making a server

Note: Computer will need to stay on when you need to access files.

If you have OS X, click the blue apple in the upper left corner and select "System Prefrences" and then click "Sharing" and check "Personal Web Sharing". At the bottom of the window it will give you an address to go to to access the files. Put the files you want to share into the "Sites" folder of your home folder. Your home folder is in Macintosh HD > Users. I'm not on a Mac right now so this may be wrong. If it is one of our experts will correct me.

If you have OS 9 I'm not sure what to do. Sorry. :(
 
Does your DSL modem allow you to do port forwarding. if so then you could probably run a server. however you will need

a. Some HTTP serving software. This is included with mac osx
b. to make sure your ISP will let you do it. My ISP block port 80.
c. your modem / router needs to be able to forward port 80 packets to your g3 on port 80.

I know this is vague, but I dont know what kit you have.
 
Do you want to serve files to local computers only, files to any computer on the net, or do you want to serve web pages?

What OS are you running? (version, like 10.3 or 10.2, etc.) What OSs are the other computers running?
 
Hi Mac.
Just a note, you posted this same question in 3 different areas. Best to just choose one. If its more urgent you can always use the wonderful free tech support system here.
 
mac73006 said:
im talkin about outside of my local network
Click to expand...

The procedure is pretty much the same. You'll just need to know the server's IP address to connect to it from the outside. This is of course assuming that the DSL service isn't doing any weird filtering or blocking of incoming connections.
 
Ignore port forwarding for now. If you connect directly to your DSL modem then you don't need port forwarding because all ports are already opened. You only need port forwarding with a router, and you already said you don't have a router. So don't worry.

But as already said, your ISP may block certain ports and if that's the case port forwarding won't fix anything anyways. Best way to find out is search the website of your ISP, or call them up. I did some research years ago on DSL and cable Internet (ultimately choosing cable) but from what I've seen, most DSL ISPs don't mind users running servers on a residential line. Cable not the same story. So you might find that basic ports such as HTTP and FTP are open.
 
He said he's using a e-net switch, so it's logical to assume he's got more than one computer/device connected to the modem. In that case, port-forwarding is going to be an issue.

Easy way around it is to replace the switch with a good quality router. Dlink is a good choice (DI-704), plus they're extremely easy to setup forwarding on. They also have the dynamic DNS feature built into most, which will contact your DNS host and keep you IP updated (assuming you have a dynamic IP).

Once you have that going, just turn on Apache and serve away. If you just want people to have access to files, and don't want the hassle of programming a page to list them, then create a subdirectory and enable the index view of that subdirectory via htaccess.

Other option would be to setup an FTP server.
 
No port forwarding is still not an issue. It's only an issue if there's something blocking the ports, i.e. a router with built-in firewall. If multiple computers are connected to a switch and the switch to the DSL modem, there's still only 1 WAN IP address, unless he bought additional IP addresses from his ISP. In the case of just 1 WAN IP address he could be using software Internet sharing. But not matter if he has 1 or more WAN IP addresses, he still will have to pick one of them to broadcast out to the world.

The WAN IP address(es) might be dynamic so he may have to setup a dynamic DNS service on the "server" and again, it's still just one IP address being broadcast out in the real world. So anyone trying to access his server using that IP or a logical name address, will get that specific machine. This is why port forwarding is NOT an issue.
 
Chances are it's still an issue. Every DSL/Cable modem supplied with broadband service in the area I live in acts as a DHCP server...so each computer has it's own LAN IP that's not associated with the WAN IP of the modem. Hence the need for port-forwarding. Setting things up on most of those modems is a royal pain in the arse.

It could be different in other areas...I'm sure it is in some. But until he lets us know differently, it's an issue.

Spending $20 for a separate router from DLink that will handle such things, plus handle the Dynamic DNS updates, add a hardware-based firewall to the system, and allow you to do so with a nice browser-based interface; is worth every penny. Even $40 or $50 would be worth it IMO.
 
mdnky said:
Chances are it's still an issue. Every DSL/Cable modem supplied with broadband service in the area I live in acts as a DHCP server...so each computer has it's own LAN IP that's not associated with the WAN IP of the modem. Hence the need for port-forwarding. Setting things up on most of those modems is a royal pain in the arse.
Click to expand...


Ditto for here in australia.. Alot of modems do NAT and run a DHCP server. So he will need to get a modem which will port forward or a modem which will act as a bridge and deliver a Internet IP to the desktop.
 
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