is it possible to set up a web server on a computer in a local area network?

[Justin Willmert]

Peter Boy wrote:
> Am Samstag, den 20.08.2005, 12:58 +0800 schrieb yufan:
> 
>>Yeah thanks.i need help!i know the port forwarding but i do not know
>>much about the DNS or DMZ. how shall i configure the router?
To configure your router, you going to need to look though all the 
different pages it has. Somewhere in there, there should be a page that 
lets you set up "port forwarding" or "services" (depending on the maker. 
Maybe if you said what the model and maker of your router is, somebody 
on the list might be able to help you out). That page should let you 
forward a certain port (TCP 80 for the web server) to an IP address 
(your server is configured for a static network address, right?).
> 
> 
> 
> If your Web server should be visible from the internet you should do:
> 
> -  create a dynamic nameserver address, e.g. dnydns.org (but there are
>    a lot of others. An example may be:  yufan.dnsalias.org
>    This address will be used from the internet to access your web server
> 
> -  configure your router (better) or the machine which hosts your web
>    server (not so gut) to update the dynamic dns each time you get
>    a new IP address from your provider.
> 
> -  configure your router to forward request on port 80 to your server.
>    Forget about DMZ in your case
> 
> -  configure your web server to anser to the name you choosed in step
>    1, e.g.  ServerName    yufan.dnsalias.org
> 
You don't necessarrily have to use a dynamic dns service. If you have a 
static IP address (usually happens when you get DSL), you can skip 
registering with the dynamic dns server 'cause you could easily set up a 
dns server at home (unless you haven't bought a domain name, in which 
case you might want to rethink having a home server...it won't be easy 
for others to remember an IP address).
> If your Web server should be visible from your internal network, too:
> 
> -  configure your Web server to answer to a second name, too, which
>    is used on your internel network, e.g. yufan.internal
>       ServerAlias  yufan.internal
> 
> -  Enable all your clients to find yufan.internal
>    a)  create an entry in /etc/hosts on each machine, eg.
>           192.168.x.y     yufan.internal
>        (windows has a correspondig location for the host file inside
>         c:\windos, I yust don't remember the exact place)
>    b) set up a full internal DNS
> 
>    If you have only up to about 10 machines on your internal network,
>    it may be less work to use alternative a)
...easier if you are using a dynamic dns server, but if you chose to set 
up your own dns, adding the internal settings is quite trivial.
> 
> 
> Have fun
> 
> Peter
> 
> 
> 
Hope this helps,
Justin