Creating a web server for your website on a computer that runs Windows Server might sound complicated, but with the right steps and a bit of patience, it’s something even non-tech-savvy people can understand. Let’s say you have a server (basically, a powerful computer meant to stay on all the time), and it runs Windows Server. That means it’s already set up to handle serious tasks like sharing files, hosting applications, or—what we’re doing here—hosting a website.
To start, the first thing you need is something called IIS, which stands for Internet Information Services. This is Microsoft’s built-in tool that turns your Windows Server into a web server. It’s not installed by default, but you can easily add it. All you do is open the Server Manager, click on “Add roles and features,” and follow the wizard until you find and select “Web Server (IIS).” Once it’s installed, your server is now technically able to serve a website!
Now, you need to prepare your website files. These are usually made up of HTML, CSS, maybe some JavaScript—and if your site is dynamic, you might use something like ASP.NET, which works perfectly with IIS. Put all your files into a folder—something simple like “MyWebsite”—and copy that folder into a directory on your server, typically under C:\inetpub\wwwroot, which is the default folder where IIS looks for websites.
Next, open the IIS Manager, a simple tool where you can manage your web server. Here, you’ll create a new “site” by telling IIS where your website files are, and which port to use—usually port 80 for normal websites. You also give it a name (something like “MySite”) and can bind it to a specific domain if you have one. If you don’t, you can still test your website by using your server’s IP address in a browser.
Once that’s done, open your web browser and type in either the IP address of your server or the domain name if you’ve set it up. If everything is working, your website should appear. That means your Windows Server is now serving your site to the internet or your local network, just like any professional hosting service.
Of course, there’s more you can do—like adding security with an SSL certificate (for HTTPS), setting up firewall rules, or enabling remote access. But at its core, that’s the basic idea. You take a server with Windows Server OS, install IIS, upload your website, and configure IIS to serve it. It might take a few tries, but once it’s running, you’ll feel pretty proud knowing you set up your own web server.
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