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by **Luke** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 2:06

Recently I have been experimenting with hosting a website from one of my computers. I was using Personal Web Server which is an additional feature on the windows installation disk. I installed php and a created a basic html site with some embedded php and java objects. I was running a software firewall at the time, and have two hardware firewalls between the pc and the internet, directory listing was not allowed. Average server up time was about 12hrs/day and as far as I can tell from the logs, no IP accessed the pages other than people I told about it. However after a week or so, the entire contents of the root folder disappeared. Does anyone have an explaination? a bored hacker? or is it something to do with PWS?

by **Ben Last** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 6:08

Prehaps its something to do with your clapped out old pc that crashes every 3 minutes?

by **cmptch** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 6:52

Ben Last wrote:Prehaps its something to do with your clapped out old pc that crashes every 3 minutes?

If anyone else wonders what this means.

Clapped Out
Adj. 1. clapped out - worn from age or heavy use and no longer able to operate (of cars or machines or people)

by **Luke** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 6:58

Ben Last wrote:Prehaps its something to do with your clapped out old pc that crashes every 3 minutes?

Oi watch it you! Stop hijacking my serious threads hypocrite!

by **cmptch** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 7:42

Could you post a little more info for me.
1. I'll need to knowwhat OS your running. I'm assuming that your running either Win98SE or WinNT.
2. Did you run a Scandisk recently?
3. Has your computer done this sort of thing before?

I'm inclined to say that it is not a bored hacker. the router logs will show who accessed the system, since nothing looks fishy, nothing seems to be fishy. I also doubt that it's the application. but I have been known to be wrong. To be honest, I have no clue. If I were to guess, I'd say double check to see if the data has been moved on the hard drive, then check the hard drive to see if it is good.

by **Ben Last** » Mon 2006 Jun 12 7:49

He's using Windows 98se, and has run Scandisk also.
If you knew what he'd done to the poor thing it's not suprising its falling apart!

by **Luke** » Sat 2006 Jun 17 6:37

Ben you can stop right now as you were the one who built most of it remember!

Operation System is Windows 98SE. A scandisk/surface scan showed up nothing. I searched the whole disk for the files, they have just disappeared. The folder is empty but useable (and considering the scandisk result) suggesting that its not a physical. This has not happened before I began hosting, nor has it affected any other folder than that containing the hosted files/subfolders.

I have also been running an FTP server, which is password protected and logs all connections and typed commands from clients. There has been no anomalous activity on that, yet files placed in the root folder have disappeared again. This suggests its either PWS, or perhaps a bot which targets computers via port 80?

by **Spock** » Sat 2006 Jun 17 7:27

Why not try changing your FTP Comm port to something other than 80 then? If there are no further problems, that might indicate something ...

by **Luke** » Sat 2006 Jun 17 7:35

Oh sorry, the FTP server is using port 21, the web server is using port 80. I figured if it was an intelligent hacker, and they wanted to do some damage, one of the first things they would try is to connect over ftp and install a virus or something. Hence as there wasn't activity on port 21, then its either not an external problem or it only affects port 80.

Added: I suppose following on from your suggestion, I could change which port the webserver is using, I can set up the forwarding on my router, but I don't know how to change the designated port in PWS, anyone?

by **Spock** » Sat 2006 Jun 17 8:00

Let's supply some definitions first for those poor students of mine who barely know computers, much less Web Hosting!

FTP = File Transfer Protocol. This is usually how you get your website from your computer up to the host which could be anywhere in the world.

PWS = Personal Web Server. A program offered from Microsoft that was partially defined by Luke in the first post.

ScanDisk = A program available with Windows that allows you to check you disks for physical or logical errors in the bit patterns.

Port = a wired or other connection that allows some form of data communication between two or more computers. Also called Comm (Communications) port.

Now, as far as changing the port used by PWS, that would require someone who has used it, knows someone who has used it, or someone who knows how to RTFM ... }:->

Unfortunately, I don't fit in with any of those. :oops:

by **cmptch** » Wed 2006 Jun 21 10:45

Hey Luke, this might be of some help with changing the port.FP97: How to Use Microsoft Personal Web Server on Different Port

since you have 2 routers, what you could do is have the Wan router forward a port to port 21.
example: web user must use port 98. first router forwards(converts) port 98 to 21. second router passes it on to your computer.

Code: Select all: ___________ ______________ __________ ______ |Net Surfer |98 \ 98|WAN Router |21 |LAN ROUTER|21 |PWS | |access port|---/---|converts port |---| port 21 |---|FTP | |98 for ftp | \ |98 to 21 | | | |SERVER| |___________| / |______________| |__________| |______|

The flow chart is there because I got lost.

WAN--> Wide Area Network
LAN--> Local Area Network

by **Luke** » Sat 2006 Jun 24 4:53

Thats a very good idea. The actual setup I have is a stand-alone ethernet modem, which is then connected to a router. I have configured all port-forwarding on the router as I couldn't find any options for it on the modem access pages. Unfortunately I have just moved out of my house for the summer, so it's going to take a while before my network is set up and I can have another look. If it's not possible I'll have a go at changing the port PWS uses, in the registry. Thanks for the help.

by **cmptch** » Sun 2006 Jun 25 4:05

another thing you could do is to stray away from PWS since Microsoft did cut all support on it. I believe security was an issue.
I would reccomend Apache webserver, since it is both open source and one of the most widely used webservers. It is very secure.

There are also plenty of good FTP servers out there. I have used a lot of them, and there are some open source ones as well. Since they are application based, you can edit the ports more easily.

If you want a domain to go along with your server, and don't have a static IP, then I would reccomend NO-IP. It is pretty good. NO-IP offers free subdomains as well as ones you pay for.

I have even run pop and smtp servers from a dynamic IP using NO-IP. There are some good open source e-mail servers as well. I can't remember off the top of my head what the on I liked was, but it was good.

ref: http://apache.org/
ref: http://www.no-ip.com/

by **cmptch** » Wed 2006 Jun 28 7:04

hmailserver is the name of the e-mail server I liked. It uses pop and smtp and also has support for webmail. I think I used squirrelmail for my webmail client.
ref: http://www.hmailserver.com/

by **Luke** » Thu 2006 Jun 29 6:46

cmptch wrote:another thing you could do is to stray away from PWS since Microsoft did cut all support on it. I believe security was an issue.

Yeah I think thats probably what I've just discovered for myself :oops:

I reckon I'm going to stray away from 98se too... I just need to get around to buying a new computer. I will give Apache a try. Regarding FTP, I've always used Filezilla, which I think is open source. I don't know anything about it other than it works, have you used it before?

cmptch wrote:If you want a domain to go along with your server, and don't have a static IP, then I would reccomend NO-IP.

Going off topic here, how does it work with a dynamic IP? I looked through the info and FAQ's but it didn't explain. Is it somehow connected with your login info and your ISP? I don't see what else remains the same every time you log on.. I'm probably just being dim sorry.

cmptch wrote:...I think I used squirrelmail for my webmail client.

Ahh squirrelmail... this is the webmail client at my university. I was planning on avoiding it as they can't seem to ever get it to work properly. They switched from novell groupwise to squirrellmail this time last year, and average downtime seems to have doubled. Also we get periods of 2-3 days every few weeks where its constantly offline.

by **cmptch** » Thu 2006 Jun 29 1:51

NO-IP has a client that udates their server with your IP. If you want to avoid using the client, than you can go into your account on the no-ip website and change your IP there.

I have used NO-IP on clients computers for a variety of reasons:
1. Remote access
2. FTP Servers
3. Web Server
4. E-mail Servers
5. VPN(Virtual Private Network)

Squirrel mail is a pain in the butt to setup correctly. It took me a while, but when I finally had it running correctly, it served my needs.

NO-IP client is compatible with win98, and apache should work win98se.

If I were to get a new computer, and wanted to run a webserver, I would use the old one for the webserver, and the new one for me.

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