Host Online or Host Your Own?

A few years ago I was left with the choice of continuing to host my website with an online service or to host it on my own. I found that with online services, even renting my own server, I had limited control and often times ran into unwanted advertising on my site. So after a bit of research, I found that you can easily host your own website on your computer with just a few programs and one service.

What are those programs? Here is my list:

• WampServer - This is a Windows-based Apache2, MySQL, and PHP bundle to allow your site to be viewed by the world. Intallation is simple and the WampServer site has a lot of helpful information.
• PHPMyAdmin - This program will allow easy administration of your MySQL databases and tables. It is a bit confusing to initially setup as there are several different ways to run the initial login. I highly recommend reading all the information available on the site prior to installing this program.
• Drupal -- A great CMS (content management system) with literally hundreds upon hundreds of add-on modules. The installation is easy (ensure you create your database first) and there is a massive amount of help and information available online in regards to Drupal.
• DynDNS -Use this to point a hostname (your website address) to a dynamic or static IP address or URL. There are free and paid services you can use here. Take a few moments to read the how-to information and the various services available.

The programs aren't too difficult to install and run - though a bit of thorough reading is needed to ensure you set up everything correctly. And I recommend setting up a secondary hard drive for your site so you can keep this separate from your regular computer activities. DynDNS has a fantastic FAQ and How-To section to help you get your domain setup and pointing to your WAMP installation.

Online hosting and CMS is a great idea if you don't have the technical knowledge to run your own and if you don't mind not having complete control over your site and possible advertising. Otherwise, I recommend trying to run your own. With a little bit of time, a bit of research and a dash of patience, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment once you start getting your first visitors!