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I'm completely ignorant when it comes to hosting.

Suppose I have a web application up and running on IIS 6.0 locally, and then I publish it (somehow?)

I assume the site will be accessible from http://XXX.XXX.XXX.X/, but what if I want a domain name to point at it? Can I do it on my own, dedicated server, or have I absolutely must go to a third party?

I believe I need a DNS, but can I set one up for free somehow?

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migrated from serverfault.com Jun 5 '11 at 0:56

3 Answers

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First you must register your domainname with a suitable registrar.

As part of this the IP addresses of 2 computers that will serve as "DNS servers" are required. Many registrars provide these servers as part of the service.

Next the "DNS zone files" on those "DNS Servers" need to be updated to include a reference that basically says "www.mydomain.com is at IP address 123.321.123.321" Again most registrars provide an easy way to do this.

The computer with IP address 123.321.123.321 must be on the internet and running a web server that can respond to requests.

Then when someone types in www.mydomain.com, their local DNS system looks up the zone file (or a locally cached copy their ISP has) and this tells them the 123.321.123.321 IP address. The web browser then sends a "give me this web page" message directly to that IP address. Which then sends them back the web page.

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You need to use a service like Zoneedit which not only provides DNS services but can handle dynamic IP addresses like you probably have if you're hosting your own server locally.

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Not locally, it's a dedicated server but I was using it to host a game server, now I want to host the website there aswell. – Nico Jun 5 '11 at 1:12
Do you have a control panel for your server? If so, what is it called? – John Conde♦ Jun 5 '11 at 1:13
I just have a remote desktop connection through which I'd do all the work – Nico Jun 5 '11 at 15:51
up vote 0 down vote

I do exactly what you're trying to do at home.

http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/

Sign up for Free DNS Service. Pick a free domain/hostname (ie helloworld.gotdns.org). Finally install the DNS client tool on your server. This will make sure your dynamic IP address is constantly updated on DynDNS's website so when you hit helloworld.gotdns.org it will always point to your box.

Now you can have your friends connect to your game server simply by going to http://helloworld.gotdns.org

Hope that made sense. :)

Michael

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