Need help

[Hilandor]

Does anyone know where i could find some tutorials on setting up a sever, ive checked everywhere and see nothing, im a complete newbie but must learn this and learn it quick

any help is most appreciated

[Ex-RoNiN]

Umm, what sort of server?

Apache? Windows? FTP?

[Hilandor]

this is what im not sure off the site were creating will have a comprehensive list of hotels & bed&breakfasts in it perhaps over 4000 entries the users need to be able to just click through and read stuff there is no interaction with users people wishing to list their hotel will need to fill an online form to add entry all i know is someone said that i should be using SQL cos this means i dont have to make 4000 seperate html pages i can just access a database for the lists. hope that helps slightly like i say im a complete novice newbie at this server stuff and i want to run all this from the house

[theavonlady]

Networking for Dummies.

Databases for Dummies.

[Ex-RoNiN]

this is what im not sure off the site were creating will have a comprehensive list of hotels & bed&breakfasts in it perhaps over 4000 entries the users need to be able to just click through and read stuff there is no interaction with users people wishing to list their hotel will need to fill an online form to add entry all i know is someone said that i should be using SQL cos this means i dont have to make 4000 seperate html pages i can just access a database for the lists. hope that helps slightly like i say im a complete novice newbie at this server stuff and i want to run all this from the house

Right, that means you want to set up the server yourself?

Ok, hmm, are you familiar with Linux/Unix? If yes, Apache is the way to go.

If not, you are probably better off going for Windows NT Server, it is a slightly bit easier to use and configure BUT security is appalling.

SQL is Structured Query Language, which is used to query a relational database. I suggest Oracle, but it is bloody expensive and you can not use the free version on a public site I don't think. It is worth asking though.

Rather than using html for the site, I recommend using either CGI/Perl or PHP, offers more security, better interaction with the database and more customizable and more professional look.

You will need a high speed internet line, I mean serious stuff, with up/downstream being at least 2mb each. You also need a powerful machine to run this, twin-athlon mp's at least.

That is all just random information on top of my head, running and maintaining a server is a very complex and difficult task. I will look around for a few websites

forums.devshed.com is a good place to start btw

[Hilandor]

ahh thanks very much both of u il look up the links u mentioned

i realise its a mammoth task and oh best connection i get is adsl with an upload of 256 so not sure how many users that would accomodate

[Ex-RoNiN]

ahh thanks very much both of u il look up the links u mentioned

i realise its a mammoth task and oh best connection i get is adsl with an upload of 256 so not sure how many users that would accomodate

It would be much cheaper and much better if you went ahead and got a proper webhost to run your site, then all you would need to configure is the site itself, not the entire server. Plus the site would be quicker (a LOT&#33.

Placebo has a webhost that charges 30 quid a month for unlimited traffic, a lot cheaper than building your own webserver and maintaining it.

[Hilandor]

yeah me and my partner have put a lot of thought into that i thought having it at home means we can back it up as often as we require if the hosting site goes down we lose business a monthly fee for the hosting is costly compared to running it at home ( need connection at home either way so the cost of that is not important)

and apart from the time and learning needed to have server at home i see no other downsides ( although if u care to mention anything i missed then feel free to mention) we need all the criticism we can take etc before we plunge into this,

[WhoCares]

Just a wild guess, the site would be something like this with the content of that (Accomodation section).

Couldn't you have done that 2 years ago? Do you remember, back then I asked you about BnBs in Inverness

[Hilandor]

lol yes i remember that

and yes something like that but we have a unique idea with regards to each hotel etc which will make it very different from these standard sites

We have been intouch with business gateway ( help for small business) and the advisor reckons cos we live in scotland and tourism is huge and our idea hasnt been done ( or not to any good standard ) that its very viable
but all thiis
after we phone over 500 hotels for our market research