If you are a webmaster developing or maintaining websites then you probably have a home web server for development or testing purposes. An old computer can easily be transformed into a Linux server. If you install also Apache, MySQL and PHP applications you will be able to host websites at your home. Of course, this is not the same hosting as offered by commercial providers, it is only a place where you can install, develop and test web applications. With some additional settings you can access your home computers from any place that has internet access. This is very convenient for getting files you forgot at home.
Assuming that you already have a local area network (LAN) including the router, which is a bridge between your computers and the internet, you need no additional equipment. In order to enable web access from the internet, you have to configure your router to forward outside web requests to the your server. The default port for web is 80, but you can choose any other port number to increase security.
The first prerequisite for remote access is a domain. This is the name of your home server on the internet. There are many services that offer free domains and free updating of IP addresses. This is especially important if you don't have a static IP address. Most internet providers dynamically assign IP addresses which change once a day or with every connection. Since knowing your external IP address is crucial to access your computers from the internet, you need a way to update the domain DNS records.
Many routers support popular dynamic DNS services like DynDns. If your router has no such function you can still install simple software utility on your computer which will update address every time it will be changed. You should create an account, select preferred domain name and choose your name which you will use as a sub-domain. This account data you should enter into the router settings or external software for IP address update.
Now you have access to your router. Each time you will enter your name followed by the chosen domain, you will reach you router. If you have enabled access to its user interface from the external port, you will be able to configure it as you do it from your home computer. To reach your server you need to configure port redirection. If you would like to use the standard port 80 for web access, then simply create a rule to forward external (public) port 80 to the local port 80 at IP address of your web server. This is everything that is needed to access your web server from anywhere.
For hosting of real websites especially if they are commercial in nature you need a reliable hosting like Hostgator. Simply because the website needs to be available 24 hours a day and downtime in the case of hardware failure should be as short as possible. Commercial hosting companies usually provide professional service for few dollars per month. This includes unlimited number of domains, unlimited disk space and many other goodies.
Having a possibility to access home computers from any location is very useful when you need some files or data from home. Even if you have a dynamic IP address you can access your development websites and show them to your friends or clients.
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