I have a webpage running on port different from port 80. The most common problem that I encounter is that people trying to access my site should key in ort number. This is fine but other people are behind proxy / firewall which only allows port 80 to go thru.

I am thinking of an alternative to make it accessible for users who are behind firewalls / proxy. Is there such a way to do this? I have dyndns account and the web hop doesn't seem to accomplish this as it only masks the URL and redirects it to the same port number the webpage is running.

I was thinking if apache can accomplish this by initiating the connection from its end so that it will be accessible to the users. Or are there tools I can use? I know this is possible as there are websites who does just does this but my concern is the security since my site requires passwords which is not supposed to be exploited.

public facing websites should run on 80 and 443. Is there really a good reason that you aren't doing this? If you're just trying to be secure via being obscure, it's not worth it.

The only way I'm aware of would be to use an intermediate reverse proxy in a different location that can proxy the requests to your abnormal port. You can't use DNS or other mechanisms like this to aid you if you're keeping that site on a non-standard port.

And you think there are websites where the server initiates a connection to the client? Erm... what??

I'd really suggest you explore tackling the issues that are stopping you running the port on 80 in the first place. do it properly.

acid_kewpie,

Nice to hear from you. The problem is that my ISP doesn't allow incoming connection to these specific ports (80,443).

put the site somewhere else then. It's often outright cheaper to use a simple hosting service than pay for your own electricity to run a home server.

I definitely agree: don't try to run a web site at home. Easiest thing to do is shared-hosting; dedicated (virtual machine) servers are not much more expensive. Those boxes are out there, in the right place, designed for the purpose, with "beefy" connections and hardware. And, cheap.

http://wordprodomains.com is one place you can get hosting for a few dollars a month.

I was a cheapskate for years, but when I finally got a hosting account, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities on the net.

A way to get free hosting is to ask a friend who has a hosting account to let you host your simple html on their site. If your traffic is low, and has nothing like copyrighted material, it should be no problem to add your site.