How to Make a Server Available Externally

Typical home or small business routers have both wired and wireless connections.

The OSI model of networking has seven different layers, all of which play a vital part in the complex process of making sure that millions of packets make it from source to destination. Routers operate on layer three of the OSI model, and divide networks into broadcast domains, which allow multiple computers to share one address to the outside world. Unfortunately, this can make running a server on a home or small business computer difficult, since outside sources will constantly need to connect.

Things You'll Need

• Administrator access to your router
• PC with wired connection to router

Instructions

1. Open the Start menu and select "Run..." from the menu; the keyboard shortcut for this is to press and hold the Windows key and then press "R." Type "cmd" to open up a command prompt. At the command prompt, type in "ipconfig" to bring up your network information.

2. Write down the IP address given for "Default Gateway" under your wired Ethernet connection. You will use this to connect to the router later. The sequence "192.168.0.1" is a typical default gateway.

3. Open your Internet browser and type the IP address you just copied into the address bar. Log in to the router with the administrator username and password.

4. Configure your router to forward requests to your server's IP address. You will have to specify which ports will forward to the server; the ports that you require will differ based on the type of server that is being made available. Routers all have different menu systems, but all use a common set of terms, including "port forwarding," that you can use to find the screen you need.

References

• Internet Assigned Numbers Authority: Port Numbers
• Port Forwarding Guides: Home

Resources

• International Telecommunication Union: Data Networks and Open System Communications