Is it possible to host 5 small sites on a 1.5mbps DSL connection from DSLnetworks.com. They said it is and they allow it, I just don't know where to go to setup the IPs and all the technical stuff.

I have 4-5 sites I would like to connect to my DSL line, but first off, how would I assign multiple IPs to a single computer. I have a Netopia R7100 Router, 20 IPs and a 1.5 mbps connection, Thanks.

Yee-ow. You're getting terribly complex here, so I might be in a bit over my head, but I'll give it a try.

Firstly, are you using *nix or NT?

If you're using NT, you can use DHCP to interface and assign the IPs, and use IIS to manage the sites. IIS makes it reasonably easy to manage the sites and you shouldn't have too many problems. If you require further help, the book 'Mastering Windows 2000 Server' by Mark Minasi is an excellent resource and is available from Amazon. Or, check some other books with 'IIS or Internet Information Server' in the title.

If you're using *nix, then the best thing would probably be to combine BIND and Apache to run the server. I'm not fully experienced in setting up a *nix server to cope as such, so someone else like JTY or Annette might be able to help. Or, there are several '*nix server administration' books available on Amazon to help you sort out such problems.

One word of warning : if one of your sites become very popular and receive a lot of visitors, then you should monitor your DSL usage, as your bandwidth and access times can very quickly degenerate.

Bottom line : get a few books and read up or get an expert to help you out. You need to be an expert to run and maintain such systems, particularly if something like httpd or BIND's not resolving or working properly.

Otherwise, go with a RaQ instead :)

It is definitely possible, but it's probably beyond the scope of this board to walk you through it. The outstanding requirement is that you have static IP's from your ISP. (I have no idea how this could work using DHCP.) Otherwise, configuring your server this way is the same as configuring any other Web server whether it's Linux/Apache or NT/IIS. Don't forget there is also a version of Apache for NT, which may sound like a mongrel combination but it's actually quite nice.

Is your DSL synchronous or asynchronous? If it's asynchronous, then your pages will be served at your rated UPLOAD speed (minus overhead), which can be as much as 75% slower than the download. Check your service plan.

Since you're presumably new at this, I'd advise against doing your own DNS. Your ISP may provide this for you, either for free because you're a subscriber or for a small fee. Of course, there are commercial DNS providers out there too.

Follow BC's advice. Get the books and read them. Play at it, break it, and learn to fix it. You *will* need to be an expert. Also keep in mind that DSL ISP's can and do re-assign your static IP's from time to time so you have to stay on top of that.

[Edited by alchiba on 10-13-2000 at 08:19 AM]

It's an option, albeit not the best one. As long as your site's are not critical and do not have to be up %99 of the time.

To set up your own DNS servers you'll have to obtain 2 uniques ip's. Ask your DSL provider if this is something they can offer you. If they can then it's just a matter of deciding on which OS ***cough**LINUX***cough*** and then configuring it properly.

I have my Linux box at home that I play around on with a webserver, ftp server, mail server, etc..... and it's on a cable modem with a dynamic ip (hasn't change in 5 months though :))

Get yourself a good book like "Red Hat Linux 6, Unleased" by Sams Books and start reading. It's really not that hard to set up.

Or just install Linux Mandrake and it pratically sets up all your servers for you. On a basic clean install my webserver (once I mapped a domain to it), mail server, and ftp server all worked without any configurations.

I just wanted to thank all of you for your help. Now that I know that it is possible, I'll probrably take the easy route and call a networking professional with experience in Unix (I'm running Red Hat Linux) and get him to do all the work. Once again, thank you all for being very helpful. Have a good one.

You can use Linuxconf to enable the additional ips. And configure apache for the virtual hosts.

I've got some information in my site about hosting via DSL and cable modem that you might want to read.

Don't host on DSL unless you are only looking at 1 or 2 sites. Traffic can, and will, bog your whole network down.

Also check out these features if you are into hosting serious websites and not just for fun:
1. Reliability of your DSL access
2. UPS / DG set
3. Data backup
4. Preferably, a back up server, just in case

TheWingThing.

I suppose there's a couple ways you could associate 5 ips with the same server. Either change the server config itself or do a customized setup within the Netopia 7100. I know for a fact that NAT/PAT directing 5 of those ip's to an internal private ip address would work - either only certain ports or all ports. This would allow you to associate those 5 ips to the computer - and with an internal addressing sceheme allow your workstations to get out. Keep in mind - dsl isn't the best thing to host on - especially if it's absolutely critical that it be up all the time. Just my $0.02. :)

Good luck,
Matt