台式PC或服务器作为Web服务器

Question

i am new in this material so i have 2 questions to ask in this 1 post

first of all, i am a PHP developer who wants to host my application into my own PC

(my application is something like social media assuming will have many users)

(i dont want to use any Public WebHosting / VPS , considering cost and security of my data)

and i decided to make my own webserver for my Start-Up Company

but the very problem here is the cost to buy a Server is too expensive if we compare to Desktop PC

and my question no 1 is

For a WebServer based on PHP (Apache) which used Sql Server as a Database , can i just use Desktop PC instead of using Server?

(considering it will online 24hours / day and processing big amount of request. Assuming i have many users online at the same time)

If let's say i bought 1000$ Desktop PC which i maximize the money at Processor, Memory and Storage

will it worth more than if i bought 1000$ Server which i maximize the money at Processor, Memory and Storage also

question no 2 is

if i must use Server instead of Desktop PC as my Webserver, i will use Windows Server as my OS, but if i can use a desktop PC , can i use Windows 7 Professional instead of using Windows Server?

because some website told me that Windows 7 Professional is not as powerful as Windows Server For a Normal Server (but i dont know about WebServer)

and i dont really know what's the disadvantage if i use Windows 7 Professional instead of using Windows Server as OS for this PHP application

Answer 1

I'll address your first question :

The main issue with a PC as a server is availablity and security.

Servers are secured and configured in a way that will prevent most issues that you would normally wouldn't think about, like disabling eval, disabling exec, disabling file_get_contents on default, and many other things, hosting companies provide support and assistance on a wide variety of topics. (Automatic backups of sql, machine users and files also).

the 2nd issue is that if your house loses power, your website is down. if your hd crashes, it takes hours and hours to replace, reinstall, reconfigure and re-deploy your website.

Don't expect your new app to be the next LinkedIN or Twitter or facebook when it comes to traffic and usage, Just start with a small hosting company for the cost of a few $ a year(you can get really cheap hosting, but you get what you pay for) and upgrade accordingly. With 1000$ you can buy really good hosting with superb stats for quite a long time.

My suggestion is start with a web hosting, and grow slowly, most hosting companies will allow you to upgrade.

You can use your local machine as a developer environment, but the actual deployment should be done on a server.