set up website on local machine

Question

I have a fast dedicated internet connection and a static IP address at my office. I also have a web site that I want to host on my server machine (win server 2003). I know how to setup a web site through IIS but have no clue how to point my domain to my site and configure my server to serve for that domain. Can anyone point me to a preferably step-by-step guide on how to achieve this?

Answer 1

As far as DNS goes, the easiest thing to do would be to use a service like EveryDNS to configure your domain to point to your IP. At your domain registrar, set the nameservers to EveryDNS's nameservers:

ns1.everydns.net
ns2.everydns.net
ns3.everydns.net
ns4.everydns.net

Then you want to create an "A" record for your domain, with the value being the IP address you're hosting the site at. I don't use IIS, so there may be some additional configuration necessary on the server, but with the HTTP servers that I've used (Apache, lighttpd) that's all that's necessary to get the site up and running.

Good luck!

ps You mention that you want to serve the site off your internet connection. Unless it's a small hobby site, I'd recommend going with a hosting provider for several reasons:

1. Often bandwidth isn't symmetrical - ie the downlink speed exceeds the uplink speed. When browsing the internet the downlink is the limiting factor, but when serving up content the uplink is the bottleneck.

2. Those that you share the connection with at the office may saturate the connection, or become frustrated if the site you're serving does.

3. It's likely that you don't have a SLA, which means that if the internet goes down, your provider has no contractual obligation to restore connectivity in a timely manner.

If these caveats don't apply or worry you, then go right ahead. However, any of the above apply, then I suggest looking into getting a hosting provider.

Answer 2

This isn't really a programming question, but to start with you need to configure your dns server to point at your static ip address. You can probably do this at the website of your domain name seller.

Answer 3

If you have a static IP address, and the IP is exposed publicly, and your domain registrar is hosting your DNS, then it's easy, provided the registrar allows you access to edit your DNS settings. Just log into your registrar account, find the DNS management tools, create a new (or otherwise make there there's at least one) "A" record pointing to your static IP address, make sure that record is either "www" or "*", and you're done -- assuming you don't have any software or hardware firewalls in the way, and you know how to set up the site in IIS, as you say.

It's tough to say more without knowing your configuration, or whether you're having any specific problems, but yeah, it sounds like the only missing piece conceptually is pointing an A record to your machine. Good luck!

Answer 4

I second "User:Nobody" .

However from your Qs , I believe only the Settings up of AName or NameServers and the small part about adding host name to IIS is left in your end.