DynDNS-based webserver at home?

[ranguvar]

Hi,

I wrote an application. That application deals with geographic locations. I included a rather large database with geographic locations with my program, but there obviously will be many locations that are not included. For these cases, my application allows the user to enter his / her location and then just click a button which should result in the data getting somehow sent to my server, so I can include it in the next version of my program.

The problem is - I don't have a server. I'm aware of free webhosting, but I actually need a real server I can fully have control over. This includes things like launching my own executables on the server.

I got an old PC lying around at my house, so I thought about using DynDNS to set it up to be accessible from outside. I only expect very few users so I don't think network traffic would be a big problem. Would this be possible?

Thanks!

 

[belvdr]

Sure, that will work fine. Consider that your ISP may not like this and can become an issue. I have never seen this with my connections, but I rarely had more than 1 or 2 connections at all.

Also, some webhosts are really cheap and you could get full control over the server.

 

[Jordz]

It really shouldn't be a problem, for the past few months I've been developing a web application and just because it was easy I set up a home server running Ubuntu Server. I had a MySQL database running from it and a few users on pretty much everyday. Overall it was fine, the load wasn't that much and for your needs the server should be fine. How much information are you expecting to pull from it?

Jordan

 

[chrleon]

No problem at all. Just remember to pick a port that's not in use by other services, and open the ports in your router / firewall.

Some ISPs don't support NAT-loopback, which means that if your on your network at home, going to yourserver.dyndns.org, might return a timeout, since the loopback won't work.

What you could do then is to modify the /etc/hosts file and map yourserver.dyndns.org to the ip of your server on your network.

This moght not be a problem for your network but I thought I'd give you the heads up

 

[belvdr]

Some ISPs don't support NAT-loopback, which means that if your on your network at home, going to yourserver.dyndns.org, might return a timeout, since the loopback won't work.

If your router pulls a public IP on its WAN interface, which is most likely the case, then it is dependent on your router.

 

[techwhiz]

Get A Real Firewall

If your router pulls a public IP on its WAN interface, which is most likely the case, then it is dependent on your router.

I would suggest getting a "real" hardware firewall.
I use a SonicWall for this same purpose. It allows you to expose a single port on a single server.It allows you to map services also.

The one I have (TZ150) directly supports DyDNS.

 

[belvdr]

I would suggest getting a "real" hardware firewall.
I use a SonicWall for this same purpose. It allows you to expose a single port on a single server.It allows you to map services also.

The one I have (TZ150) directly supports DyDNS.

Meh, I've done it on my old Linksys WRT54GL and my Cisco ASA. I have seen no difference between the two for this type of configuration.