Web hosting
 

I have a few questions about web hosting. So lets begin:

1. I heard Apache is used for web hosting. How would I go about using Apache?
2. Would Slackware Linux be good for hosting email accounts/web sites if I used apache?
3. Would I still be able to run Slackware as I usually would without any anoyying things that wouldn't happen if it where a regular desktop?
4. How much would I cost to host web/email using Apache?

I will probaly ask more and more questions as time goes by.

Are you hosting sites for others, or are you researching for a website that will host your own site. To me, the answers to those questions depend on which you are doing.

[ If you're hosting sites for other people ]
1. Install and configure apache for virtual sites.
2. Slackware would work as would any other linux distro. Some people look for a specific distro when they are hunting for a host.
3. A server should run only as a server since people are paying for performance and uptime.
4. Depending on the speed, you could charge anywhere from $0 to $40 a month.


[ If you're looking for a site to host you website ]
1. They'll already have either apache or IIS installed
2. They may run slackware, or they might run other distros
3. You can use a slackware desktop to access most webhosting sites to administer your own website.
4. Depending on the speed, they might charge anywhere from $10 to $100 a month.

No, I ment host my website on my own.

You also have to find out if your ISP will allow you to host your own web/e-mail servers. Do you have a static IP address?

I'm pretty sure I use DHCP.

If you don't have a static IP address (or at least one that doesn't change very much) you'll probably want to use something like dyndns.org or no-ip.com. As for your questions:

1) Install the software, edit the httpd.conf, start it up, and start putting files in the document root.
2) Sure -- I run my internal Web server on my Slack desktop. Slackware has packages for Apache and most commonly used add-ons (for a more custom setup, you may need to compile some stuff from source).
3) Since my Web server is internal (only for my home LAN of ~ 10 machines) traffic is extremely light and security concerns are minor (all access is blocked by my firewall). If you intend to serve up sites to the world at large I would highly recommend using a dedicated machine both for performance and security reasons. Ideally, you would have the server segregated onto a DMZ on your network or some such setup.
4) Apache is only a Web server. If you want to host mail you'll need a SMTP server and (probably) a POP3 or IMAP server.

As twilli227 said, you should check and make sure your ISP's terms of service allow for hosting servers. This is particularly a problem with mail servers since many ISPs block them due to spam concerns. Even if you can receive mail, many sites block mail originating from home IP addresses, again, due to spam concerns. It's generally best to relay outgoing mail through your ISP's mail server (via the SMART_HOST directive in sendmail or its equivalent in other mail transport software).

I can get domains hosted for $15 dollers a year on the sites above, no-ip adn DynDNS, but how much would it cost me to host the website on my own, using apache? I never got a clear answer.

cost you??

How can anyone else but you answer this question?

It'll cost you:

the time to set it up.

Plus any expenses for domains etc, extra bandwidth (maybe another line to handle it?)

I don't really understand the point of your question, you need to sit down and work out the figures, the time, and any extras, somebody here cannot quantify it for you.

The software (apache et all) itself is free btw.

*edit*

Seems your other questions weren't answered:

1) Depending on the distro, it'll probably have a wiki or something (i'm spoilt by arch) on how to set it up. If not, LQ will have something, or their site http://www.apache.org/

2) The distro is irrelevant really, in terms of running apache as they all can, i'd base it on other factors, such as how well you can configure/support it, which services you require, etc etc. But yes, slackware is fine for apache.

3) Running a webserver is just running another service, accepting some extra traffic, it doesn't make it 'server only' or anything, although, depending on your traffic you may not want the machine doing anything extra.

You mean buy domains, right?

Anyway, this deal sounds sweet.
http://www.prmhost.com/index.php?p=hosting
I have no idea if it is legit though.

FWIW, there is no such thing as "UNLIMITED", everything has limits.

They probaly mean alot. Still, is it legit?