Running my own web server??

I see people tossing around the term "self-hosted web server" all over the internet lately, but I’m still a bit fuzzy on what the actual point is.
If I were to set up my own server from scratch—say, using something like Apache—what would I actually be able to do with it?
From what I gather, I could basically just upload and store my own files there.
But what I’m really wondering is, could I also host a website I built myself, maybe something made in WordPress?

Morgan Ortiz6 said:I see people tossing around the term "self-hosted web server" all over the internet lately, but I’m still a bit fuzzy on what the actual point is.
If I were to set up my own server from scratch—say, using something like Apache—what would I actually be able to do with it?
From what I gather, I could basically just upload and store my own files there.
But what I’m really wondering is, could I also host a website I built myself, maybe something made in WordPress?

You can absolutely host your own website on your own server.

Uuuuu, so now my neighbor is telling me this isn't a great move for hosting my own sites because the whole thing only stays live as long as my computer is running.
Basically, he's saying I'd have to leave my rig powered on 24/7 just so people can actually access the pages.
Is that actually how it works, or is he just talking nonsense?

Of course—the computer has to stay powered on since it’s acting as the server. I'm not entirely sure about the ROI on that, but there are plenty of beginner tutorials out there showing you how to set everything up on Linux without any hiccups. If you're feeling adventurous, maybe try hooking up a Raspberry Pi or some other low-power device first.

Once you've got the server configured, you'll need to handle some port forwarding on your router and link it up to a service like No-IP—assuming you don't have a static IP from your ISP. Just let me know if you want to dive into the specifics.🙂

If you’re setting up a local web server, you can go with WAMP or LAMP depending on your OS.
It’s pretty straightforward, and they come with several useful tools pre-installed.

If constant uptime is a priority for some reason, renting a server with decent performance and a static IP is quite affordable. You can find options for under $10 a month. It's convenient... you won't be burning electricity running hardware at home or eating up your own bandwidth whenever someone visits your site or downloads something.

Morgan Ortiz6 said:Uuuuu, so now my neighbor is telling me this isn't a great move for hosting my own sites because the whole thing only stays live as long as my computer is running.
Basically, he's saying I'd have to leave my rig powered on 24/7 just so people can actually access the pages.
Is that actually how it works, or is he just talking nonsense?

You didn't mention in your first post that you wanted the site to be accessible to everyone.

I mean, no matter where you are in the States—whether it's at your house or someone else's—if you want to host websites so you or anyone else can get to them, that machine has to stay powered up.
So yeah, your neighbor is spot on.

What you’ve outlined here is fine for a development environment—strictly for testing—but it isn't a viable way to host live pages permanently.

Even if you managed to snag a static IP, most ISPs actually prohibit that kind of thing in their terms of service. At least not with a standard residential account costing you $67 a month; if you want to go that route, you’ll need to shell out significantly more to your telecom provider 😉

If your actual goal is to get these websites out there for the whole world to see, just look into "free web hosting." Type those exact words into a search engine, and Uncle Google will happily provide you with endless options for free hosting services.

Good luck!

Web Design Studio

Honestly, basic web hosting packages are dirt cheap these days. I don't see why anyone would bother dealing with the headache of running a site locally when you can grab decent hosting for next to nothing.
Unless you're just doing it to learn the ropes, run some tests, or mess around with research... then yeah, I get it.