How should I set up my computer for website design?

I am doing a course on website design, although before starting the course I
taught myself from the internet as much as I could. I have made plenty of
websites in the past but I'm finding that the course is requiring me to make
many websites, sometimes a few at once. I was wondering what the best way
would be to set up a computer for web design purposes. I own Paint Shop Pro
8, Homesite (for hand coding), Swishmax (for flash). Should I install
server software? My isp won't allow me to run a server, but could I set up
a fake server or something? Should I run unix or linux? Should I install
perl and php?

How do professional website designers set up their computers?

--
-Robert Smith
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Robert Smith wrote:

I am doing a course on website design, although before starting the
course I taught myself from the internet as much as I could.

<snip>

Should I install server software? My isp won't allow me to run a
server, but could I set up a fake server or something?

Download and install Apache (it's available for Windows). You can run
a real web server on your own box, and Apache will let you run
multiple "virtual" sites. Microsoft's Personal Web Server and
non-server Internet Information Server are crippled in that regard.

Plus, it'll give you an opportunity to learn about web server
management. The basic setup is not hard to do.

--
Joel.

"Joel Shepherd" <joelshep (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote


<snip>

a real web server on your own box, and Apache will let you run
multiple "virtual" sites. Microsoft's Personal Web Server and
non-server Internet Information Server are crippled in that regard.

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what do you mean by 'my own box'?

--
-Robert Smith
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---------------------------------------------
Please do not reply to this message via email, as I do not check this
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Robert Smith wrote:

a real web server on your own box

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what do you mean by 'my own box'?

There is probably a box shaped thing, most likely in grey, which contains
most of your computer, and in to which the other bits (keyboard, mouse,
screen, etc) plug in to.

--
David Dorward http://dorward.me.uk/

Robert Smith wrote:

My isp won't allow me to run a server, but could I set
up a fake server or something?

Configure it to listen only on localhost and not on your Internet network
interface.

Should I install perl and php?

If you plan to use them, then you probably should.


--
David Dorward http://dorward.me.uk/

"David Dorward" <dorward (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Robert Smith wrote:

a real web server on your own box

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what do you mean by 'my own box'?

There is probably a box shaped thing, most likely in grey, which contains
most of your computer, and in to which the other bits (keyboard, mouse,
screen, etc) plug in to.

--
David Dorward http://dorward.me.uk/

Thanks. Just wasn't sure.

"David Dorward" <dorward (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Robert Smith wrote:

My isp won't allow me to run a server, but could I set
up a fake server or something?

Configure it to listen only on localhost and not on your Internet network
interface.

Should I install perl and php?

If you plan to use them, then you probably should.

Would it make sense to install unix on a different partition? I heard most
servers use that. I have to format my hard drive so I was wondering whether
I need to install unix or linux or both.

You really need to decide what you are trying to achieve.

If you are going to learn PHP etc then Apache on a Unix partition would be
great. However you can use PHP via IIS, and can use Apache via windows if
you so wish.

Is you want to learn about ASP, or ASP.NET, then IIS or PWS on a windows
partition is needed. I'm not sure, but there may be a version of ASP you
could install for Apache (ie Chillisoft-style), and there are plans for a
ASP.NET-esque system for Apache in the near future.

If you want to use just (D)HTML/CSS then it really doesnt matter.

The question is, what OS do you have currently, and what tools do you want
to use?

Chris

"Robert Smith" <robertsmith_news (AT) optushome (DOT) com.au> wrote

"David Dorward" <dorward (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message
news:bm0bc5$mqo$2$8302bc10 (AT) news (DOT) demon.co.uk...
Robert Smith wrote:

My isp won't allow me to run a server, but could I set
up a fake server or something?

Configure it to listen only on localhost and not on your Internet
network
interface.

Should I install perl and php?

If you plan to use them, then you probably should.

Would it make sense to install unix on a different partition? I heard
most
servers use that. I have to format my hard drive so I was wondering
whether
I need to install unix or linux or both.