don't even think of trying to run your own web server. First of all, you will be hacked instantly, and your box will be used by various people around the planet to send spam etc from your machine.

Second of all, you will be kicked off your isp for violating the terms of service, which you should read before you make your parents lose their isp account permanently, not after.

No one who does not know how to secure and configure a web server should ever run a web server that actually interacts with the live internet.

And no one should even dream of hosting Microsoft based site, with windows and IIS, for any reason, from a home server, unless they are a professional level windows systems administrator.

Linux is a bit more secure, but nothing can make a server that is incompetently administered secure, doesn't matter what os the machine runs.

It doesn't take 15 days to learn this stuff, it takes several years, and each thing you learn takes a year or two minimum before you can consider that you have a basic working knowledge of the stuff, that goes for php, apache, linux, security, whatever.

The amount of money you have to spend to even get to a fraction of the reliability of a reasonably pro level webhoster is beyond belief.

Mediatemple is adequate for cheap hosting with mysql, but I don't think they will allow chat. Their account is only about $8 US a month, which is realistically as cheap as you can go and still get functioning web hosting.

Just to put this in perspective, it costs you more per month to get a static ip address from your local ISP, along with a commercial grade account that allows hosting a web server on it, and it will be RADICALLY inferior in every way to a professionally hosted site:\

inferior uptime, inferior server, inferior server admin, obvoiusly, inferior server config, etc. No real backup stuff running like all real webhosters offer, etc.
That's a real hoster, not a pretend one like the one you posted by the way, real hosters can be found by seeing if these tests are met:

• realistic mysql db allowance
  
• no unlimited anything
  
• realistic bandwidth, usually for $8 a month that will be around 20-40 gigabytes, give or take some 10. Anything over a few hundred is definitely fake, since they are pretending to give you something for less by far than what it costs them to buy it.
  
• limited disk space, anything over 10 gig is highly suspect, and in my opinion, anything over 5 gig is a lie in most cases.

Frauds are always seen by these factors:

• Unlimited bandwidth
  
• huge amounts of diskspace
  
• too many mysql databases allowed
  
• too cheap

Personall, I will only use pair, because their stuff has worked, and continues to work, flawlessly, almost 100% uptime, all programming features work, and tech support is top level, always.

but media temple is a nice compromise if you value saving $9 a month more than the hours of headaches that costs you a year.
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Thanks, but I am going ahead anyway

My parents found a site which is apparently very good, they basically manage almost everything for you, + i'll be having lessons soon, I know i'll have to learn about security, and so on, but once my minds set o_O, theres no stoppin me

- Thanks anyway guys
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A site managing everything for you is not you hosting your own server, so sounds like you'll be using a normal hoster.

Anyway, good luck, start reading and learning more, in a few years you will look back at yourself and laugh, but you won't be able to see that for a few years, so enjoy yourself

Remember: apache and linux / bsd are real servers and operating systems, make that your goal even if you have to use windows as a crutch until you get good enough to use the real thing.

And if you never get there? Well, then you weren't good enough, but you'll never know that, the world is filled with mediocre windows admins who know nothing and can do nothing and don't even know that's the case, so I hope that's not your future.
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hmm, I think it uses Linux, yea, it uses a linux machine thingy for hosting...

Anyway thanks, strangely enough:P I can see myself laughing at myself in the future, i've seen & done it before:)

I wish I had of started at 7 lol, i'd be pro by now

but not hosting my own server yet, when I save enough money, im buying a linux,
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Well, it sounds like you have a good attitude, which is half the fight.

Anytime you want to check out a cool linux distribution, come to sidux, which I work on.

We don't have a release yet, but there will be one in a few weeks, so after that any time give it a try, it will be a livecd, which means you don't have to install it to your computer, just burn the cd and boot into it, and it will run out of your ram/memory, zero risk to your current setup.
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Cool, i might try that (not on this pc, its mums!!!!1 LOL)

i've heard of that sorta stuff but dont know how to do it:P
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