How do I go about assigning my computer to my domain name?

Question

I've just registered a domain name, just to test how uploading a website works (I've made heaps, but never uploaded one), and I am unsure of where to go next. I wish to use my own personal computer just to test it, then later on I will see what my options are. It'd be a waste for me to buy hosting if I feel the whole website thing isn't for me...

I understand that in order to appoint my computer to the domain name I need to specify some DNS servers, but how do I set this up on my computer?

I'm running Windows 7, I've installed IIS and have my site working nice in my LAN, but I want people outside of my LAN to access it using the domain name I've purchased.

Please excuse me if things don't make sense or I'm doing something wrong; I'm new and just trying to learn.

Answer 1

No, you don't need to specify a DNS server on your PC, but you need to register a dynamic DNS entry for your domain, that points to the IP of your PC/network.

Please remember that most internet service provider do have private and commerial contracts, where the upload speed for private internet connections it limited in most cases. Most providers even prohibit via their contracts to host a server at home. Check that first. Check also how often your IP changes and how to setup dynamic DNS for your IP.

On the other hand I think that 5€/month are not that much for a simple starter hosting package. There are also free hosting packages out there, which usually come with some type of advertisement.

Answer 2

Even easier, edit the hosts file on your machine to build and view the website there. Then you can tell your computer to check for example.com at 127.0.0.1 (your localhost) and you don't need to do anything with the URL's DNS settings until you're ready to actually host it somewhere.

You might also want to look into installing WAMP and get going with Apache instead of IIS.