Ever since it’s introduction early 2012, the Raspberry Pi has proven itself to be an extremely capable little machine. For less than $30, you get a credit card-sized computer capable of automating home systems, powering robots, or even serving as a basic desktop computer.
This tutorial however, focuses specifically on getting your Raspberry Pi set up to run as your very own web server. In addition, we’ll cover how to set up Dynamic DNS records, so you can access your sites/files even when you’re away from your home network without having to remember an always-changing IP address.
“That’s cool and all…but what am I going to do with my own web server?”
Great question! The quick answer is: Whatever you want! To be more specific, you can:
- Set up your own, private Dropbox-style cloud storage for your personal files/videos/images
- Create a site that interfaces with your home security cameras and check them remotely
- Host your own low-traffic webpages
- Etc.
Beyond the web server-specific functions, a Pi with dynamic DNS set up can be used to:
Disclaimer: The Raspberry Pi is great as a lightweight web server for personal use and experimenting. However, if you are interested in hosting a heavily trafficked site like a blog, I’d highly recommend hosting your content on a third-party web host. In addition, most ISP‘s aren’t particularly interested in letting their customers host their own web servers, and a self-hosted web server with a lot of external requests can raise some flags and even slow down your home network connection.
With all that out of the way, let’s get started!
Source: Ben Walters – Blog