Chapter 1. Why Host Your Own Site?
In This Chapter
Web sites have proliferated greatly over the years to become a part of everyday life for many people. People use them to create Web logs of their daily lives, provide family members with a place to store their memories, or tell people of their experiences in getting things to work. The following is a typical Web site address: www.linuxhomenetworking.com.
Businesses originally used Web sites primarily as a marketing tool, but later expanded them to become an important part of their operations. Many companies rely almost exclusively on their Web sites to sell their products and provide both customer and supplier support services.
The decision as to whether to host your own Web site can be difficult. You have to consider factors of cost and convenience as well as service and support. This chapter briefly addresses the most common issues and outlines the simple network architecture for use in a small office or home on which the focus of the rest of the book will be based.
Not all businesses departments and homes require a Web site, but the process of establishing one touches many aspects of not only Linux, but information technology as well. This book is about setting up Linux servers to do the things that most businesses and homes need. It's about getting the job done.
With this in mind, the book is divided into three sections of gradually increasing complexity to make this process easier. After this chapter, the first section introduces you to networking, software installation, and troubleshooting before the first major project of using Linux as a main departmental file server for Windows PCs. The next section expands upon this knowledge to show you how to create, manage, and monitor your own Linux-based Web site on this network using a simple DSL or cable modem Internet connection. Finally, the third section covers more advanced topics that will become invaluable as your Linux administration role expands.
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