Configuring Virtual Server

One of my beloved blog reader ask me to show how to setup virtual server(sorry I'm late becoz no time to open blog ). The reason to setup virtual server is to:

• allow incoming request(http, ftp etc2) from outside to enter server located inside
• to allow specific request to reroute to appropriate server(in case 1 server host many services)

I will demonstrate how I did it using my Aztech DSL1000EW becoz my Aztech WL830RT4 is currently not in use.
Things we need is:

• Server itself. I'll use XAMPP as my webserver(apache) and inside, there's a index.html file which is target file I want to access.

• Proper connectivity to internet, obviously and router that has virtual server feature
• Your external IP address. To know your ext IP, visit HERE from your server
• Internal IP or IP address of the computer that will act as server

Procedures:

1. Install XAMPP, run Apache and make sure it works by visit localhost or 127.0.0.1(depends on your configuration though).

2. Ok. If that went fine, proceed to step 2-configure virtual server. As I mention earlier, I'll use DSL1000EW so the GUI will be a lil bit different but I guess the term/jargon will not so different between manufacturer and model ;)

• Access your gateway. For me it's 192.168.1.1. Enter username and password to continue login

• Search for virtual server funtion and press 'ADD'

• Select appropriate service(ftp, http, dns etc2). Whenever you select one service, router will automatically put port and protocol for you. So, for HTTP which uses port 80, router will enter 80 for external and internal port by default and TCP for the protocol. If you made any changes in webserver configuration(like port), feel free to edit the field or if you cannot find specific application, just enter it yourself the port.
• In the server IP address field, enter the internal IP address(IP address of the webserver) in my case, I'll use 192.168.1.2
  

• Click Apply/Save and you're done.
  

What we've done here is to command router to forward any HTTP packet it receives from outside to specified IP address that host the webserver. That's it.



Now, try access from another PC that using other external IP address. In my case, I'll access from same PC so I'm gonna use proxy website. Enter your server external IP address not internal IP address-this is where lot people do the mistake.

press enter, then...

...And..Voila!..It works!

Now, I've several tips to improve this virtual server thingy.
1. Using Dynamic DNS(DDNS). If you are using internet package with dynamic IP(like PPPOE), please consider to subscribe with DDNS provider like DYNDNS. For more provider and how to configure is outside of this post scope. Please visit: HERE

2. Again, use DDNS to make it easier for visitors to visit your site. To remember number like IP is difficult so by using DDNS, you can have your own FQDN like server1.dyndns.org

3. If the server is getting IP from DHCP, consider to manually specify IP. This is because, DHCP may(and may not) change IP of the server.

Alrite. Should you guys have any question, feel free to comment. I'll try my best to help you out.:)

noty2: Aztech WL830RT4 is for sale..huhu..wireless got prob where max distance oni 8meters :(

Speedup Torrent Download Speed

Semester break is one of my favourite period becoz I can now watch movie collected or to be downloaded..harharhar. Talking about download, in this post I will share what I know and what I did to get optimal download speed especially for torrent downloading.

1. Buy a faster internet package

Rule of thumb. Get a wider bandwidth will give you higher speed. This is the simplest way but, you will need to fork out some money to get better and faster connectivity. Nothing is free in this world yo. Even you want to pee or poo also need moolah ok.

2. Portforwading
In torrenting world, this is the most common issue people talkabout. Do you know(whoa..is this some kind science teacher says or what) that, most OS and router have in-built firewall installed? Portforward is a technique used to forward data coming from certain port to internal host hence the name 'portforwarding'. Nowadays, most router have UPnP support you can utilize but for me, I always opt to manually forward a port. To learn more about portforwarding, go to this SITE.

typical port forward in Aztech DSL600EU router

3. Take alternatives
Some ISP might throttle your internet connection for their so called fair usage policy blablabla(this is true for my ISP tmNut). You can opt for 2 choices. 1, go ranting, yelling at their office or 2, buy yourself a virtual private network. Trust me..it worth it. I'm using bolehVPN.

The first time I tried it, there is significant(or..HUGE) differences. Before using vpn, my download speed is stucked at 10~30kBps so I suspect ISP is throttling my internet connection. Then, I subscribe for a VPN. Nah..picture worth thousand words. Download speed shoot to 106KBps(my limit)

4. Don't be Stingy

I've seen a lot of people cap their upload speed to almost halt. It's true that too much upload will cause your download suffer but you need to remember Peer-to-Peer like torrent works like using give-reward scheme. In laymen term, if other(B) send data to you(A) but you don't send anything back, (B) torrent client will not send anything to you next time.

I usually set my download speed 80% from total bandwitdh: 1Mbps*80%=819kbps/102KBps

For upload, I set 85% from total upstream: 384kbps*85%=40KBps

Well, this is my configuration for my internet speed. You might want to experiment with bandwidth limit thingy ;)

5. Torrent selection

If you found multiple torrent for similar file, choose torrent that have higher seeder that peer/leecher. This will increase your chance to get faster speed while download the file. Also, torrent client nowadays have this useful features where you can select what to and not to download(called selective download). Use this to select appropriate file(s) to download.

6. Increase TCP Max Half-Open Connection

To enable torrent client establish more connection to peers/seeders, you can set

net.max_halfopen found in(for uTorrent 2.0.4 client) Options --> Preferences --> Advanced.

But, before set value there,download a patch HERE to patch Windows XP halfopen maximum

value. Set anything in 50-100 range then set max_halfopen in uTorrent. Again, you may need

to experiment with the value though coz it may and may not improve your speed.