 |
 |
 |
|
| . | |
| .... Troubleshooting | |
| ....- Help | |
| .... | |
| . | |
| . | |
 |
|
| . | |
| .... Routers | |
| .... Web Servers | |
| .... Email Servers | |
| . | |
|
 |
Running multiple domains (or a single domain) behind a soho router |
If you are running multiple domains (or a single domain) behind a SOHO router you may have problems accessing some, if not all, of your domains from within your network. When you have only one domain you could access the web site, e-mail and whatever else you are running by using the internal IP address rather than by using your domain name. A problem arises, however, when you have multiple domains. When you have multiple domains your web and e-mail servers require that you use a domain name, not an IP address, to make the connection. Using just an internal IP address won't work. |
|
| But to use a domain name you have to edit the hosts file. This is a file that resides on your computer and its a file that has no extension. The file resides in different locations depending on the operating system. In Windows NT and Windows 2000 the file is in 'C:\WINNT\System32\Drivers\Etc\' and Windows XP may have it in that same directory but it could also be in 'C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\'. For Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME the file may be in the 'C:\Windows\' directory - or it may not be there at all. If it is missing on your Windows install, you can get the original here. | |
| After you have found the file use Notepad to open the file. When you've opened it, the file should look similar to the one below (there may be additional entries in you file). | |
 |
|
| For this tutorial, let's assume that you have three domains with the following names - MyDomain-1.com, MyDomain-2.com and MyDomain-3.com. Let's also assume that you are running your web server at internal address 192.168.0.100 and that you are running a mail server for the same domains at 192.168.0.200. You would then edit the hosts file as shown below. (You should edit the file on every computer that you have BEHIND the router.) | |
 |
|
|
After you have edited the file, save it -but make sure you save it with the same filename (DO NOT ADD the .TXT EXTENSION!). The easiest way to do this is to click the 'SAVE' option in the 'FILE' menu (or you can press CTRL+S). Now the next time you try to access you web
site from behind your router, your browser will
first check the 'hosts' file for the IP address.
When it finds your web site it will display the
appropriate page and also will display your domain
name rather than your IP address. Your browser will
function exactly the same as the browser of someone
accessing your web site from a remote location. |
|
