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I cannot seem to find a good answer to this question. I'd like to use a computer I have laying around, as a file server, mail server, and possibly a website. I'm familiar with Linux (I use it as my OS daily) and Apache and know how to set all that up locally, but don't know how to set it up publicly. I also have no idea how to go about the domain name.

Let's say I want to buy the domain example.com. How would I set up the server so that if I am on the other side of the world and I go to example.com, I see the Apache file server? Also, how would I go about setting up emails, like [email protected].

Last question is, where's a good place to buy the domain. Do domains from yahoo work fine? I've heard of dyn.com as well. It would be great for someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

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To point some domain name to an IP you will most likely need Dynamic DNS service (as most home connections have dynamic IPs). There are free services with free domains (noip.com, freedns etc. just google "dynamic dns").

I know that namecheap.com is generally good and respected domain registrar which also offers dynamic dns services free of charge. This usually involves you downloading a custom script which is running on your home server and reporting it's IP so domain name could be adjusted if needed.

For email server setup, it also involves DNS (setting MX type DNS records).

Also, you will need to open ports in your router (and/or firewall) so you can access it over internet.

All in all, I think you would be better of with a static IP if you don't have one, as there might still be issues when your IP changes in-case some of the hosts have old IP cached.

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