sunny_smiley Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Hello gentlemen,I was a silent member of msnf.org for some time, but now I have a problem and I do hope that this really can help me. I do not like starting asking for something form the very first message but unfortunately I have to do it now. Anyway, I would like to ask a few questions, I already have searched the forum, actually I have read everything regarding IIS but could not find the answer... So here we are:The firm I am working at has purchased a server about a year ago, now they have decided to start offering some web space to people around (friends etc.) and decided to use that server as a web server. Our company too small and I am the only one in care of all the computers we have. And as you may guess I have no idea about servers (maybe very little). Now, let's come to the sweetest part, how will I do it? I do not want to ask it in general because I already got some idea from the posts that I have read. I have read also about the apache php mysql setup, but what I need is IIS actually. We already have Windows 2000 Advanced Server installed which we plan to upgrade to 2003 and also we have IIS installed. So where do I start? How do I set it up so that first of all we can reach it through our local network? And what do I need to change later on to open it to the outer world? I read something about DNS server, do I need to set it up? If yes then how? Can I just make it in the way I like or I should follow some certain and maybe strict rules? Or is it someone else who will arrange DNS for us? We have static IP, we have a domain, now pointing to somewhere else. So where do I begin with DNS server or IIS? O.K, that was the first part, I hope you are not tired of reading. Second part is as we are going to be a hosting company certainly we will need to setup some other sites as well. I know that it is possible to setup more than one domain on the same IP but I do not know how... And the last but believe me not the least, is the mail server... Of course I will have to setup this one too, so I also need information about it. I know (actually I heard) something about MX records, and I think they are arranged in DNS server, but how and what I am going to do with them? Do we need a different software for this or IIS can manage it?Well I think that is all for now, I am patient, I love reading and learning, do not bother yourself to write just point somewhere.. I tried google but unfortunately could find nothing suitable for me or I just missed it.Thank you all in advance, waiting for you reply(ies)!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Well, we could spend a great deal of time answering every single Q in great detail, but I won't start that (or not yet anyways).Situation is: you guys want to offer hosting, and you are completely new to this (nothing personnal). You need assistance for some very basic tasks, and you don't know yet how things will be setup/work...My Q is: don't you think it's a bit too much for just you alone, especially with no prior experience? Most commercial hosts have well trained and experienced techs, everything well planned and setup - and they still suck. Learning this along the way (and it sounds like you got a lot to learn, networking/web/database/... everything wise really) may not be a very good way of doing it either. And while you're experimenting with these things, if your hosting stops working at any point, your clients won't be exactly happy either... (Rightfully so, and then they start bad mouthing you, giving bad reviews, etc) And your setup won't be very secure either (well, most likely), and setting up things could get quite time intensive, may cost a lot more to the company than hosting will pay. I'd highly advize you think again about all this. It's not like there's huge money to be made there either with all the free hosts online, and the high amount with half decent packages at almost a couple dollars per month. It could turn into a very frustrating experience too, setting up advanced things, and trying to fix complex problems we sometimes run into. Most places have a team of dedicated, trained, skilled and experienced people for that job. (just like say, one wouldn't really bother trying to open a garage if they're still learning about basic mechanics) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny_smiley Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 I totally agree with you!!! And I think the best thing to do is just buy a reseller plan and get everything ready and secure. Meanwhile my boss does not think the same way, one thing is that server was already bought before I started so now he wants to run it, for security holes I do not think he really cares or realizes and it does not matter how many times I will repeat that. So what I do now is just leaving everything to it is, he MUST SEE that this will not work this way until he gets a professional. So for him to see this I MUST setup this server, on the very major problem we will have I will try to "attack" again to buy a reseller plan but for now I have to do what I am supposed to do. One principle I have is: Try to help people, if they reject your help leave them and let them burn thier fingers and then try to help again. So now this is what I am going to do. So unfortunately I have to (fortunately for me cause I am going to learn something new) learn this...Thank you, for your comments!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny_smiley Posted October 6, 2004 Author Share Posted October 6, 2004 So I guess nobody is willing to help, or is it me impatient? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Well, it's not like we can teach you networking, security, server/apps setup/management, how web servers/databases work and all that stuff in a couple posts. It takes a long time for most people to master all these to a basic level.In other words, there's no way we can really cover all this as a few forum posts, we wouldn't even know where to start. You will have to read up on a lot of very specific things, learn it and get some experience, and that will take you LOTS of time. If your company can get you some courses/training, it sure wouldn't hurt either.I really wish I could help more than this, but like I said, I don't even know where we would start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prathapml Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Topic title - "Replying to I searched but could not find the answer"Please read rules of the forum - guidelines12. Very often we see meaningless subjects in topic title. They give no clue of what the posts are all about. For example: - Oh no! - Help - I'm mad - Please help - Question - I need your help - Hmmmm .... This should be avoided. Users should enter something more specific in topic title so that it is easier for others to help.A few good examples: - Strange problem with DirectX9b redist- RunOnceEx install problem (double installation)- Change Internet Explorer's Icon back to default*topic renamed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny_smiley Posted October 7, 2004 Author Share Posted October 7, 2004 (edited) 2prathapml:Thank you for renaming the topic, I realised I made a mistake but it was already too late.---After doing a lot of search talking with people and reading all I can, I could (or I think I could:) ) understand how DNS stuff works and its general principle. As for teaching from the very beginning without knowing where to start, of course you are right. So I think now I can focus on something particular and format my questions.Let me begin and explain the things I understood and then ask my question. Please correct me if I am mistaken...Let's say that I bought a domain (abc.com), from a company X and some webspace from another company Y. Now, company Y has a DNS server and a Web Server, so I arrange the DNS settings for abc.com in the way company Y tells me. Later, when someone tries to reach abc.com company X forwards it to company Y DNS server and that DNS server finally forwards it to web server, right? If I made a mistake please correct me...Now, what I want is to setup a DNS server and Web server on 1 PC with 1 static ip. For time being I am thinking of using Simple DNS server program to setup our DNS server and use IIS for web server. Now my question is, I setup DNS settings for abc.com to forward to my computer, and my DNS server must forward it to web server, right? So when I setup IP for web server in DNS server do I setup it as a local computer? I mean 127.0.0.1 or let's say 192.168.1.10. Or do I setup it as I setup DNS settings for abc.com I mean giving the static ip that we have... I hope I did not mix up anything. I hope this time my question is clear and I do believe that you will be able to help me!!!<!-- Edit part --!>Finally I could manage to setup server using this simple DNS server (site is online), but if you ask me what I have learned I would rather say nothing than something. First of all, I realised that 192.168.1.10 or 127.0.0.1 are not enough so I have created another A record with our static IP. And I think that is when it started working. Could somebody explain me the upper part? Why do I need to setup real IP? Or provide some information about DNS server...Thank you all in advance!!! Edited October 7, 2004 by sunny_smiley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob00GT Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 Sounds like you need some more education on the subject. Here's some reading material to help you get started.How to configure multiple web sites with a single IP address using IIS 6.0How to configure web site logging with Windows 2003How to troubleshoot a web server in Windows 2003These are all specific to Windows Server 2003. If you're still using Windows 2000, each of these web sites has a link to the Win2000 version of the article.Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny_smiley Posted October 10, 2004 Author Share Posted October 10, 2004 Thanks God somebody posted I certainly do need education, nowdays I try to read and practice what I read. I will be really gratefull for all the information shared with me...2Rob00GT:I have read the articles you provided, but there was nothing new for me, my problem is DNS server and its records not IIS at the moment... If know some good books or sites or articles I can read I will be really gratefull!! Thanks all in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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