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Originally Posted by demon101
when i go to do this do i have to have a website to use?
i am wanting to do this but dont know where to start at.
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You want to run a web server? Well, first you decide on a web server. There are free ones out there, like Apache and Tomcat. Then you download and install the server software on your computer. Once that is done, you configure it (they have directions, and many have an out-of-the-box configuration that will at least show it works.
Now, if your computer is connected to a network (internet or otherwise), other computers should be able to enter your computer's IP address, and see whatever start page you've got set up (probably something like "If you're seeing this page, you've successfully installed <web server name here>").
Now, a few points. First, you will need to ensure there is a clear path to your computer. If you're behind a firewall, you'll need to open the port(s) you're using (default is port 80 for HTTP). If you're behind a router (including the 'gateway routers' popular for sharing broadband internet connections), you'll need to enable port forwarding
on the port(s) you're using. The reason you don't have to do this for outgoing connections is because the router 'knows' that your end is initiating it, and lets it go through, but when another computer tries contacting yours, the router needs to know which computer (on the local network behind the router) is to receive the incoming connection. If you use a router, you'll also need to give out your router's IP address, not the address of your actual computer (as this will be a local address assigned by the router, and only valid in that context).
Should you not have another computer, or should you not want to give out your IP at this stage, you can still test your site by using the loopback address. This is 127.0.0.1, as Ooble mentioned. Using the default name 'localhost' also works. However, this is not actually your computer's IP address. It is a reserved address a machine can use to reference itself (usually for diagnostic/testing purposes).
Finally, if you want to actually have your site hosted on the net, rather than hosting it from home (where it will be down whenever your computer is off, disconnected, or otherwise offline), you will need to find a web hosting service. You will probably also want to register a domain name, and associate that name with the IP address of your site, as determined by your web hosting service. Many hosting services will handle this for you, but if you don't register a domain name, then people will need to use IP addresses like '
http://64.233.187.99' rather than '
http://google.com'.