Webhosting on Win2k3

Ok, I am new to webhosting. I have win2k3 and have registered for a domain at godaddy. But, because I am doing the MCSE training book the Domain that I have set up for all my active directory stuff is contoso.com (the example domain microsoft uses in the book) Is that going to cause a problem if I try and host my domain (mckinneyfam.com)? I have IIS up and running. If I go to my IP address I can see the page I have there. But what do I have to do to get mckinneyfam.com to point to my IP address?

Also what do I need to do to host my own Email. I have installed POP3 but I am not sure how to set it up ( I have created mailboxes but they dont work). I think it may have somthing to do with having the correct stuff in MX records. But pretty much I have no idea.

If you could offer any assistance or point me to a resorce of some type that would, I would be very thankful.

- Matthew

You should not have any problems hosting the other domain, but using a .com domain name you don't own may cause some issues with the DNS server on W2003

When you registered your domain name with godaddy, you identified 2 name servers that will control your domain. If you just parked your domain, you will need to set up internet DNS for your domain name, either via your ISP, a service like zoneedit.com, or maybe godaddy provides DNS services, I don't know.

Anyway once the DNS is set up properly, you need to edit your domain registration so your domain is hooked to the proper DNS servers. If you don't have a fixed IP address, you may need to find a dynamic dns service too.

The end result of all this is that www.yourdomain.com will point to the IP address of your server.

Your server must be connected, and if there is a firewall between your server and the Internet (there really should be), you need to open/forward all port 80 traffic to end up on your server.

I don't use W2003, there may be some stuff you need to do on the server too.

www.iisfaq.com has good resources for a lot of this.

Hello, I have also used IIS on win2k3 and have a domain registered with godaddy also. However, I also use software called DNS to GO from deerfield.com. its a little cheaper than using hosting with some companies. I have the web site pointed to port 8080 on my ip addr. I have since converted over to apache 2.0 webserver because iis seemed to freeze alot. i probably had something configured wrong but apache seems alot stronger.

Also, as an MCSE proficient with Active Directory and DNS, I would recommend in the future you name your FQDNs with TLDs that are not in use on the Internet. For example, my company's internal FQDN is divergent-systems.local, and the external is divergent-systems.com. Using a TLD like .local is your assurance that there will never be a DNS conflict since .local is never going to be used on the Internet.

Don't worry about renaming your domain - it's likely it won't cause problems. However, if such an opportunity arises where you are in the position of specifying your domain name, remember my advice .