Apache webserver + router + static IP

Hey all.

- The setup:
I have installed Apache, PHP, and mySQL, on Windows XP and they're all working fine as 'localhost' on my machine. I can also access the 'website' from other machines on our home network (run by a D-Link DSL router) by using the internal IP address of my machine (the address which exists within the network but not on the internet).

- The problem:
I cannot access the 'website' from outside of our LAN, and would like to make it possible.

- What I don't know:
I have not forwarded port 80 to my machine as of yet because I do not know what types of port the "Internet Port" and the "Local Port" are (e.g. Well-known or FTP or WWW or POP - I would assume they're WWW). That setting is required for port forwarding with the router.

Although a router is used for our home network, it is my understanding that we have a "Static IP" and this should enable the hosting of a website on the internet (so long as we forward port 80 to the server machine?).

-- Is the above correct, and could you please specify what types of port the Internet Port and Local Port are? --

Also, could somebody please clarify what one achieves by signing up with one of these DNS websites (such as no-ip)? Are you given a unique URL, which directs browsers to your specified IP address?

Any help is much appreciated,
JK87.

The internet port for www (http) should be 80. If you are tryingt o forward it to your home lan server running apache, you need to forward internet port 80 to local port 80.


Correct, unless your ISP blocks all traffic destined for port 80 on your connection. Some do. Give it a shot though


Yes.

More than likely, if you read our ISP's TOS, and they say "do not host a server" then thats probably where your problem lies

Hmmm... well, NAT is currently running on our router and I'm unsure of whether or not I will be able to host anything after all.

- - - Cut + Pasted from ISP's website:
"If you choose the NAT (Network Address Translation) option, you will be allocated a single IP address for your account. With No-Nat, you are allocated a block of 4 static IP addresses at no extra cost. NAT and No-NAT simply refer to IP address allocation, and the products are identical in every other respect (transfer speeds, included .co.uk domains, hosting tools, etc).

Choose NAT if you are looking to connect a single PC to the Internet, or a small network simply looking for Internet connectivity. All information sent and received through your ADSL connection will travel to and from this single address, so NAT isn't suitable if your business requires its own servers (such as SMTP mail or company file servers) or multiple machines with unique addresses. Also, if you do connect a Local Area Network of PCs using NAT, you may experience problems running direct-connection applications such as Microsoft NetMeeting, Messenger, ICQ, etc.

No-NAT is designed to enable your business to connect a number of different PCs, each with a unique Internet address, or a company server (for SMTP or file-sharing) in tandem with your broadband Internet connectivity. Also, if you choose No-NAT, you can configure your router to allocate static IP addresses to individual PCs, allowing you to access the files stored on individual machines whilst not actually at the office." - - -

Based upon the fact that we use a small LAN and that it appears to allocate 'false' IP addresses to each machine, and that it says NAT is running on it (the router), I suspect we went with the NAT option :/

I did forward the relevant port and unfortunately, no luck with an external IP address. Perhaps it's not going to work over the internet after all... *whacks his ISP over the head*

If you notice something I've missed, please say so. If not, well, thanks for all the help thus far guys 'n girls.

If you only have one static IP running nat, port forwarding will still work. Guess they dont grasp the concept of port forwarding at your ISP......

Ah okidoke. Well, thanks for trying .

*above was me - seems I didn't login*

It turns out that it's now working !

Apparently most routers prevent users from within 'their' networks viewing the URLs hosted by them. I don't entirely understand it myself, so my explanation isn't much better, but the hosting is working!

Thankyou so much for your help,
JK87.

Hi there!,...

Yes that's true, I have the same problem myself. Now i use my ISP's proxyserver and the it works well. Because when you type in the static ip in your browser, then you go autom. to the proxy and from there-on you go to your own webserver...

good-luck