Domain Name Question

[Spankdacamel4me]

Thanks for taking the time to look at this,

I am new to websites and hosting them. I use apache and I have my site built and I use it just on my network. I just purchased my first domain name from Google after reading quite a few articles on domain names and how the domain name is linked to my ip for my apache server. I can't seem to find anywhere that allows me to perform this link so that my site may be viewed by others on the internet. Google uses eNom to allow me to change DNS settings, but I am not sure what records i need to add in order for my apache site to be linked to the domain name I just purchased. I'm hoping I didn't purchase the wrong type of hosting service or something, but like I said I am new to this and tried to research a bit.

Any input helps thank you,
- Camel

[royax]

Make sure you have your own dedicated IP address to be assigned to your apache server where your website is hosted. Then you can change the A record of your domain from eNom.

[Spankdacamel4me]

Forgive me for sounding completely "noob" here, but how would i go about assigning my apache server its own static IP? Would that be done through my routers dhcp settings or through apache itself?

[royax]

Can you tell us what operating system you installed apache? I'm still searching this on Google on fix this up..

[Spankdacamel4me]

I installed it on Windows XP. It is Apache Version 2.2.

I just assigned my router a static IP address and I am about to set up port forwarding on port 80 so that all incoming traffic on port 80 is forwarded to my apache server. After that i am hoping the only thing left is to set up the A records on eNom, but I am not sure. Hopefully the steps i have taken so far are correct, but if not please let me know :)

- Camel

[Skie]

I'm assuming you're using your home PC for this. If so, then your ISP is the one that assigns you with a Dynamic or Static IP. Most ISP's will only give you a dynamic IP. Static IP's are usually an extra cost, if they provide it at all. One way around this is to use a service similar to dyndns.org, but it's not free. You'll also need to install a DNS server if you don't want to pay extra for the DNS services. I believe with eNom you can have them handle the DNS for you, but this isn't something I've used from them before, so I'm not familiar with it.

To be honest, it just may be easier/cheaper to use a hosting company then to do everything yourself. However, if you're still interested in doing it yourself, we can help you.

[Spankdacamel4me]

Ya over the week I had a talk with my server teacher and my linux teacher and they both said that for just a small site that I'm making mostly for fun its best just to use what I got when i payed for the google domain (the web building tools and whatnot) and to not worry too much about hosting an apache server until I'm making a more serious site. Thanks both of you for your help on this :)

- Camel

[Skie]

When you're ready to do this, try setting up a Linux Apache server and play around with it internally first. This will give you some experience before you go ahead and make it publically available.

[Spankdacamel4me]

Ya i have a Linux apache server running on my home network and my school network and thought i was ready to make it public, but apparently i didnt research enough to know that my isp is the one to assign the static ip. On day ill have one up though :)

[top5hosting.com]

Web hosting is so cheap nowadays, if you only have one site it's really not even worth the trouble to get a static IP from your ISP. If you did a bit more research before buying the domain from Google, you would even have have found some sites where you get free hosting included with every new domain registered.

[Spankdacamel4me]

Yup, within the past couple months since I've mad ethis post I've gotten much more educated on the subject. Got it all figured out now and everything worked out great, including my Google domain. I appreciate all the input. Thanks all.