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[gigaraptor487]

Hello, over the last few weeks I have been planning on starting up a website for an idea I have, however I am not quite sure were to start. I have just done a course with HTML/CSS on it which I did well on, but primarily I program in C and sometimes Dabble in x86 assembler. I want to know the following:

- I have the server I am planning on using across the room for me. I will be the first to admit that It is quite antiquated but I am expecting low traffic counts (40-50 visits a day). Would this be satisfactory:

- AMD Sempron 2Ghz
- 256mb DDR ram
- IDE hard drive (is currently running off a USB but I am getting an IDE drive this week)

- Also, considering these specifications, would running the latest version of Debian from command line be sufficient to support apache server with the basics (PHP, SQL, Jscript etc.)?

- Bearing in mind that I am primarily a applications developer(4 years since the first hello world), how long do you think it would take to learn the above three to a point where they have significant utility?


Thanks for reading.


P.S. It would be nice If you could provide some pointers as a first time webmaster.

[Levi]

All that ought to be fine.  A simple website doesn't require much for hardware.  Worse, case if it turns out to be a little slow, you can always move your site to a bigger server later.

Its worth noting though that usually you won't be able to access your server from outside your LAN unless you have a static-ip or more complicated set up.

There are also some pretty cheap alternatives out there if you don't mind not owning the hardware.  I use webfaction myself which is about 10 dollars a month, but I think there are cheaper ones out there.

[gigaraptor487]

Yeah, I should have put that. I have a large number of computers lying around from old projects I have done with them (DOS gaming computer, source game server etc.). Is it worth creating a DNS server on one of these and creating my own public domain name(not quite sure how but I have linux HOWTO for that) or just spending the $15 a year for a .com or something?

Thanks for the prompt reply

[gimlet]

Yea 256M oughta be enough to get started, it might not be the fastest thing around, and you might have to tune software to not be as mem-hungry as default.   If it is too slow or you get lots of complaints about mem, look for articles like http://www.narga.net/optimizing-apachephpmysql-low-memory-server/

For the "remote access thru a dynamic IP", just to get started you could use a (ideally free) "Dynamic DNS Service" - some reviews here: http://www.gnutomorrow.com/best-free-dynamic-dns-services-in-2013/

Or, yea, you could register your own domain name, but I think you'd need to find a DNS service (there may be some free ones,afaik the decent reliable ones cost a bit of money), because I don't *think* you can run a DNS server from a dynamic IP - this part I'm not sure of, there may be some neat trick you could do.

[LordBucket]

I have been planning on starting up a website for an idea I have, however I am not quite sure were to start.

Register a domain and find a hosting service. Lots of providers offer both DNS and hosting. It's cheap, and no local hardware required. I recommend you don't use godaddy. They relentlessly spam your email. I've had good experiences with hostdime.

I have a large number of computers lying around from old projects I have done with them (DOS gaming computer, source game server etc.). Is it worth creating a DNS server on one of these and creating my own public domain name(not quite sure how but I have linux HOWTO for that) or just spending the $15 a year for a .com or something?

...what exactly are you trying to accomplish? For example, it should be possible to set up an apache server on your own machine that would be accessible by typing an IP address. But if you want anyone to be able to type yoururlhere.com and see your site, you'll at least need to register a domain name.

If the goal is to have a website, and not to "have a learning experience" then yes, just sign up with a hosting/dns provider. You'll save a lot of time and effort, and for most purposes you'll probably need to do that anyway.

PHP, SQL, Jscript

I am primarily a applications developer

how long do you think it would take to learn the above three to a point where they have significant utility?

Javascript: Can't help you on this one.

PHP: If you have any programming experience it may be realistic to download scripts that do approximately what you want, then modify them to do exactly what you want even if you've never specifically used PHP before.

SQL: SQL is, in my opinion...obtuse. Learning how to do basic queries probably won't take long, but doing more complicated things with it might take some timer. However, it's fairly common for webhosts to have web-based control panels that allow you to create SQL databases by specifying field names and parameters, which you can then populate with data and run your queries on. So you may be able to skip steps that way. However, from personal experience, I advise caution here, because if you incorrectly set up permissions it's possible for bad things to happen. Scripts on your website need to be able to access the database, and I once made the mistake of instead of allowing exclusively my scripts access to a database, allowed everyone in the world access to that database. Which, via some magic I never quite figured out resulted in someone injecting malware into the site such that anyone who visited it got infected. Cue google marking my site as a malware host. So again, caution is advised.

[gigaraptor487]

Thanks. Yes I do intend on starting a fully fledged website and the reason I mentioned that I have other machines is that I think they may have an auxiliary purpose supporting the server(FTP etc). Will have a look into hostdime.

[gigaraptor487]

Good news, found a hard drive (160gb) and some ram(512mb), decided to put it on tor because then I don't have to worry about a domain name

thanks a\ll