If you are thinking about setting up a web server, do you need a computer specifically built with that purpose in mind or can you use a more common type of computer? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
The Question
SuperUser reader VincentTheonardo wants to know what determines if a PC is able to be a web server or not:
What determines if a PC is able to be a web server or not?
The Answer
SuperUser contributor davidgo has the answer for us:
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
The bigger problem is the networking side. In order for a system to act as a server, other machines need to be able to access it. If it is just for use in a LAN setup, there are no concerns. However, if it is for use with the wider Internet, then data needs to be routed to it. This requires either a static IP address associated with the server (or port-forwarded through a router) or an external service which can map a domain name/subdomain to a changing dynamic IP address.
For what it is worth, you can buy $10 computers that are capable of acting as a basic web server. Of course, while any device can act as a web server, the functionality of websites can vary hugely, and a cheap device (or slow connection) may not be able to keep up with the demand depending on what the specific website is.
Note that everything above talks about web servers, but the same can be said for pretty much any type of server.
Image Credit: Mike Shelby (Flickr)
