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Additional Servers

Do you have a spare computer lying around gathering dust? Why not put it to use by hosting your Internet domain on it? Our guides and tutorials will show you how to do it as quickly and easily as possible, using a Linux host with free open-source software. Just about any i686+ computer will suffice; it doesn't need to be new or even extremely fast. For most purposes, all you'll need is a web server, an (optional) mail server, and an (optional) ftp server. Once you have those servers installed and running many other options can then be added, such as forums, blogs, content management systems, webmail, file transfer, and much more. Other than that, you'll need a broadband connection, a registered domain name, and an ethernet router.

Self-hosting is a very cost-effective, non-restrictive, versatile method of creating an Internet presence for your home/small business, club, group, hobby, organization, or nearly anything else which doesn't require enterprise-level support. It's unlikely you'll discover anything new under the sun on our site; this information is available all over the net and therein lies the problem - a beginner hasn't a clue as to where to start. If you do find a starter site, you'll most likely be quickly burdened with terms and information that is totally irrelevant and unnecessary to your modest goals.

Although not absolutely necessary, we highly recommend the use of public key signing and encryption with GnuPG (GPG), which is an open-source equivalent to PGP. You can find tutorials on this site to somewhat ease the pain of the learning curve required. As with everything else, the rewards are well worth the effort.

We are aware that all of this material may seem extremely daunting to a newbie but don't get discouraged... we are here to help you get through it. We had to figure it out on our own so there's no reason you can't do it with a little help and a lot of patience. However, Linux is not Windows so you will need to bring your brain along for the ride! Your only other option is to go with a third-party hosting provider and live with the limitations/restrictions imposed upon you by them, along with their hefty fees. If you need more bandwidth than your provider supplies then you will have no choice in the matter, anyway. Nonetheless, practically any broadband connection should suffice for non-enterprise solutions.

For those uncomfortable with building their own LAMP systems, we might consider building it for you. However, this is not a full-time business but rather a limited hobby where we only have time to build a handful of systems per year, or about one every 60 days. There is a waiting list and we offer no maintenance services due to time restrictions. Prices start at $2500 for a basic system, excluding hardware which you are welcome to supply or we can build. Unfortunately, we cannot work onsite. Email if interested.

Last page update on Thursday, January 12, 2012 6:37 PM EST (UTC -05:00)

Experimental and Under Construction

Not yet approved for human consumption...

All web pages are in their infancies, as far as content goes, as all efforts are being expended on infrastructure first; therefore many links are invalid. Check back periodically but don't hold your breath... it will take quite a bit of time to accomplish everything required. Nothing is finalized at this time!

Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP)

Linux hosting revolves around what is referred to as LAMP-based server technologies. LAMP is an acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. The web server is Apache, the database engine is MySQL, and PHP is the scripting language with which most of the powerful web apps are written. Sometimes the systems are referred to as LAMPP where the additional "P" denotes Perl -- another scripting language that is normally used also. Slackware is our recommended Linux distribution choice for the host but almost any Linux distro could be used. Why Slackware? It adheres more closely to the original Linux specs, it's not bloated with desktop tools you may not need nor want and, as a consequence, it's probably the fastest and most stable of all the distros. Slackware has also been around longer than any currently supported Linux distro. In addition, Slackware builds KDE (the window manager) without Zeroconf support which has the advantage of isolating it from the rest of your network for an extra layer of security.Powerful LAMP-based systems are at the heart of virtually all Internet domains. PHP supports a wealth of powerful open-source web applications. In addition, Perl/PEAR, CGI, C/C++ and others may also be important for domain design, development and administration although no programming experience is assumed nor required. Our host operating system here runs Slackware Linux x86_64 on an AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.6 GHz, 8GB RAM, and 500GB disk storage over a residential (6M x 1M) DSL broadband pipe. Don't let that discourage you -- a much more modest system can be implemented. Also, we utilize Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection (from within a Microsoft Windows virtual machine) for the majority of the web design grunt work. Please bear in mind that we are not about website design, per se, but specialize in the installation, setup, configuration and administration of Internet domain self-hosting servers on a Linux host.

Each user can be assigned a Unix user account with shell access. Among the many possibilities, one feature allows each user account to maintain a public website accessed via the URL format: http://yourdomain.com/~username and which resides in the user's ~/public_html directory. This means that everyone in your group can have their own public website in addition to the main site of the organization. To the left are a few public examples that you're welcome to browse through.

Package Repositories: Slackware packages are pre-built binary installation packages for Slackware Linux. These relieve the user from the more complicated compilation process. They are easily installed using the installpkg tool. All packages available on our site are built for Intel/AMD 32-bit and 64-bit. Please note that the majority of the packages will probably not be required for your self-hosting server. Our repository is for convenience and for anyone that might like to download them. Also, some packages have dependency requirements which will be noted in their respective *.txt file. The dependencies should be installed prior to the packages chosen. All packages will be stable releases only (unless otherwise noted). Our repository is stored on our FTP server. Package repositories fall under several categories: SBo are those built by SlackBuilds.org; LSH are those that we built; alien are ones created by AlienBob; rlw from Robby Workman; and other for all else.

Also, unrelated but included, in the repository is any open-source code that we may have written under GPL license.

Servers Overview

Linux OSSlackware Linux is our recommended Linux distribution choice for the host operating system although most any other distro could be used instead.

WebOur web server is built upon the same that runs nearly all of the Internet.

DatabaseThe industry standard of open-source relational databases is MySQL.

PHP/PerlThe scripting languages with which most of the world's powerful web apps are written is PHP and Perl.

FTPOur system utilizes the robust ProFTPD server. However, you should only install FTP if you absolutely require it since there are security risks involved. Other protocols, such as ssh or samba, may fit your needs with more security. FTP servers should probably only be used when anonymous logins are desired.

EMail Our email server is built upon two server modules: Postfix and Dovecot. The former is the mail transport agent (MTA) and the latter adds support for IMAP and POP3 protocols.