Peenie Wallie: Set up your own Web Server using Windows XP and IIS

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June 07, 2005

Set up your own Web Server using Windows XP and IIS

This is a document I cobbled together when I started hosting my own website about a year ago. It borrows heavily from the expertise of others. I attempt to give credit and links where appropriate. Some people have asked me about starting their own web server. I recommend paying someone else to host it remotely, instead of setting up your own web server for a variety of reasons:

it's easier
access to your website is faster (mine is slow because my pc is too far removed from the spine of the internet)
they usually provide you with software/ftp uploading directions, etc.
you usually have a free web page provided by your ISP anyway.
you can turn your pc off at night
you don't need to worry about losing all of your web site data (presumably the host is backing it up)

However, if you're not disuaded by the above logic, I have some notes you may find useful.

The reason I wanted to set up my own website was that, I already had a high speed internet service provided, and scads of disk space on my PC that wasn't being used. So, I didn't see the need to write someone else a check every month and beg for more diskspace, when I had so much that was unused. Also, IIS is delivered for free with Windows XP, so I realized that I already had all the software I needed.

The following topics are covered in the document: