Build your Own Server - How to Build a Server

The size of the server is measured in a unit called U, where 1U is equal to 1.75 inches. The first step that you have to take to build a server is, choose the operating system you want to use.

The operating system of the server
The operating system (OS) can be Windows 2000, which is not a server OS. It is not secure, and does not support .NET, but is still quite popular. The operating system can also be Windows Home Server, which is compatible with Windows XP and Vista clients. It is user-friendly, and has the Windows Home Server Console to administer or manage the server remotely. The operating system can also be Windows 2003 Server, which supports .NET and can act as a domain controller, which means it plays a role in the logon process. Linux and FreeBSD are secure operating systems, but are very difficult to use.

You need to install Windows 2000 from the CD. To do so, you need to change the BIOS, so that you can boot from CD-ROM. Create a partition and format it with NTFS. You also need to configure the TCP/IP settings. Next, you need to go to Windows Update and install all the necessary patches to fix bugs.

Definition of a server
So, what is a server? The Apache foundation has an HTTP server that is used to serve web pages. In order to have dynamic web pages, you need to use a scripting language such as PHP. You can setup and manage a MySQL database using phpMyAdmin. You can download AppServ, which is available at SourceForge. It includes the Apache HTTP server, the MySQL database and PHP.

Your domain name is 'localhost' and your port is 80. The 'index.php' file is the main or default page within the directory. You can have only one 'index' page in a directory. You can use the URL 'http://localhost/about.html' to access the file named 'about.html' if it is put in the root directory. You can use the mod_rewrite module to create clean URLs. Apache also produces log files that contain information about the performance of the server.

You can point a domain name to your IP address. One website named DynDns.com gives free domain names to point to your server. All you have to do is create an account and provide your router's IP address, and the service points the hostname to your IP address. You can also use port forwarding, so that anyone on the Internet can access your private IP address. First, you need to find your IP address using the 'ipconfig' command. You also get your router's IP address, which is listed as the default gateway. Then, you go to the router's administrative console and set up the port forwarding service.

Building an FTP server
To build an FTP server, you need to download FileZilla Server, which is available in SourceForge. You need to add a new user and give him a password. You need to share the folders, which the user is able to access. You also need to give permissions, such as read (to download), write (to upload) and delete. If you want to set up a public FTP server, create a new user named 'Anonymous' and uncheck the password box. You can create a group, for a collection of users, who have the same permissions on a particular folder. You can access the FTP server by using the following URL: ftp://user:password@host:port. The host is your IP address, and the port is 21.

Instead of AppServ, you can use WampServer, which is also a combination of open-source applications in one package. The WampServer can start automatically when Windows starts, or you can manually start and stop the server everytime. The document root in WampServer is the 'www' directory. WampServer now supports PHP 5, but you can also use an add-on to support PHP 4. The normal user in MySQL is the root account, and the default password is blank. You can use the MySQL command-line tool, which brings up the console.

Instead of FileZilla, you can use the CrossFTP server. So, now that you have learned how to build a server, you can go ahead and make a personal home page or a front page for your business.