If I wanted to save money on web hosting services could I essentially host my website on my own computer?

Yes, technically you could, but it's not worth it.

It's a lot of work and a lot more expensive than if you just got a professional hosting.

There are really cheap hosting offers I recommend one of these: http://www.top3hosts.com/

iPage has the best offer right now.

Their standard price is $84/year ($6.95) but they have

a 50% sale, one year of hosting for $42.00.

Their plan includes:

Unlimited disk space

Unlimited bandwidth

Free domain name

Price: $42/year ($3.50)

They have one of the most popular hosting platforms, which currently hosts over a million websites. They're also one of the oldest hosting companies, founded in 1998.

Technically you could, but the connection would be an issue. Its better to go with a web hosting company if you were thinking about getting a T1 connection. Another thing you could do is host your computer in a data center, you would have a dedicated machine this way, but it could be expensive still.

Check out justhost.com. I believe its $80 for two years with domain. You would need to use a coupon, 50OFF i believe is the coupon.

Also depending on if you want a simple site or not you could use google apps.

You could register a domain, something like $10 a year. Then use google apps and create a site there.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.htm...

Standard is free. Youll get your own email, calendar to use, you can create sites etc..

Yup you can easily run a website on your home computer but you need following things -

- a dedicated ip for your website and nameservers

- business class internet connection

- router that can handle network attack just in case you piss someone off online.

All that would end up costing you more than hosting a website with a company. For example, I pay $4.95 per month with ChimeHost - http://www.chimehost.com/web-hosting/ and they have a dedicated 100 mbit line per server, quality cisco routers to prevent ddos attacks, staff that is always watching the servers for any problems. You end up saving way more when going with a web hosting company. Don't forget the electricity bill for running computer 24/7.

You could do that. You'd need to install web server software (opera has one built in) and leave your computer on all the time. You'd also need, unless you have a static IP address, to use something like Dynamic DNS and configure your router so that traffic would be redirected.

The speed may or may not be such an issue - it would depend upon what you are hosting ... obviously streaming video uses less packets than plain text. Generally, on a home internet connection, your upload is far less than your download.

Alternatively, you could use any one of the many free hosting sites (they are a lot better now than they used to be): http://www.moogo.com/ (good, easy interface but big ad on the right), http://www.yola.com/ (smaller ad but unable to use drop down menus ... or even dhtml menu code added), http://www.blinkweb.com/ (same drop down menu issue as Yola). - Moogo allows drop down menus. Check out http://www.itworryfree.co.uk/ for an example.

http://www.homeitworryfree.co.uk/ - Based in Swindon, We fix computer problems before they become issues.

Technically, you could do that, but it is a hassle and the bandwidth could be a problem (assuming your ISP doesn't block ports you need). I think the best option would be paying for a quality host like Pandora Hosting. Large companies are notorious for their bad customer service and overloading their servers with too many clients. For Pandora Hosting, if you call, you will reach a person immediately, and we limit the number of clients per server to ensure top performance. Packages start at 20GB of storage and 50GB of bandwidth with competitive prices and great customer support. You can email me at JohnWeinrich@pandorahosting.net for more your specific hosting needs.

You could. Linux comes with web-servers (in addition to PHP and PHP-based packages for galleries, discussion-boards and content-management), and at least the Ultimate version of Windows does too.

If you have a dynamic IP-address, you need to use a service like DynDNS to set your domain as your IP-changes. This will also require you running a server-program on your computer.

You need to let the computer be on all the time. You need to set-up your firewall(s) (in your router, DSL-modem and/or your computer) to let connection through on the proper port (usually port 80).

Also remember that ADSL has much higher speed to your computer than from it.

All in all -- security-wise and quality-wise -- it's probably best to rent space at a web-hotel...

Inspirohost would get my recommendation, especially if you are a beginner. No other web host will go out of their way to take care of you like they do.

You could, the thing is it will cost you a lot of money because you need to get something

that connects to the web.

Not sure what it is called but it is something that lets you host sites by yourself.

Thanks

Eric,

Its really not worth it. Web hosting is the answer. Its dirt cheap and you get so much for your money.

I help people get started with their own websites, and I dont charge to help. Feel free to contact me.

you can try to use some free hosting providers, there is couple of them check it out http://www.freewebhostingtalk.com/ for free hosting.