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Read our expert Website Hosting Reviews to find the best web hosting company to meet your website needs. Self Hosting Your Own Website Website hosting at its core is providing a directory or folder on a computer that is connected to the internet. When you upload files to that folder, people would be able to access them freely. Then why would someone pay for space on a computer when they already have one connected to the internet? Why wouldn't self hosting your own website work for you? Actually you can. All you need is a connection to the internet and a computer with some type of server software. However, there are issues with trying to do it yourself. Your computer is set up to send requests to websites and get responses, but not to receive requests. A website is resolved by an ip address, a number like 192.168.0.1. You would need to identify the address to a name server that will then respond to requests for name resolution with the exact ip of your website. You again could run the name server from your home. But to have a website resolved to a name server you must have 2 name servers each with their own ip. Since you can not host a website on a dynamic ip, unless you keep telling your customers your new address each time you get online. You will need 3 static ips, or you can buy name server services, but that costs more to buy than a web hosting package. You will also need a dedicated connection such as cable or DSL. The problem is, most isp's have closed port 80 so you can not host a website, due to the increased cost to them. They may allow you to upgrade and get static ips and the ability to host websites, but it wont come cheap. Most DSL providers will not allow website hosting for plans under $200/month. Another consideration is, can your computer handle the extra work. If you are running windows, you are likely to run your own stuff with out crashing, never mind a website. You also have dependability issues. Will you be able to monitor your computer 24-7 to know if it is online? If your power surges or goes off, your computer will shut down and your website is down. Most websites hosting companies use extensive backup systems with generators for backup power. You really want your website to be up 24-7, so hosting it yourself is not the best idea in the world. You also have issues with opening your computer to allow people to surf through your PC. Since you are not an expert at security, it likely wont be difficult for anyone to access all the files on your computer. If you have any information on your computer that you do not want to share freely, do not host your own website. Some people think having a firewall will help. But that is not true at all. Once someone has accessed your computer on a given port, the firewall is aready surpassed. A firewall only prevents the initial access. If you are hosting a website, you must have the port open on your firewall. Without internal software to prevent file surfing by hackers, you are basically wide open. So when someone tells you it's easy to host a website on your own computer, just chuckle. You're smart enough to save yourself loads of time, money,and effort by just buying a reliable hosting package from a reputable company. Web hosting has become so affordable it just does not make sense to try self hosting your own website. Register.com web hosting (see review), is running a $4.95/month web hosting special. Enter promotion code HOSTINGREVIEWS25 in the shopping cart to GET 25% OFF your entire order. Self Hosting Your Own Website
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