Have my own threaded chat program, but what do I do with it?

[Swattkidd7]

Ok so i have created my own Threaded chat program and can run it on localhost and it all works, but now I want to make it available to my friends and all that...I know I can use Tomcat or w.e locally on my machine, but I didnt like doing that a long time ago because everytime i turn off my computer, the server would go down. But now im wondering how would I run the ChatServer from my website. I have CPanel, and a webhost, but not sure what to do from there..

Thanks.

[CommanderKeith]

You might be interested in this then:

http://www.java-gaming.org/forums/index.php?topic=18209.0

[Swattkidd7]

Erm...i dont really want to pay for a service (and am not really sure what is going on in that thread) but basically i have a chatserver that runs on localhost and then the clients connect to it on localhost, i have created my own apache webserver on my machine so people could connect via my static ip but have removed that (and forgot how to get it back) but now have another web host and am wondering how to get my program to work with that...

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[Riven]

Well, that service (in that thread) won't be up and running soon, as I'm way too busy at work ATM.


Anyway, you can't really expect a webhost to run your own application in a JRE on their servers for free. Except when it's written in PHP or some other scripting language. Cheapest option would be a Virtual Private Server, which costs 15-20$/m these days. Maybe I'm missing some service out there, but AFAIK you have to pay to get something that matches your requirements.

[Eli Delventhal]

You can try to adapt all your code to work with MySQL, and just use queries rather than any direct connections.

[Swattkidd7]

Well I mean im not expecting for this thing to end up being big and popular...i basically just want to test it out and have fun with it....but i ended up just hosting it myself....


thanks people.

[VoS]

You dont need an expensive host to play around with that stuff.

Most schools for example have really old computers ( 500Mhz or so ) that they just want to get rid of. A computer like that could run debian and act as a server from your closet for years to come, a 500Mhz computer could easily run your java application for several users (probably wouldent bother it to have 100 people in if you did it well).
I myself started this way after realizing that i wanted more control over my website than i got from free hosts. Now after a few years ive invested about 200 USD and have a passivly cooled quadcore with 4Gb ram and 750 Gb of HD space as my server. it stays in my closet and dosent make a noice and provides the perfect testing ground for all my wacky ideas =P

[Jackal von ÖRF]

it stays in my closet and dosent make a noice and provides the perfect testing ground for all my wacky ideas =P

+1

Having a personal server is a must for any server side software developer. All you need is a cheap leftover PC, an ISP which does not block incoming connections to the important ports (80, 22 etc.) and a dyndns.com or similar hostname. Try to make it quiet so that it won't disturb you when running in a corner of your home.

If you notice that you need more power, you can upgrade the server later. I had first some years a "PIII 600MHz/384MB/2*160GB/Gentoo Linux" which I then upgraded a couple of years ago to "C2D E6300/2GB ECC/4*400GB in sw-RAID5/1000VA UPS/Debian Linux with Linux-VServer virtualization".

[Eli Delventhal]

School connections (universities and high schools) often block incoming connections - so this option may not work for many budding developers.

[VoS]

if its just for developpment you can always switch ports. Bind apache to port 900 and deliver your applet from there. If its a service you made then it shouldent be a problem at all since they wont block ports above 1024 (unless they are really daft in the head)..
So far ive never had any trouble with universities blocking my webserver

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[Eli Delventhal]

if its just for developpment you can always switch ports. Bind apache to port 900 and deliver your applet from there. If its a service you made then it shouldent be a problem at all since they wont block ports above 1024 (unless they are really daft in the head)..
So far ive never had any trouble with universities blocking my webserver

There's always something that doesn't seem to work, even if I switch ports. Maybe my kung fu skills are too weak.

But I'm not at a school anymore, anyway.