Hosting a website on iMac

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I have an iMac running Mac OS X 10.6.2 that connects to the internet via time capsule wirelessly. I would like to be able to host my own website from my computer. I've enabled web sharing and see that I can host a website at an ip address (10.0.1.4) but it is only viewable while connected to my network.

In the advanced tcp/ip options I know I can set an address manually, but not sure what to set it as, or really where to go from there.

How would I set up a static ip so my site is viewable on the internet?

Thanks!

~M
 

Raz0rEdge

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The safest way of doing this is to set a name from places like DynDNS, No-IP, and then point it to your dynamic IP (external) IP address that you get from your ISP.

If you have a router (and you absolutely should have one), you would forward port 80 to your iMac and the website will go live on the Internet.

Regards
 
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Thanks, forwarding port 80 is no problem, though I'm curious what the advantage of a dynamic IP is over a Static. And do I have to physically call my ISP to get assigned either of those?

Thanks!

~M
 
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Basically, every time you connect to your ISP, you get a random IP address (dynamic), which makes it difficult to connect to your home network reliably.

A static (fixed) IP address solved this issue, but will usually cost you extra.

I do have to ask though: why do you want to host it yourself? Your internet connection's outgoing (upload) speed is usually not that great, so your site won't be particularly fast for visitors, so unless it's for home automation or something, you're usually much better off just paying a few bucks to host it properly with a hosting service, or getting a free blog or something.
 
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Or you could host it with MobileMe and get the other benefits as well - at a cost.
 

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