Testing you home webserver

There are many method you choose to test your new home webserver. Read the rest of this post to find out how you can test you home webserver.


METHOD 1: Friends on The NET
I call this method Friends on the net because it rely 100% on your friends.

First, check your IP address. use whatismyipaddress.com

contact your friend and ask him/her to type your ip address in his/her favourite browser.

If you successfully create your server, he/she should see something. This depend on what you put in your root directory.

METHOD 2: Proxy Site
Again, check you Ip Address using the link above.

copy your ip address and go to your favourite proxy site. if you don't know what proxy site, read my post about proxy and some proxy script you can use

when you get to the proxy site, paste your iP address and then press Browse.


in this picture, i'm using hidemyipaddress.org

when you press browse, You should see the content of your root folder.

METHOD 3: WiFi YouR NeW Friend
if you have 2 or more computer with Wireless card install in it, you can setup Internet Connection Sharing so that all the computer can connect to internet using WiFi.

The host computer(the computer that you set-up as the home webserver) MUST have wireless card in order to start internet connection sharing.

double click your LAN icon in taskbar and click Properties. Then go to Advanced, select Allow....

see picture:


If you select the Wireless Connection, you wireless card will automatically get ip address, 192.168.0.1.

connect your other computer using wireless to the host.
fire-up your browser, then enter the host ip address, 192.168.0.1

again, if you done nothing wrong, you should see file in your root folder. i.e, the index file,

Configuring Your Router

Configuring your router is a simple task but different router give different on-screen interface. This, I can't give the specific location of where you should edit but i think it's the same for all router.

STEP 1
Open Up your favourite browser and go to you router configuration screen.

To get to the configuration screen, type 192.168.1.254 in the address bar.
** this is my router configuration screen (see Setting Up Home Webserver)

Here is some hint:
1. to check your router configuration address, double-click you Local Area Network (the two computer near the clock).

2. then go to support


3. Usually, you can type the Default Gateway as the address in your browser. That is usually the address of your router configuration screen.

STEP 2
Setting static IP Address for your computer.

If your ip address keep changing everytime you online, you can't put your server available to your friends or everyone on the net.

fill up your information when the browser ask for username and password.



If you provide correct information, you'll be redirected to screen similiar to this.
**of course, it depend on the type of router that you use.



Go to Interface Setup then click the LAN tab.



Fill up the setting according to the picture.
Keep in mind that

brouter Local Ip is according to your router configuration site address

mine is 192.168.1.254

Ip Subnet Mask is THE SAME AS IN THE PICTURE

For the DHCP SERVER, you can put any number as long as it is within your router local IP address.

see picture

if your ROUTER local IP address is 192.168.1.254, then you DHCP SERVER ip address is 192.168.1.11

only change the last 3-digit!!!

STEP 3
Forwarding traffic from internet to communicate with your server

everytime people from internet type in your IP address, there should be forwarded to your server.

To make it happen, go to Advanced Setup >> NAT. Forwarding ip Address to your service can be done from this location using the Virtual Server configuration.



Click the Virtual Server.



Add rule according to the application you want to use. In this case, HTTP_SERVER.

Select HTTP_Server from the list, then enter your IP Address.

IP address is the IP Address that you assign in DHCP SERVER.

PORT is automatically assign for you. Port for HTTP_SERVER is 80

In the picture i add FTP application but you don't have to add it if you don't have FTP Server.

Save your configuration.
DONE

READ the guide on: Testing Your Home Web Server