[ale] Accessing Server without Domain Name

[Christopher R. Curzio]

What are you talking about?

Making an assumption that the IP address of the webserver is assigned
dynamically is a bad one, as that would be a pretty silly setup to have an
internal IP bouncing around where you have to constantly redefine the
external to internal port redirect. Further, if he's on the same network
as the server, and types the IP of his server into the browser, the router
wouldn't even be bothered with the request.

The router shouldn't care about any traffic on the internal network unless
directly addressed to the router. Aaron said: "The system is currently
living on my home network, which includes internet access via Static IP
DSL Gateway connected through one of those little stand alone
Router/Firewall boxes." That says to me that the internal network is in
happy-land of 192.168 (or something similar), and they all push through
the router to get to the internet via NAT. 

Aaron also said: "We would like to access this http server from the
internet for testing" - note, "from the internet". If he types in the
internal IP address of the webserver in a browser on the same network, it
will work. Provided Apache is set up properly, anyway. However if the port
80 redirect is not set up to bounce External_IP:80 to Webserver_IP:80,
accessing the external IP from the internet will get you a big fat
"Connection Refused". And if the webserver is getting its IP assigned
dynamically, the redirect via the router isn't going to work very well
every time the webserver gets a new IP. 

Replace his Router/Firewall with a Linux box running iptables, and you
have a perfect description of *my* home network.

-- 
Christopher R. Curzio     |  Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax
http://www.accipiter.org  |  si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
:wq!


Thus Spake Geoffrey <esoteric at 3times25.net>:
Thu, 07 Nov 2002 10:05:01 -0500


> 
> 
> Christopher R. Curzio wrote:
> > The traffic from the internet needs a way to get to the internal box.
> > The Router/Firewall doesn't automatically know what kind of servers
> > are running behind it, so you have to forward port 80 to the actual
> > webserver using whatever provisions are inside the Router/Firewall. 
> > 
> > Typing the IP address in a web browser should work fine on the same
> > network as the webserver, however.
> 
> I think not, as the webserver has probably got a dynamic ip provided by 
> the router.  Placing the ip in the browser inside his network would 
> still make a request to the router, in which case, it still wouldn't 
> know where to forward the request.
> 
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at 3times25.net
> 
> I didn't have to buy my radio from a specific company to listen
> to FM, why doesn't that apply to the Internet (anymore...)?
> 

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