In some cases, you need your own to host projects virtual server on your own computer. This option will allow you to use modern Internet technologies (JavaScript, PHP, CGI, Perl, SSI, etc.) and test the operation of Internet resources or new scripts. There is no need to pay for such hosting, and there are a lot of conveniences from it, since, all things being equal, it is no different from a regular dedicated server hosted by a hosting provider.

By creating a virtual server on your computer, you can reduce the installation and debugging time of forums, website directories, online stores and any other resources. This solution can work in the absence of access to the Internet running any operating system, be it Microsoft Windows, Mac OS or Linux. After debugging and testing its functionality, the finished Internet resource can be transferred to the hosting company’s server.

In most cases, to create your own virtual server you will need to install certain software - a web server, PHP, MySQL and other applications. You can use the popular Apache as a web server, which is easy to install and configure. You can always find out more about how to make a virtual server from specialists at 3data data centers. This will allow you to avoid mistakes and get a fully functional virtual server in the shortest possible time.

Apparently, many users computer systems of any type know that local server You can create it yourself on a computer in a matter of minutes. True, not everyone has a clear understanding of the basic methodology for carrying out all the steps. So let's try to give at least partial information on how to create a local server and adapt it to your own needs.

The concept of a local server

In general, initially you need to clearly differentiate the local servers being created by type. In addition to the most commonly used web servers, you can create and configure game servers, proxies, and even DNS servers yourself. Everything depends only on what specific function will be assigned to one or another component.

However, in most cases, all these components have one thing in common: they are created initially on local machines in the first stages without being placed on a remote hosting, which allows them to be configured and edited directly on their own computer terminals.

Now we will try to consider questions regarding how to create and configure a local server on a computer, depending on its type and purpose

Software selection

Basically, the choice software- a personal matter for each user. It is worth noting here that if, for example, when creating local web server Only hypertext markup languages ​​like HTML or CSS are used; there is no point in installing additional software packages, since any Internet browser “understands” them perfectly.

It’s another matter when scripts written, say, in PHP act as additional components. Once you use them, the browser can no longer cope. This is where specialized software comes in handy. As for proxies, DNS and game servers, the situation here is also ambiguous. Somewhat later we will consider the most simple applications to create and configure them, but for now let’s focus on the main issue regarding standard local web servers.

How to create a local server: installing and configuring the Denwer package

If you decide to start creating a local server for subsequent hosting on a remote hosting, naturally, you will need some kind of tool. Most often, when searching for appropriate software on the Internet, users are redirected to download the Denwer software package, which is a domestic product and is also quite simple to understand and work with.

It contains all the necessary tools like Apache, PHP, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, sendmail, etc. The only drawback is that you will additionally have to install special engines, like in the simplest version.

So, creating a local server begins with launching the installation EXE file (naturally, as Administrator). A window similar to DOS mode appears. Follow the installer's instructions. First, we select the storage location for the server data, then we assign the letter and operating mode of the virtual disk (in principle, the proposed parameters do not need to be changed). This completes the installation. Now the local server needs to be checked for correct functioning.

Performance Testing

At this stage, we launch the created server, and enter http://localhost in the window of any Internet browser. If the program is installed without errors, the browser will display a message stating that everything is working.

If you scroll down the page, you will see the main links that you can follow full testing local server operation.

Encoding issues

Sometimes you can encounter an unpleasant situation when the sent message Email looks like a set strange characters. This only happens because the program is initially designed for UTF-8 encoding. It can be changed quite simply, for example, to KOI-8R or something else.

Installing a local server: additional engines

Now there's another one important point. A local Windows server cannot do without special add-ons called engines (WordPress, Joomla, etc.).

First, in the www folder, located along the path \home\local host, in the main directory, create an arbitrary directory. After this we enter into address bar browser path http://localhost/ and check what exactly opens. If it opened everything is fine. Copy the engine files to this directory using any file manager(at least the same “Explorer”) and enter the address again. The Installation Wizard window appears, where you just need to follow the instructions.

Database addition

Now the local server must attach the special databases. For this purpose, the phpMyAdmin service is used, which is entered by entering http://localhost/tools in the browser address bar. First, the section for creating a new database is selected, and a name is given to it (any name is possible, but it is better to indicate the same one that was used for the folder in the previous section).

Then we return to home page and configure the privilege settings (create a new user, specify the login and password, use localhost as the host and tick everything that is in the window). All you have to do is press the “Go!” button. and wait for the process to complete.

Transferring a local server to hosting

The next step is to connect the server to the local network and transfer it to hosting so that it becomes accessible to users on the Internet. The “native” method of transferring data to a remote resource does not look very convenient due to many additional steps.

Setting up a local server in terms of transferring data to remote hosting is best done with the FileZilla application, with which you need to copy the files located in the above directory to the root directory of the host. This is either the PUBLIC_HTML folder or the HTTPCS section. Now it’s a small matter: we change the so-called absolute paths to folders and files and directories in the engine settings, indicate the name of the database that is supposed to be created and used on the remote host, and specify a new login and password for the host. All. This completes the work. Connection to the local server of user machines can be made through any Internet browser.

Local proxy servers

Now let's see how to create and configure a local proxy server. What is it for? Firstly, it can be used to track absolutely everything that is downloaded to a computer terminal or laptop while surfing the Internet. And secondly, this way you can save traffic if it is paid.

A local proxy server works on the principle of caching calls to DNS servers and stores, say, pictures or any other objects, and when you visit a resource again, it loads them from its memory, so to speak, speeding up access to the resource.

To create a server of this type, you will need a simple HandyCache application, which should be placed in a convenient place for quick access, since each time you connect to the Internet you will have to access it.

Before you begin, you should configure your proxy settings. For example, if you use Opera browser, in the server parameters for HTTP you need to specify the value 127.0.0.1, 8080 for the port. Now we launch the application, go to the settings and look at the “Dialing” tab. As a rule, the program itself determines what type of connection is used in this moment. Next, click the button of the same name and use the created server.

Yes, please note: in the cache settings you can specify a size of about 300 MB. In theory, this should be enough for all occasions. You can view the contents in the Cache folder of the main directory where the program was installed. And one more thing: remember, this is a regular proxy server, not an anonymous one, so you shouldn’t expect it to change or hide the IP address.

Local DNS servers

A local DNS server can be used in cases where the connection is unstable, the local network has too many branches based on TCP/IP, or you are engaged in web development and testing. In principle, the BIND program is perfect for such purposes. Although it is designed mainly for UNIX-like systems, however, it works great with Windows (we assume that the terminal does not have a server version of Windows installed, which can be configured in the Control Panel).

Launch and follow the instructions. For convenience, it is recommended to install the program directly on drive C, in the created BIND directory. Next, enter your username and password, after which we activate the installation process and wait for it to complete.

Now in the C:\BINDetc folder you need to create a file “name”.conf, which contains the settings that the local DNS server will use (the name is arbitrary and is specified without quotes). In order not to waste time, you can easily find the file you are looking for on the Internet and download it, placing it in the specified location.

Now we reboot the system, then call command line(cmd through the “Run” menu or the combination Win + R), where we enter the nslookup request. If confirmation occurs, it means that the server is installed correctly and is working without errors.

Local game servers

Finally, let's look at another type of server. server for games that use online mode within a local network. Let us explain what this is with an example. Minecraft games. To do this, you need to download the server itself from the official website of the game and use the Hamachi application. A prerequisite for correct operation is the presence of the JAVA package installed on the system with the latest updates.

To configure, we use the server.properties file, where we enter the data provided by the Hamachi application. We register the server IP address, the number of players, the use of possible game modes, etc. In the online-mode field, you must specify true. After that, save the changes and close the file.

Now we define the internal IP of the server, which will be used by players when connecting to the terminal on which it was created. Computers, of course, must be connected to the server itself either through local network, or via VPN. The IP address of the server terminal must be static and must be bound to the MAC address.

Login is carried out using the Minl2 application, where you specify your login and password during registration. After these steps, we leave the server and log in again, but in offline mode using the created login and password. In the settings section, select Multiplayer and enter the required server IP. All. You can enjoy the game with a real opponent.

Conclusion

Of course, these are not all the nuances that may arise when creating local servers different types, and, of course, not all programs that help in this process. Let's put it this way: these are the general and basic principles embedded in such technologies. And if you look at it, there is nothing particularly complicated here. A little time and patience - and a local server of any type will be created within 10-15 minutes.

Hello friends.

In this article, we will install a local server on our computer for subsequent development and configuration of sites on it.

To do this, we will use a program called Denwer. Its installation is simple and does not require any technical knowledge. Moreover, the installation process is accompanied by prompts.

How to install a local server and whether it is needed at all, read on. Let's start by looking at the importance of a local server.

Do I need a local server?

For beginners, I’ll start by defining the concept of “local server” - this is a server (hosting) that is located on your computer (not on the Internet) and allows you to create and configure websites on it.

I believe that it is necessary to create and further configure the site on a local server, so that then in one fell swoop you can place a fully functional site with all the settings on the Internet. And then immediately fill it with content.

This is what truly professionals in website creation do. Even if we look at people who constantly work with creating websites on various engines, we will see that almost every one of them first installs the site on a local server, then configures it, and only then transfers it to real hosting.

As an example, I’ll show you the menu from Sergei Patin’s course "Joomla 3 - professional website in one day". Look at the sequence in which the website is created.

As you can see, from the very beginning the site is installed locally, configured, and at the end the completely finished resource is transferred to hosting.

Placing a website on the Internet and then setting it up when you need to promote it is unwise.

What if you already have a website? Do you need a local server?

Let's imagine the situation that you already have a website and you are a very avid techie, that is, you like to always delve into all sorts of technical issues and constantly experiment with something.

So, you already have a website and there are already some visitors on it. Although not a large number, they exist. Put yourself in their shoes.

You go to a website and constantly see that the owner of the site or blog is constantly changing something. It changes the location of blocks on the site, the structure, and sometimes the design is new every day. Would you like this? So visitors wouldn’t really like this situation.

Developing, setting up websites, as well as creating designs on a website that is already posted on the Internet is, at a minimum, not professional. Not to mention the fact that it has a very adverse effect on his development and approval in the eyes of search engines and your audience.

Therefore, you need to do all such things on your own local computer.

Now we will start installing it, after which you can install your site on your local computer and do whatever you want with it. Visitors will not see these frauds, because... This is your personal computer and no one has access to it. And after you bring everything to its final state, you can easily transfer it in a completely finished form to a real website.

By the way, I also talk about the importance of a local server when creating a blog in my mind map “Plan for creating a quality blog from Konstantin Khmelev,” which you can get by leaving your 1st comment.

Let's move on to the installation process itself.

Install a local server on your computer

The local server is a program. Therefore, you need to download it. We will use the Denwer web server for this.

Go to the official website program and click on the big button.

After clicking, you are prompted to select the program version. Choosing a version old PHP 5.2 and press the button Download.

In the next window we need to enter the data where the link to download Denwer will be sent. Enter your real data and click on the “Get download link” button.

After clicking the button, you will immediately receive an email with a link to download the program. The sender and subject lines of the letter will be as follows (see screenshot below).

After downloading, in the location where you saved the program you will see an installer that will look like this.

To start installing the local server, run the installer.

It asks us if we want to install the base package? We agree.

The unarchiving of the data will begin and will proceed very quickly.

After unpacking the data, the installation of the local server will begin, which will be carried out on the command line. Immediately when it starts, we will be asked to close the browser.

Automatically, when the command line appears, the browser will open with a message that you must close the browser to continue or cancel the installation.

You should also close other browsers if the command line installation will not continue.

After closing all Internet browsers, installation will continue. You just need to follow the prompts that the command line gives.

To continue the installation, press Enter.

I'll install it in another place. In my case it's a disk E folder host.

In the next step, press Enter again.

The next step is to select a virtual disk letter. By default, the program prompts you to select drive Z, since this letter is the last in the English alphabet and it is unlikely that any drive is occupied by it.

I'll leave it like that. You can enter another letter, but make sure that no drive is occupied by it.

After selecting and entering the letter, press Enter to continue installing the local server.

After copying is complete, you must select the Denwer launch option.

There are 2 launch modes, but the program itself recommends choosing option 1. That’s what we do. Enter the number 1 into the command line and press Enter.

• launch;
• stops;
• reboot.

We need these labels. Therefore, enter the letter Y and press Enter.

This was the last step in installing the local server, after which the browser will automatically open with the message “Denwer installed successfully”, and it will also be written that Denwer works with the same ports as Skype.

Therefore, if you have Skype installed, then do what is written in the browser window.

It will also create the desktop shortcuts that we wanted so much.

1. Start Denwer - start Denver;
2. Stop Denwer - stop;

All. Our local server is installed. Now all that's left to do is check it out a little. Run it and see if ours is really virtual disk, which will act as a local server, will start.

Before we launch, let's go to the directory where we installed Denver and see what's there.

Since I installed on drive E in the host folder, now there should be such a folder on my drive.

The way it is. And inside the folder there should be the Denver files themselves. We go inside the folder, where we should see the following picture.

There are files. This means everything was successfully copied during installation.

Now let's check whether Denwer itself starts. Let's use the shortcut to launch.

After launching the shortcut, 2 command lines will quickly flash. When they disappear, 2 shortcuts will appear on the taskbar.

If such shortcuts appear, then Denwer is running. A virtual disk with the letter Z should also appear in my case. In your case, with the letter you assigned. Also, this disk should be named similarly to the disk in which you installed Denver itself.

As you can see, there is drive "E", which I installed in, as well as drive "Z", which appeared after launching Denver. They have the same names. Both discs are titled " Local disk". Only the letters are different.

If we go to the virtual disk (Z), we should see the same files and folders in Denver that we looked at earlier.

All friends. This completes the installation of the local server. Now you can start creating a website on it and do any manipulations with the site.

In the next article I will show. You will also find a detailed article with images and a video tutorial there.

By the way, about the video lesson. If someone doesn’t understand something from the text version, then here’s a video lesson that I specially recorded for you.

With this I will say goodbye to you. I look forward to your comments and any ideas for new blog articles. If something doesn’t work out or you have any questions, write them in the comments.

All the best.

Best regards, Konstantin Khmelev.

Creating a website on a virtual server. Server on local computer.

Before starting to create their own website, novice web developers are recommended to try their hand at a local machine ( personal computer), this requires the DENWER distribution, which can be found on the developers’ website www.denwer.ru

Gentleman's Web Developer's Kit (DeNVeR)

The software is emulation of a virtual server on a local computer, at home as a replacement for web hosting, without the need for an Internet connection. You can create a website on any CMS platform (or without a CMS) in a matter of minutes, fill it with content and debug the configuration. With subsequent transfer to hosting or to the server, respectively. The virtual server contains all the most necessary components : Apache, MySQL, phpmyAdmin, SMTP server + the ability to connect additional extensions. Distributed free of charge - in Russian.

Why do you need a local server?

• Firstly, for the development of the site, the possibility of initially filling it with content and optimizing the site structure.
• Secondly, it’s a way to check the site for errors and debug the configuration.
• Thirdly, how backup site and subsequently saving site data and SQL databases to a local server.

DENWER includes:

• Installer (installation on a flash drive is also supported).
• Apache, SSL, SSI, mod_rewrite, mod_php.
• PHP5 with GD, MySQL, sqLite support.
• MySQL5 with transaction support.
• Template-based virtual host management system. To create a new host, you only need to add a directory to the /home directory
• Startup and shutdown control system for all Denver components.
• phpMyAdmin is a MySQL management system via a Web interface.
• Sendmail and SMTP server emulator ( incoming letters placed in /tmp in .eml format); Supports work in conjunction with PHP, Perl, Parser, etc.

The distribution does not leave entries in the registry and does not affect important system files, does not clog the system and has been tested in practice.

“How to create a virtual server?” – frequently asked question problem that arises for many users who are encountering hosting for the first time. In the article we will continue to look at what a VPS (VDS) is, how to choose it correctly, configure this type of hosting to suit the needs of your project, and whether it is possible to create a regular Virtual Private Server yourself, or whether you need to rent it.

We found out what a virtual server is, when it is worth purchasing it, and which operating system (Linux or Windows) is better to use.

In addition to traditional website hosting, virtual servers can be used for IP telephony, virtual routers and switches, VPN or proxies, terminal servers with traditional office programs For remote access from employee computers.

Technology Information

Most often, when developing websites, the PHP programming language is used, databases MySQL data and web servers Apache and Nginx (they work independently or in combination). This set programs are also often called LAMP (L inux- A pache- M ySQL- P HP) or LEMP (L inux- N ginx- M ySQL- P HP).

Of course, other technology stacks are also used; sites can be written in other programming languages ​​(Python, Ruby, NodeJS) and use other databases (PostgreSQL, noSQL), as well as supporting software. But, since such solutions are less common, we will not consider them. Let's take a closer look at the selection and initial configuration of a VPS for hosting websites in the PHP language and corporate email.

Selecting a tariff plan

It won't be here detailed guide, how to choose the required tariff, since resources are selected individually in each case. The amount of resources will depend on the number of sites on the server used by the CMS, the need to use additional programs and so on.

The only thing that is calculated quite accurately is disk space. Check how much space sites and mail take up, add 7-10 GB to this and get the minimum required disk space. The fact is that on the VPS you need to allocate additional space for installing the operating system and control panel, which is also taken into account in the total disk space.

Operating system and control panel

There is a whole family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel, including both server and desktop options. The most popular server operating systems: CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu Server.

If you need a very stable system, CentOS is your choice. Stable and secure system, but with the ability to upgrade to the latest software versions if necessary - this is Debian. Ubuntu Server is an OS that keeps up with the times, delivering latest versions programs, which is why they may not work perfectly.

The server control panel is a certain script, or a set of scripts, that allows you to conveniently manage VPS in graphical interface. Usually the graphic part is available in the browser at a specific address.

The choice of PU is largely influenced by the subjective experience of use, that is, one panel will seem more convenient to some users, and another to others. If you find it difficult to choose, you can test the interface of various products in a demo version on the developers' websites and decide what suits you best. Also, the choice of PU is closely related to operating system, since they usually support a limited list of OSes. And another important factor in choosing a panel is the availability of the tools you need or the ability to quickly install them.

Of course, you can skip the control panel at all and configure the virtual server via the command line, but this method will require sufficient technical knowledge. Most PUs come bundled with a set of basic popular software needed to quickly deploy your websites. These are a web server, PHP, databases, FTP, mail and DNS server. All packages are already optimally configured for immediate start of working with the server.

We recommend using VPS with a control panel and provide free full technical support for them. For servers without a panel, technical support will be limited. Creating a virtual server is an incredibly expensive process, and for full-fledged hosting, there is a platform where you can host your resource, and you don’t have to create it from scratch.

For installation on our VPS and dedicated servers, we offer the following panels: cPanel/WHM (from $13.95/month), ISPmanager 5 Lite ($4/month), Plesk 17 (from $10/month), Centos Web Panel (free ), and it is also possible to install a virtual Bitrix environment.
We will look at all these control panels in more detail in the next part.