: Is it possible to host my own website and DNS server on my home computer with a dynamic IP address? I pay yearly big money for my websites' hostings, domain registrars, etc. My IP is dynamic

@Rambettina238

Only trusted authorities can run a dns nameserver. You aren't allowed to run a public nameserver as a privateer nor can you rent a nameserver yourself. Imagine you can sell unlimited top level domains and suffixes? A dyndns is affordable but a virtual server solution too. Here is a smilar question How can I buy my own personalized Top Level Domain (TLD)?. The fee for a tld and unlimited domain is 185.000$. Technically spoken dns nameserver uses a patricia trie algorithm.

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@Gretchen104

Its generally not a good idea to have your DNS (which in general should be run on at least two, preferably geographically seperate boxes, in case one fails) on your general use server. Most registars run their own or you can use something like zoneedit, rather than your own.

Unless you have a dynamic ip address, there's no advantage to dynamic DNS - you can just set it statically and be on your merry way.

Serverwise, what was said before holds - lock down everything you don't use, preferably both at server and network level, make sure that things like ssh have appropriate levels of security (i love fail2ban for ssh lockdowns), you don't have anything like phpmysql open to anything other than specific ips and so on

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@Hamm4606531

The simplest method would be to use a service like DynDNS and configure your router to update your DynDNS account. This way you effectively have a free domain.

You can then configure your website's to run from your local IIS manager as you already have configured.

There after you can use a proxy to control local users to redirect to [YourIP]:[Port] when they attempt to access your DynDNS alias.

External users will then connect directly to your PC when browsing your websites, thus using your own immediate bandwidth and line speed.

The advantages of doing it this way is you avoid all the ISP costs, however you will need to upgrade your ISP account to have higher bandwidth limit (uncapped if possible) and a faster line (unshapped if possible) which would push your monthly costs up slightly.

The disadvantages of this is, you have to manage the security and provide a decent connection, if many users access your site simultaneously they'll experience a definite "lag" between page renders with a bad quality line.

You also open up your own personal network to hackers and internet deviants, this is relatively easily solved with correct firewall configurations and proxy layer.

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@Heady270

This is almost certainly going to be in violation of your agreement with your ISP. You need a plan that actually allows for servers, usually a business plan, and has enough bandwidth to host a site.

If you just want a cheap setup, maybe you should look into a low-end VPS. It was hard to get stock for it, but I'm with BuyVM now and find them pretty excellent.

edit: Oh, and I should note that a lowend VPS will usually be unmanaged, which will require you to have knowledge of the server and how to administer it. Luckily, Linux administration is not too bad if you're not looking to do anything huge. At worst, all you need to do is learn how to use SSH and basic bash to setup a few config files.

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