by Jotapay » Thu 19 Feb 2009, 16:28:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'R')un an apache webserver at home, along with mySql database and PHP server, so I have a database at home with passwords and usernames, than I can prompt for on PHP app... with the right hardware I suppose I could do all this without too much difficulty.
Exactly! I just installed the latest Ubuntu server version a few weeks ago for my home Linux server. I installed it on a 6-year-old Dell 2.4 GHz single-core PC and it works great.
Doing what you said, you just have to configure port forwarding through your router to the Linux box's IP address for the ports you've assigned for the Apache server, MySQL, OpenSSH, etc. You can access all of that from anywhere on the internet then, all password protected depending on how you code it. Just make sure that you set up the firewall (iptables) on the Linux box.
You can use the Linux shell and cron utility for automating scripts that you write so that the Linux system checks on everything in your network to make sure it is still up, and take the results and put them into a MySQL log table for you to check later. The automated scripts can also be coded to notify you if anything is wrong during one of its checks.
You can then rent hosted Linux servers spread all over the world, set them up to run checks on your network that you've created, have them copy and backup information so that there are multiple copies in different locations, etc. By that time you'll be ready to work in a corporate IT department somewhere.
