A typical question:
Would it be possible to make money from a web server that I have made from an old pc (running linux). Will this server be reliable and be able to hold several web sites…. I have several pcs laying around and would like to host and make money. My internet is comcast hi speed…I do not know if this matters. Is this task very difficult or is it an attainable goal? Please help.
P.s. sorry for the bad wording above… I had trouble presenting my question 🙂
Answer: Here is why many business owners are wrong about getting free web hosting. Free hosting will not be the best hosting for you. Web hosting is one of the most critical thing for your business and can mean the life or death to your business.
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Hi Sam,
Yes, it’s possible to install Linux on your old PC and host websites on it. But here are some obstacles:
1) Normal Comcast doesn’t allow you to host websites on their residential service. they block port 80 and could end up disconnecting your service.
2) What if power goes off at your place? You’re going to have to explain to your customers why the server is down. The same could happen to the internet connection.
3) The electricity bill is going to run very high with a few PCs turned on at all time day and night. Plus they generate a lot of heat and can end up being a fire hazard.
4) I recommend installing a control panel like cPanel. It basically gives your customers a nice easy to use interface so they can add email accounts, domains, FTP, install blogs, ecommerce, etc. Just be sure to install CentOS 5 on your PC.
With that being said, I would just get a virtual private server (VPS) from a reputable provider that hosts their servers at data center facility. There you are less likely to worry about power or internet connectivity. Redundancy is taken care of for you on all fronts. Plus VPS servers are cheaper than dedicated servers. At least our VPS offering comes with free cPanel and is fully managed. All you have to worry about is sell the product.
Best
Making money online isn’t as easy as it seems – although you could do freelance-related work, where you would be paid by people to do specific jobs; let’s say creating an XHTML & CSS compliant template or doing manual directory submissions. I recommend the DigitalPoint forums for advertising the freelance services you may want to provide: Webmaster Forum – Internet Marketing & Search Engine Forums and NamePros.Com – Buy, Sell, & Discuss Domain Names. You could learn HTML, XHTML & then CSS and do freelancing jobs by making templates, etc.
Another way is creating your own web site hosting with interesting & unique content – maybe a web site hosting with articles about the subject you are most experienced in and adding advertisements on there. Advertisements are kind of like TV ads but like banners or text-like banners and you get paid when one of your visitors click on it. I recommend Google Adsense for this kind of advertising (www.google.com/adsense) but there are others that are less strict like Online Contextual Advertising and Behavioral Marketing Service for Advertisers and Webmasters or BidVertiser – Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice..
Think of something you could learn… maybe like HTML & CSS as I suggested above or do something like creating new blog articles for people, etc. By the way, the best place to learn HTML & CSS is Learn HTML and CSS – Use our free tutorials – Build your own website | HTML.net & W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.