Local Hosting
February 2nd, 2006
I decided to write an article about this as it's probably something that people new to making websites may have overlooked. "Local hosting" is essentially setting up a web server on your own machine for development purposes (or even to host a simple site in some cases). Here I'll describe some of the benefits and also outline easy ways to gets started.
So firstly without doubt one of the best things about developing your site on a localhost is that there's no waiting around to transfer files. I know that if you're on a fast connection it's often a moot point anyway but being able to move and edit files quickly without waiting for transfers or using ftp software I find is a huge benefit. If you're developing software using ruby for example then often you'll find that most webhosts require that you only host completed applications on their servers and don't allow you to develop on them. So in cases such as that it's a necessity!
If you're just getting into webdesign and you don't have any webspace then it also means you can take the time to play around with your site and learn more before you look at purchasing hosting.
As with most things though there are downsides. Most notably of which is security. By default when you setup a webserver it isn't secured meaning that only root accounts exist and they have either no password or a default one thats easy to figure out. This tends to be less of an issue when you're behind a secure router I find as only machines on your local network can connect anyway and if it's just a home network you'll know what those machines are. However it's always better to be safe than sorry so it's worth taking the time to add additional admin accounts with strong passwords and also change the root admin password as well.
Well it's all very well me skipping over the benefits and the security but the real question is how do you go about setting one up? Well... with the help of one program it's pretty darn easy!
Xampp
I've used this program for about a year now and I've never had any problems with it. There are several other programs available that offer the same features but I've just stuck with this one and it also has the advantage of being cross platform.
It's essentially an installer which will install Apache, PHP, mySQL and a few other web services quickly and easily requiring you to merely tweak the security settings afterward.
The beauty of this program is the manner in which it holds your hand all the way through which is great for beginners. Once you've installed and started the application you're greeted with a web based interface to configure and manage the server.
Clicking on security will display how secure your installation is and also has a link at the bottom to launch an interactive application to help you get everything nice and secure.
Tools
You get a few nice tools included too such as phpmyadmin to allow easy administration of the mySQL databases and even webalizer stats should you want to monitor visitors to the site (I can't honestly say I've used it much though).
Languages
Xammp supports a number of languages (English, Deutsch, Francais, Nederlands, Polski and Espano) and has excellent documentation so pretty much anyone should be able to get up and running in no time.
I'll be adding more to this article in the future to cover more of this subject but the main purpose of this was simply to make known the simplicity with which setting up a local server can be done and the ways it can benefit certain development styles.
If you have any questions leave a comment!
