Can I host a site on my iMac?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, so I’ve had a website for several years now, and it’s expanded greatly in that time. First I outgrew the 10 MB OpalCat has so graciously given me on fathom. So I moved the photo gallery to Angelfire. I outgrew those 20 MB. (Thank you, Kodak EasyShare digital camera.) So I got another Angelfire account. And another.

I hate Angelfire. (Don’t even get me started on the popups.)

So I want to be able to consolidate my website in one place, where I have easy access to everything. Which leads me to the iMac I’m typing on now.

A- Can I do it? Is there something that would make hosting from my iMac impossible/unsafe/dangerous?

B- How much would it cost? Would I need additional hardware? I assume I’d need some kind of OS upgrade (currently OS X.2.6). Plus domain registration.

C- Would it screw up the normal usage of the computer? Could I still run iTunes while on the SDMB, AIM, and IRC without everything slowing to a crawl? My site’s hardly yahoo.com, but it does get a few hits a day. I don’t have any large files on the site.

D- Will I be able to set up FTP access so I can update it when I’m away?

E- Will it be worth it? No popups, I don’t have to depend on some giant company, and everything’s right here on my desk. Am I missing a downside? I have no clients to keep happy, so it wouldn;t necessarily have to be up 24/7, but I’d like it to be. I leave it one all the time anyway.

So, Dopers, can I do it? Can I take my destiny into my very own hands? Will I evade the Evil Nazi Groundhogs and see the light of day again?

2

The first thing you should do is check out your ISP’s terms of service. It’s forbidden by mine, optonline.

They actually sent out notices that using file-sharing services…letting others download from your comp, thus acting as a server…violated their TOS.

3

Macs have had the capability to be host computers for a while, so you won’t have to upgrade your system software. And unless your site is huge or you expect high demand, you should not have to upgrade your hardware, either.

The standard installation of OS X comes with Apache server software that will let you host a website off your computer. You can activate it by going to your System Preferences > Sharing and clicking the Start button under Web Sharing Off. The IP address at which users will be able to see the files is at the bottom of the window.

Since the site will be run off files in that Sites folder, you don’t have to worry about FTP’ing anything anywhere.

Can’t say if it’ll negatively affect the day-to-day functions of your computer, nor can I see any downsides to the proposition. Have fun.

4

Disclaimer: I have no experience actually using Mac OS X. I’ve read some things about it, that’s it. That being said, I can give you a general idea of things until someone more knowledgeable steps in.

A. Yes, you can (technologically) do it. That much, at least, I am sure of. It is possible. The real question is whether it is practical, or even allowed by your ISP. That’s the major sticking point here. Many of them don’t allow you to use your computer as a server.

Mac OS X ships with a version of the Apache web server. You may find this interesting or informative: Radar – O’Reilly

As for safety, everything I’ve read and heard about OS X is that it has a quite secure default install. Anytime you run new services on your machine (such as HTTP or FTP servers) you’re potentially lowering your security. Still, Apache has a good reputation and if you’re careful you should be OK. Then again, if you’re using this machine to store personal information such as financial information or something like that, you probably don’t want to run a server unless you’re confident you know how to keep it properly secured.

B. The cost depends greatly on how popular your site is. If it’s high-volume, you’ll want a highspeed connection to the Internet. I trust you’re not using dial-up? If you are, forget it. It’s possible, but hardly practical. I don’t know the specs of an iMac offhand, but I’ve run a simple little site off of a 450 Mhz AMD K6-2, so I’m pretty sure the computer could handle a low-volume website.

The real cost would be domain registration (unless you are OK with people just accessing your site by typing in the IP address), and cost of bandwith if you have to upgrade to a faster type of connection or for a service plan from your ISP that allows you to run a server.

C. This depends on how popular the site is, and what sort of things your site does, as well as the specs of your machine. If there are lots of, say, PERL or PHP scripts running on your machine, that’s going to be much more CPU intensive than simply returning a static HTML document. I’ll let someone more knowledgeable give a more definite answer, and just say tentatively that a low-volume site would not necessarily slow the computer a significant degree.

D. Almost certainly. I don’t know how many security / other options the default FTP server on OS X has, but if they aren’t enough there are several other FTP servers for OS X.

E. Probably not, IMHO. However, it’s entirely your call to make, and I’d be tempted to do it just because it sounds like fun. :slight_smile:

5

If you don’t want to get a domain name, you can google for ‘free dns subdomain’ and see what floats your boat. These would for example, point troymclure.theirdomain.com to your IP on your imac. Some of them include programs that will automatically update your settings if you have a dynamic IP. An exaple of this would be say www.dyndns.org

Hope that helps a little.

6

I see I didn’t correctly address the point about updating while you’re away. Let me fix that. :slight_smile:

I found this page (caution- About.com page with obnoxiously large pop-up) that describes steps that would allow “users with accounts on your Mac to copy files to and from your computer using an FTP client.” I’m not sure if this would take care of the FTPing you need; I’ve never had to know much about the file sharing and networking ends of the Mac OS. Still, I thought it worth mentioning.

There is software-- Timbuktu is the one that comes to mind-- that allows you to acccess your Mac over the Internet. However, I don’t think it’d work well for you-- for one, both the computer you’re on as well as the one you want to control must have the software installed, so if you’re doing this from a library or borrowing someone’s computer, they might not appreciate you installing stuff on it. Also, Timbuktu runs about $100, which may be more than you’re willing to spend for a product you might seldom use. I’m not sure if there are cheaper alternatives.

7

Keep in mind that professional hosting isn’t that expensive.

The host we’re using starts at $10 a month for 200 MB of storage. They set everything up for you, no charge. Even installed and configured Invision Power Board for free.

How much is your time worth?

8

Thanks for the help, folks.

Well, I’ll be damned, it’s sitting right there in System Prefs. There’s also a section for FTP, so it looks like I have built in hosting and FTP access. Not too shabby.

My site’s all html, gif, and jpeg, with one flash file, so there’s nothing cpu intensive, so it looks like my setup will be fine as is.

I haven’t checked with SBC Yahoo, but I doubt they’d let me host. And I bet they’ll send large men with bats if I try to.

Looks like BlackKnight nailed it saying the cost will be in the ISP and the domain reg.

AudreyK- I wanted FTP access so that, say, if I’m in Santa Cruz, I can update my website if I need to remotely. And it looks like OS X has that ability built in.

And P. Nym, I know it’s out there, but I figure if I’m going to revamp the whole thing to make it more accessible and to have control over it, I might as well take full control. As far as I can tell, it won’t disrupt much of anything once I transfer it initially, so I I figure I should go for it.

9

Excellent. Have fun and let us know when it’s up. :slight_smile:

10

Cool, it’s up.

'Afore I go ahead and post the URL, are there any security measures I should take place? My computer is free of any nuclear secrets and such, so I’m basically worried about some |33t-nik screwing with my stuff. Any significant vulnerabilities in OS X’s built-in Apache?

I figure I won’t leave it up constantly, until I re-read my TOS with SBC. (It needs some touching up before it’s OK to run from here, anyway.)

Are there any security measures

Thanks a lot, guys!

11

OK… tried it, but it won’t work for now.

Every time I restart, the URL changes. Which, as some of you could guess, is a problem.

Plus, I’d like to get an Internet connection I could use to host. a- What’s the term for this? 2- How much can I expect to pay? III- Any recommendations?

I got really spoiled in those few days I was hosting, and I don’t think I can bear to FTP into angelfire any more.

12

depends on where you live, but DSL with dedicated IPs usually runs around a hundred a month or just slightly upwards in most major metro areas.

13

Well then. So much for hosting my own website. Thanks for the help, all.