ISP in a box: Host mail, web and more on your Mac
Late last year, I posted about 
Richard Valk’s “ISP in a box” project, which offered instructions for setting up a mail, web and more server on a Mac mini (or any Mac) at home.
Richard has now released “ISP in a box” 2.0, a series of blog posts with instructions and links to binaries that allow you to be your own ISP:
If you follow these documented steps you’ll end up with a Mac which you can use to host your and your friends’ websites by using an Apache2-based webserver which uses PHP 5 and can talk to a MySQL 5 database. This means you can install most PHP/MySQL based applications like for instance blogs or forums like WordPress and phpbb. You are also able to provide mail services for them with unlimited mailboxes, domains and web-based email services using Roundcube.
The end result is a system running Apache 2.2.3, MySQL 5.0.24, PHP 5.1.4, Postfix 2.3.2, Courier-IMAP 4.1.1, Courier-Auth 0.58, Cyrus-Sasl 2.1.18, Postfix admin 2.1.0 and Roundcube webmail 0.1 beta2.
Sounds like your kind of thing? Check it out .
Similar Posts:
- Make your own ISP-in-a-box gets spam protection
- Postfix Enabler 1.2: Be your own mail server
- Setting up your own mail server the hard way
- Turn your Mac mini into an ISP
- Postfix Enabler: Be your own mail server
Tags: DIY, dot it yourself, Email in general, mail server, MySQL, PHP, postfix, Roundcube, web hosting
September 1st, 2006 at 4:18 am
I’ve considered doing something like this in the past, but to do it right you need to have much better upload speed the the standard dsl/cable modem provides. Upgrading for faster speeds would likely negate any potential cost savings.
Then there’s the hassle of keeping things up and running.
Could be fun to play with, but probably isn’t practical for real-world use.
September 1st, 2006 at 5:58 am
It certainly does not make sense cost-wise for me, as I’ve ended up with a rather expensive SDSL line (1.1u/1.1d), but it is a lot of fun: to have complete control over multiple domains, e-mail and web for each, all in the little computer in my closet. ;) Upkeep isn’t bad at all.
September 1st, 2006 at 8:43 am
Well, I wrote it and I use it as well. I’ve got ADSL 3Mb down and 1Mb up and it keeps working like a charm. 2000 pageviews an hour is not a problem yet. Got several sites running on a 1.42 G4 mac mini and a mailserver for several domains. The mini is holding up perfectly and the line is never too busy.
Upkeep is steady, never had to reboot other than for OS X upgrades. As dw said, having it all under control and to see it all coming together is giving me the greatest satisfaction.
If your sites aren’t extremely popular it’s the cheapest way to go. If you get copious amounts of traffic you probably make enough money from it to afford a decent hosting provider. Cheap hosting is getting what you pay for in my experience…
September 1st, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Exactly, it’s the perfect step up if you grow out of the standard shared hosting account. I’ve moved my sites onto my Mini and haven’t looked back (6Mbit down, 1 up), it’s so much better.
Still have to check out Richard’s tutorial, I’m using standard packages now (OsX’s Apache, Entropy’s php5 and the official MySql) combined with MailServe to get mail configured and running within a minute. The only thing I still lack is SpamAssassin.
September 2nd, 2006 at 3:41 am
This article is incorrectly titled. ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. This implies they are an internet providing company such as the cable companies who provide internet service or any number of ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier: id est, the phone company) and their CLEC (Competing Local Exchange Carriers) resellers who provide DSL/dial-up/T1(or greater)/OC3(or greater)/fiber-optic lines for connections to the internet.
More correctly, what the article is teaching you to do is be a “Webhost in a box.” Unless the Mac Mini is going to provide switching and routing for many customers, it isn’t an ISP in a box. The fact you can effectively run a dedicated server from your house is actually pretty great, considering it is a Mac Mini. One would think OSX Server would be a better route for this though.
Nice article and interesting reading.
September 2nd, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Any opinions about EMC2? (Exim-MySQL-Courier with a nice interface, as well as integrated SpamAssassin and ClamAV support)
http://maxo.captainnet.net/installs/mailserver/index.html
September 7th, 2006 at 7:30 am
[...] I need your help in a creative process. I’m tired of all these remarks and emails in which people are telling me that “ISP in a box” is not a proper description. An ISP provides people the actual internet access which I don’t. I just explain people how to build a proper web and mailserver on which they can multiple domains for friends or family. Although I’ve got some small design/hosting firms which use this setup as well for hosting their client sites and email addresses. [...]