You won't be paying the
licensing fees for, say Windows Server 200x, but you will still probably pay
consulting fees to have someone set it up for you.

And about 5 gig of the system RAM is wasted if you have a 32-bit version of
any OS; 64-bit XP was available only as OEM.

Finally, standard home or office high-speed internet connections are really
not appropriate for servers. Most ISP's specifically prohibit servers on
standard accounts, and it gets worse: the connections are often not
symmetrical, meaning that you can download fast, but upload is comparatively
slow. And that means your pages will be served to visitors at a fraction
of the rated speed of the line.

This is why most people either co-locate their servers at a site that
supplies fast symmetrical service, or just rent space on a server that
someone else maintains.

There is a lot of information on how to run web servers, and you can find it
starting at Google and your local library.

HTH
-pk

 

[Paul]

We are planning to host our own websites. Domain names have been procured
and
a high speed upgrade is to be installed to our Internet connection shortly.

We would appreciate pointers on where to get the guides for using a Windows
XP Pro SP2 PC as a web-server. Info on what software to use - IIS, Apache,
other - and how to do the 'pointing' and also on how to do manage the server
locally/remotely would be welcome.

The homebuilt hardware is:

Xeon Quad Core (Kentsfield)
8GB RAM
2 x 80GB mirrored system drive
2 x 1TB mirrored data drive
ASUS/Intel 3200 motherboard
Multi-DVD-RW +/- optical drive
Mobo has no audio
Add on card for data drive RAID
Add on card for 1394B
700W rugged power supply

Regards and thanks in anticipation.

Avatar
-------

I'm not even sure that Googling this subject, is going to give you a
good answer. You need a more focused approach to finding info, like
perhaps the local library or the local book store.

I did a search, to see if one of these existed, and yup, I found one
So they do write books on the subject.

Building a Web Site for Dummies $24.99
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/190-3060903-6950538?asin=0764571443

It is more complicated than it looks.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1046866.html

Yeah, I managed to run a web site at work, a site that displayed
the Apache default web page when you pointed a browser at it,
but that is hardly "running a web site". That is more of a joke.
I used my site, to host a few files for download by fellow employees
at work (e.g. local LAN, not Internet connected). If I'd connected
that thing to the Internet, some script kiddie would have rolled
it over. Using a good hosting service, is going to remove a
percentage of the total knowledge needed to run one.

There are some downsides to hosted services. For example, a guy in
Italy was using a hosted service. He happened to make a disparaging
remark (something none of us would consider offensive) about his provider.
The provider apparently runs regular sweeps of USENET, looking for
disparaging remarks. They shut off his server immediately, and
sent him a sickly sweet email indicating they saw his remarks.
The worst part was, he didn't have local copies of all his content.
So if someone else hosts for you, you should have a disaster recovery
plan in place, so that all the content is cached on a disk at your company.
So even if a hosted service seems to be covering the maintenance issues
(like running a backup of your server daily or whatever), always
remember they're holding your content hostage, so all the content
should also be held locally. You can't rely on web.archive.org
as your backup strategy.

Paul (who doesn't run web servers, and doesn't want to learn how...)

 

[Avatar]

Thanks for the informative responses.

We are likely to go with installing Ubuntu Server with Apache, based on all
responses and advice, local and otherwise.

The business Internet connection upgrade will give us 20 Mbps downlink and 2
Mbps uplink. Our ISP does allow us to run a server on this connection.

Later this summer we are opening up a second office at a location that can
provide higher speed fiberoptic connections. We will then relocate the
server there then.

We wished to know if it could be done with the existing hardware which was
originally built very recently as a office document back-up server and then
was running Windows XP Pro 64 bit Edition (Hence the 8 GB RAM) installed
from an evaluation disc.

The idea of hosting our own websites is as recent as yesterday!

Regards and thanks.

Avatar
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[Paul]

Thanks for the informative responses.

We are likely to go with installing Ubuntu Server with Apache, based on all
responses and advice, local and otherwise.

The business Internet connection upgrade will give us 20 Mbps downlink and 2
Mbps uplink. Our ISP does allow us to run a server on this connection.

Later this summer we are opening up a second office at a location that can
provide higher speed fiberoptic connections. We will then relocate the
server there then.

We wished to know if it could be done with the existing hardware which was
originally built very recently as a office document back-up server and then
was running Windows XP Pro 64 bit Edition (Hence the 8 GB RAM) installed
from an evaluation disc.

The idea of hosting our own websites is as recent as yesterday!

Regards and thanks.

Avatar
--------

As the other posters indicated, a server OS would be a start in the
right direction. The desktop OS has some restrictions, to prevent
it from competing with the more expensive server editions. Otherwise,
if the desktop allowed unlimited connections, why would you buy
a server OS ?

Paul

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thanks for the informative responses.

We are likely to go with installing Ubuntu Server with Apache, based on
all
responses and advice, local and otherwise.

The business Internet connection upgrade will give us 20 Mbps downlink and
2
Mbps uplink. Our ISP does allow us to run a server on this connection.

Acheiving 10% of your download speed is not really great.

Keep in mind that the most important and bulky traffic - the served pages -
will be going out at fractional speed, while the very small page requests
are coming in at much higher speed.

Wouild suggest that you look at co-locating the server at another facility
with true high-speed connections to backbones, and proper physical and
electrical support, till your other office is available (and even then,
check that it's worth moving the server back). Your customers will have a
better experience than you can provide from home.

Additionally, if this server is to contain customer information, there may
be legal requirements that force you to provide physical security for the
box. That often comes as part of the package for co-locating or hosting.

Later this summer we are opening up a second office at a location that can
provide higher speed fiberoptic connections. We will then relocate the
server there then.

We wished to know if it could be done with the existing hardware which was
originally built very recently as a office document back-up server and
then
was running Windows XP Pro 64 bit Edition (Hence the 8 GB RAM) installed
from an evaluation disc.

The idea of hosting our own websites is as recent as yesterday!

Hosting your own sites is one thing, but it does not require that the server
be in your office. Nor is it necessarily a good or practical idea; a lot
depends on what you intend the servers and sites to do. If they are for
customer transactions, you need as fast and as reliable as you can get.

If you go the co-location route, keep full and current backups of the sites
and make a deal with the co-locator for rapidly shifting the sites to their
systems if (or when) yours craters. Again, some co-locators offer this as
a service.

So I will suggest that you do some research on server co-location in your
area.

HTH
-pk